SPORTS WITH 3

The Knicks are steps closer to having their star power-forward return from an injury that has sidelined him since the latter part of last season. Marc Berman of the New York Post tweeted Monday morning:

Stoudemire could be cleared for first practice tomorrow.

— Marc Berman (@NYPost_Berman) December 17, 2012

Woodson said he "hopes'' Amar'e Stoudemire is cleared for practice tomorrow. But key will be how he responds after first practice.

— Marc Berman (@NYPost_Berman) December 17, 2012

There is also a possibility that Stoudemire could be back with the Knicks by Friday when the Knicks take on the Chicago Bulls.

Clearly this is positive news for the Knicks and it most likely means he will be set for a Christmas day return (or even sooner). However, I am sure there are Knicks fans out there that think his “homecoming” could also be a negative, and I don’t blame them! When power forward Stoudemire and small forward Carmelo Anthony played on the court at the same time, the Knicks have historically struggled offensively. I understand how Knicks fans may see this turn out to impede the progress of the Knicks in the sense that Stoudemire may ruin the flow and karma the orange and blue currently have.

I have two reasons why that claim will not work.

1. We haven’t even seen Amar’e play yet. Let’s see what happens when he comes back, and how he plays. If anything, he will be the Knicks 6th man, so we may not see him and Melo on the floor together until late in the game.

2. The Knicks have a FAR better point guard now than they did when Melo and Stoudemire were playing together last season. Jeremy Lin is a shoot-first, I-need-the-ball-to-play kind of point guard, and that obviously wasn’t working out too well. Now, however, the Knicks have future hall-of-famer point guard and floor general Jason Kidd to control the offense and dish it out to the Knicks stars, as well as a better all around PG in Raymond Felton.

Now, these are my opinions and they are pure speculation; nobody knows how this will work out. The Knicks may play horrifically after Stoudemire returns, or they could play even better with his added skill set. We don’t know.