All-Stars Amare Stoudemire (left) and Carmelo Anthony are struggling to find a common ground in coach Mike D'Antoni's offense.

In Gotham City, Batman always rules while Robin plays second fiddle. Batman owns Wayne Enterprise and Wayne Manor, has the coolest Mancave, and drives the Batmobile. Do you ever see Robin driving the Batmobile? I don’t think so. The unwritten rule of Gotham implies that Batman never has to take a backseat to anyone.

When it comes to the New York Knicks, the same fictitious law applies. Since the arrival of Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks have become HIS team. Melo takes the majority of the shots, he’s the No. 1 option on offense, and he’s the main attraction at Madison Square Garden. So, where does Amare Stoudemire fit in the Knicks’ playbill? Because ‘Melo is such a strong figure on and off the court, Amare has been snubbed like a Hollywood supporting actor. When you watch the Knicks, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out who is Batman and who is Robin. But this wasn’t the case last season when the offense went through Amare.

As The Man, he averaged 25 points per game, taking almost 20 shots per game and shooting 50% from the field. He also gave more of an effort on the defensive end, as he blocked 1.9 shots. Stoudemire was such a force his name was brought up in the MVP race.

How things have changed in just a few short months.

Stoudemire has lost his starring role on the team and now relegated to the supporting cast. All those plays called for Stoudemire have been redirected to Anthony. All those isolation sets that were drawn up for Stoudemire are now being called for Anthony. Through the first quarter of the 2011-12 season, Stoudemire’s shot attempts are down (from 19 to 15) and his scoring average has taken a huge hit (down from 25 to 18). Meanwhile, Anthony leads the team with 20 shots attempts per game and averaging nearly 24 points, which easily tops the team.

When the Knicks acquired Anthony from Denver, coach Mike D’Antoni thought he could work in both ‘Melo and Amare in his player-friendly offense. Instead, Anthony and Stoudemire are competing for shots in D’Antoni’s system. Anthony is gobbling up all the best shots, leaving Stoudemire with the crummy ones. So far, New York is not big enough to house two superstars with giant egos.

Last season when Stoudemire was heavily featured and he had a decent point guard in Raymond Felton to feed him the ball off screen-and-rolls, the Knicks offense was clicking on all cylinders. This season, the Knicks’ screen-and-roll game has been dicey at best because the guard play has been very shoddy. The run-and-gun, 100-point games have been replaced by a very dull, uninspired basketball that usually ends with Anthony jacking up a shot after dribbling the entire 24-second shot clock. So much for D’Antoni’s seven-seconds-or-less mantra.

The dream season that started so promising has turned into a nightmare. D’Antoni’s job is on a week-to-week basis, while Stoudemire is turning into Charles Smith. It got so bad for Amare that ‘Melo even felt sorry for him at one point. He went out of his way to try to incorporate Amare into the offense that he took just seven shots, scoring one point, in the Jan. 24 game against the Charlotte Bobcats. That generosity lasted just one game as ‘Melo went back to Sir Shoot-a-Lot the next game.

What the Knicks need is a veteran point guard (a Commissioner Gordon) to keep Amare and ‘Melo in check, someone who also knows D’Antoni’s system and would love to have one more shot at winning a championship. Hmmm. Who could that be? Iman Shumpert and Toney Douglas are good backup guards, but neither one can run a team. And please don’t say “Baron Davis.” He’s more of a Band Aid at this point of his career. Here’s a hint. His first name starts with “s”, his last name rhymes with ash, and he plays in Phoenix.

Unless the Knicks can find that true point guard Stoudemire and Anthony will continue to struggle to find a common ground when they’re both in the game because they don’t have a guard who can direct traffic and make sure they don’t run into each other. In hindsight, the Knicks’ brass should have moved up to draft Ricky Rubio two seasons ago when they had the chance.

And if the Knicks don’t find that coveted point guard, then maybe they need to move one of their two stars to make it work.

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

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With the absence of a new NBA collective bargaining agreement – and neither side isn’t budging at this point – basketball fans are stuck with glorified scrimmages organized by the league’s superstars.

The latest installment of this very expensive pickup game is Saturday night’s exhibition game in Miami featuring a team led by LeBron James against a squad headed by Heat teammate Dwyane Wade.

Team LeBron has some serious star power on its roster. Scheduled to play with LeBron are Heat forward Chris Bosh, Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo, Atlanta Hawks guard Jamal Crawford, Memphis Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay, Houston Rockets guard Jonny Flynn, Philadelphia Sixers guard Lou Williams, guard Damon Jones (LeBron’s former teammate with the Cleveland Cavaliers), Cavs rookie forward Tristan Thompson, and Oklahoma City Thunder stars Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. It’s interesting that LeBron picked up Durant on his squad because the last high-profile exhibition game had James going head-to-head with Durant, who has been on a tear this summer.

Team Wade features Heat guard Mario Chalmers, Dallas Mavericks forward and D-Wade’s good friend Caron Butler, Wade’s former Heat teammate and current Golden State Warriors forward Dorell Wright, New York Knicks stars Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire, New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul, Washington Wizards guard John Wall, and Thunder guard James Harden.

In the end, Team Wade outlasted Team LeBron, 141-140, in overtime. It was a typical offseason exhibition game. Lots of dunks, lots of alley-oops, lots of breakaways, lots of one-on-one, and very little defense. Somewhere in New York, David Stern is chuckling.

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The 2010-11 season is almost here and all 30 teams, especially the New York Knicks, can’t wait for the season to start. Check out the Knicks’ season preview on MSG.com with bonus clips and an exclusive interview with Amar’e Stoudemire.

The former Suns All-Star center/power forward and the newest franchise player in NYC says he’s excited to be part of the New York culture and vows to dominate this season by “going after it.”

“I’m fierce. I play with passion, I play with determination. Sometimes they call me a bully around the basket,” boasted Stoudemire, who later explains that he doesn’t feel any added pressure as the centerpiece of the Knicks.

Stoudemire certainly has accepted one of the leadership roles. “In order to be a great team, there’s more than one leader,” he said. Watch the whole interview:

To view other exclusive bonus clips, including interviews with young sensation Danilo Gallinari and newly acquired point guard Raymond Felton, visit www.MSG.com/our-teams/knicks-season-preview-bonus-clips.

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With a new starting lineup for this season, Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni is ready to take the court with his star players in hopes of a magical NBA season. All it takes is some practice and a couple of basketball spells. Check out D’Antoni in this magician’s outfit and enter MSG.com’s photo caption contest. The funniest captions for the photo featured below will be shared with Coach D himself on The Mike D’Antoni Show on Oct. 26 at 8 p.m. EST on MSG.

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The New York Knicks are banking on Amare Stoudemire to be the face of their franchise.

New York Knicks conditioning director Greg Brittenham recently organized a three-minute running drill at the Knicks practice facility with a little twist. He has players tossing a football around to keep things light and interesting. Amare Stoudemire, wearing his familiar No. 1 jersey, picked up one of the footballs and fired it across the court with ease. First down Knicks!

Though it was nice to see that Stoudemire’s right arm is good enough to fling a football a good distance, the Knicks won’t be asking the 6-foot-10 power forward to be passing the ball this season; they’d rather see him be on the receiving end of passes from teammates and rocking the rim with his signature tomahawk dunks.

There is an air of optimism around the Knicks these days, and it’s all because of the man wearing No. 1 in a Knick uniform. The Knicks haven’t had a legitimate All-Star big man who can severely affect the game on both ends since – dare I say – Patrick Ewing. Stoudemire is a game-changer; a career 21.4 scorer and arguably one of the best finishers in the game.

Knicks GM Donnie Walsh and head coach Mike D’Antoni targeted LeBron James all summer, but when Plan LBJ didn’t materialize they immediately went to Plan A … Amare.

Stoudemire left Phoenix and signed a five-year, $100 million contract with the Knick, reuniting him with D’Antoni – his former coach with the Suns. Stoudemire is re-energized by the fact that he is now, without a doubt, the leader of an NBA franchise and the headliner at the world’s most famous arena. Though he was an All-Star in Phoenix, he was always in the shadow of Steve Nash. Now, Stoudemire is front and center with the Knicks.

“He’s always been one of the best players in the league,” D’Antoni said of Stoudemire, now entering his eighth season in the NBA.

“I don’t want to talk about the past but I do know one thing, the leadership he has shown and the intensity that works out and the dedication that he has brought [to the Knicks], you do not get better than what he’s doing right now. It’s a credit to him and he’s come a long ways,” D’Antoni continued. “I’ve always been impressed with his talent. That’s been off the charts. But his leadership right now is off the charts.”

D’Antoni said Stoudemire began working out at the facility in early September and hasn’t stopped since, setting the tone for the rest of the squad. “He has been one of our hardest workers,” the Knicks coach said.

His presence can only help the young players on the roster, including guard Toney Douglas and budding star Danilo Gallinari, who had a breakout season in 2009-10. In his first full season in the NBA, the 22-year-old Gallinari averaged 15 points per game and made 186 3-point shots. Those numbers will only get better now that Stoudemire will be patrolling the paint.

The Knicks also upgraded their point guard position by acquiring veteran Raymond Felton. The former Bobcats guard will be asked to run D’Antoni’s uptempo, shooter-friendly offense, which fits his game a whole lot better than Larry Brown’s walk-it-up, halfcourt style.

It remains to be seen if Stoudemire’s rise to power in the league was greatly influenced by Nash. The only way Amare can disprove that is to get the Knicks back into playoff contention. And if he does that, then he’ll be officially named king of New York.

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According to reports, Dirk Nowitzki will remain with the Mavericks.

For those keeping score, it’s 4-1 in favor of teams retaining their own free agents.

As of July 5, four big-time free agents have have decided to stay with their old teams: Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce, Rudy Gay and Joe Johnson.

The only free agent who has officially signed with another team is Amare Stoudemire. Yahoo! Sports and TNT’s David Aldridge have reported that Stoudemire has accepted the Knicks’ contract offer worth $100 million spread across five years. Stoudemire will be reunited with coach Mike D’Antoni, who coached him in Phoenix.

Yahoo! Sports also reported that Johnson will re-sign with the Atlanta Hawks, a six-year maximum deal that is close to $120 million.

Nowitzki recently accepted a four-year deal worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $80 million to remain with the Dallas Mavericks and Pierce agreed to a four-year, $60-million deal to stay in Boston. Gay was the first big-name free agent to agree to terms, as he reportedly received a five-year, $80-million contract from the Memphis Grizzlies last Thursday when the free-agency period officially got underway.

The return of head coach Doc Rivers certainly persuaded Pierce to stay put, and the Celtics are also in negotiations with shooting guard Ray Allen, who has also expressed his desire to stay in Boston. This means that the Celtics’ vaunted starting five are all expected to be back next season to make another run at a title (barring center Kendrick Perkins fully recovers from knee surgery).

What was supposed to be the summer of massive exodus has turned into an offseason of status quo. Of course, things could change in a heartbeat especially if that someone – ahem! LeBron James – decides to spurn his hometown team and play elsewhere next season.

But, that hasn’t happened yet and it’s not expected to happen until the end of the week, according to several reports. James is mulling over offers presented to him by NBA teams with a ton of salary cap room: New Jersey, New York, Miami, the L.A. Clippers, Chicago and Cleveland.

Wade met with the Bulls twice and has told people close to the situation that he is seriously considering playing for his hometown team. The Heat have already told Wade that they are prepared to give him the max deal and have promised him a roster upgrade.

Others who are noncommittal are Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Amare Stoudemire, although Stoudemire recently was offered the maximum contract of five years, $100 million by the Knicks. Stoudemire is reportedly meeting with Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni, his old coach in Phoenix, on Monday to hash out some past issues.

The Suns have reportedly re-signed forward Channing Frye and also acquired forward Hakim Warrick, so it is highly unlikely that Phoenix will bring back Stoudemire, who has played his entire career with the Suns.

Joe Johnson has a standing six-year max offer from the Atlanta Hawks, a deal that could be worth $120 million. Johnson remains mum about his situation, obviously waiting for LeBron and D-Wade to make their moves. Johnson has also drawn interest from the Knicks, as D’Antoni prepares to go to Plan B in case LeBron signs with Chicago or Cleveland – which is more and more apparent.

ESPN’s J.A. Adande wrote that the Toronto Raptors have not been enamored with the way Bosh has been publicly “enjoying himself” too much and using his Twitter account to tell his followers on his status. Bosh is asking for a max contract, but he can only get it if the Raptors agree to a sign-and-trade deal.

At the end of this long, drawn-out process, money will prevail. Players are taking advantage of the current labor deal because they are anticipating that the new collective bargaining agreement won’t be as player friendly.

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The Lakers held Amare Stoudemire to 7-for-20 shooting in Game 6. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

In what may have been his final game in a Phoenix Suns uniform, Amare Stoudemire walked off the court disappointed.

Although Stoudemire scored a team-high 27 points in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals, the Suns’ All-Star center didn’t have the type of game worthy of a maximum contract this summer. He struggled from the field (7 for 20), grabbed just four rebounds and, more importantly, his team lost in six games and is now out of the 2010 NBA playoffs.

Stoudemire can opt out of his contract on July 1 and become an unrestricted free agent. He is among an elite class of potential free agents – LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson and Chris Bosh heading the list – who could change the landscape of the league.

But Suns All-Star point guard Steve Nash, Stoudemire’s teammate in Phoenix for the past six seasons, told reporters on Saturday night just minutes after Phoenix was eliminated by the L.A. Lakers in Game 6 that he prefers the Suns to stay intact, and that includes re-signing Stoudemire.

“I feel a great source of pride for me to be able to play with these guys, ” said Nash, who scored 21 points and had nine assists in a losing effort. “They’re such great people, great teammates that have committed absolutely to what we’re trying to do. We’re a good team. We had a real legitimate chance to beat the Lakers and get to The Finals and play for a championship.

“It’s pretty clear I’d like to keep the group together. I’d like to keep it together and keep it going.”

Suns coach Alvin Gentry and Steve Nash enjoyed a solid season, but fell short of reaching the NBA Finals. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

During his postgame news conference following the loss to the Lakers, Nash also endorsed Alvin Gentry as the right coach to lead the Suns to a championship.

Nash may be the face of the franchise and the two-time league MVP, but it’s Stoudemire’s presence in the middle and his ability to finish at the rim off pick-and-rolls are what separates the Suns from becoming the Golden State Warriors. Stoudemire and Nash form the NBA’s best pick-and-roll combo in the league, and it would be difficult for Phoenix to find a suitable replacement.

Stoudemire has repeated all throughout the playoffs that there’s a 50-50 chance he’ll be back in Phoenix, the only franchise he has played for in his eight-year NBA career. He upgraded it to a “good possibility” that he’ll return to the Suns after the Game 6 loss, but it may depend on how much the Suns are willing to pay him and for how long.

“There are so many ways to structure a deal and what have you, but it’s very important to have a sense of security,” Stoudemire told The Arizona Republic.

Stoudemire has one year left on his current deal that pays him $17.68 million. He admitted that all the trade rumors the past two years have really bothered him and could ultimately be the reason why he leaves. But Stoudemire also said that his relationship with Suns management greatly improved after he was not dealt last February.

Expect Stoudemire to test the free-agent market this summer as he waits for the Suns to make him an offer he can’t refuse. In the end, Suns owner Robert Sarver may have to overpay his already overpaid superstar in order for the Suns to keep their title hopes alive.

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Suns center Amare Stoudemire is sandwiched by 7-footers Pau Gasol (left) and Andrew Bynum. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

When you pick on the biggest bully on the block, you better be prepared to back up your talk.

Phoenix Suns center Amare Stoudemire first picked on Lakers forward Lamar Odom, dismissing his impact in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals saying that Odom got “lucky” despite scoring 19 points and grabbing 19 rebounds. Then Stoudemire turned his attention to Lakers centers Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, saying he used to dominate Gasol when the 7-foot Spaniard played for the Memphis Grizzlies.

“It was total domination,” Stoudemire told The Arizona Republic of his 2005 first-round playoff matchup with Gasol. “But now he has a little brother (Bynum) with him so now he’s a little more confident because he’s got someone to help him in the post.”

Though Odom, Bynum and Gasol didn’t respond publicly to Stoudemire’s statements, they did their talking on the court as they took turns in punishing Stoudemire in the low post, combining for 59 points and 27 rebounds in the Lakers’ 124-112 destruction of the Suns in Game 2.

“Well, what can you say. We’re just having a hard time slowing them down,” said Suns coach Alvin Gentry, whose team is averaging 109 points and shooting almost 50% from the field in the series but still find themselves down 0-2.

“We played well offensively, but every time we make an adjustment to slow them down they go somewhere else. You do a great job on Kobe [Bryant], which I thought we did, they to go to Pau. We go double team Pau and there’s Lamar; we get it out of Lamar’s hands and Jordan Farmar makes shots. They are the reason they’re the world champs.”

After the Suns tied the game at 90 after three quarters, the Lakers went back to their low post attack, which meant a whole lot of Gasol and that’s when the game turned into a rout.

Gasol scored 14 of his game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter and made 11 of 19 shots for the game.

He took advantage of Stoudemire’s inattentiveness on defense. On one play, Stoudemire totally misplayed a pick-and-roll situation and allowed Gasol to slip in for an easy layup. On another play, Stoudemire completely lost Gasol in a crowd and Bryant was able to spot him for another uncontested layup under the basket. And when he’s not embarrassing Stoudemire on pick-and-rolls, Gasol punished him on simple isolations on the low block.

“We had to try to play him straight up, and when we played him straight up Pau had some success,” Gentry said. “The one time we tried to double he turned it over, the next time we doubled he found the open guy and the guy makes a three. You really do have to pick your poison.”

Gentry added: “We just have to take a look at the tape tonight, and maybe we’ll decide we let Kobe score 80 and try to guard the other guys.”

Bryant, who lit up the Suns for 40 points in Game 1, scored just 21 points but had a team-high 13 assists.

The Lakers are making nearly 58% of their shots from the field and averaging 126 points through the first two games in the series. They enjoyed another big advantage in points in the paint (54-46) and, thanks to another stellar game by Odom (17 points, 11 rebounds) and timely contribution from Farmar (11 points), the Lakers bench outplayed the Suns bench for a second time.

Though his team initially didn’t target Stoudemire on the low block, Lakers coach Phil Jackson said it became a top priority once the Suns’ All-Star center got into foul trouble.

“He’s the initiator of their screen-and-roll offense because of what he can do off his roll activity,” Jackson explained. “We took the ball down in the low post because he had five fouls and we knew it would tough for him to play defense at that time.”

This series can’t end soon enough for Stoudemire, who finished Game 2 with 18 points and six rebounds. The Lakers are just too big, too strong and too talented for the Suns, who will need a lot of luck just to win a game in this series.

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After tugging a 7-foot-1, 330-pound weight on their shoulders the past two seasons, the Phoenix Suns appear to have shed the Shaqles and are back to being the run-and-shoot squad that averaged 58 wins the previous four seasons.

The cast of characters remain with one minor addition (Channing Frye) and one major subtraction (Shaquille O’Neal). But make no mistake about it, Alvin Gentry’s Suns are looking more and more like Mike D’Antoni’s Suns.

Reinstalling D’Antoni’s free-wheeling offense was the best coaching move Gentry made when he took over for Terry Porter halfway through the 2008-09 season. The Suns averaged 117.7 points per game after the All-Star break and, though the team missed the playoffs, won six out of their last eight games.

Steve Nash leads the NBA in assists at 11.5 and is making 44% of his threes.

This season, the Suns have picked up where they left off last spring as Steve Nash and Co. have a league-best 109 scoring average (tied with Denver) and a league-best 49% shooting percentage. The red-hot shooting has translated into a fast start as the Suns are well ahead of last year’s pace and in second place behind the West-leading Lakers in the Pacific Division.

Earlier in the season, the Suns concluded an East Coast-trip that saw them go 4-1. The road trip was highlighted by a 110-103 win at Boston and a 119-115 win at Philadelphia, a game where Nash scored 21 points and dished out 20 assists.

The 35-year-old Nash owns a NBA-best 11.5 assists per game and is making 52% of his field goals and 44% of his threes, all above his career averages.

As good as Nash has been in terms of shooting the ball, his statistics pale in comparison to teammate Jason Richardson, who is making 50% his field goals and 44% of his 3-pointers.

Most observers thought Amare Stoudemire would benefit the most from O’Neal’s departure, but obviously it’s Richardson who has really prospered. With Shaq no longer a hindrance on offense, the Suns have been able to fully utilize Richardson’s skills.

Richardson, who along with Jared Dudley, came to Phoenix as part of a four-player deal that sent Boris Diaw and Raja Bell to Charlotte last year. Richardson said it took him a full season to get acclimated to his third NBA team, but now he feels more comfortable with his role in the system.

“They need me to step up scoring a little, and I’m being more aggressive,” Richardson told the Arizona Republic.

Frye was Phoenix’s “minor” offseason acquisition. It’s a minor transaction compared to the big splashes made by the Celtics, Lakers and Cavaliers.

But the 26-year-old former University of Arizona star has been bargain, a move that cost Phoenix just a little more than $2 million for two years. A career 8.4 scorer with New York and Portland, Frye is averaging close to 14 points a game and has already made 25 3-pointers, which is somewhat shocking considering the 6-11 center made just 20 3-point shots in his previous four seasons.

Frye’s new-found long-range game has afforded the Suns to field a starting five who can all face up and make jump shots. This creates more room for Nash and Stoudemire to run their pick-and-roll offense.

The Suns may not be able to chase down the L.A. Lakers in the Pacific Division, but they’ll make a strong case for a playoff berth.

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