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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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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Forza Italia! The New York Knicks were in Milan for the weekend to go head to head against the Armani Jeans Milano team. This means Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni and forward Danilo Gallinari returned to their home country. Check out this exclusive video of Gallinari greeting the Italian crowd as he expresses his “thank yous” and more in Italian.

Video courtesy of MSG.com

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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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New York Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni is confident the Knicks will land a big-time free agent this summer. (UPI)

The LeBron James Sweepstakes is underway and club officials from the New Jersey Nets and New York Knicks met with James in Cleveland on Thursday to make their sales pitches to the two-time NBA MVP.

Team New Jersey included billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov, head coach Avery Johnson and rap star Jay-Z, a close friend of LeBron’s, while Team New York included Knicks general manager Donnie Walsh, head coach Mike D’Antoni and former Knick player Allan Houston.

Because the Knicks don’t really have a Derrick Rose or a Dwyane Wade on their roster to dangle in front of LeBron, D’Antoni and Co. are using the “Bright Lights, Big City” approach to reel in the biggest catch of this year’s free-agent class.

“I’m confident because we’ve got a great product. New York is very unique and we’re selling the best place in the world to come and live and play,” D’Antoni said in an exclusive interview with MSG Network that was posted on MSG.com.

Full exclusive interview here: http://video.msg.com/Home/Mike-D-Antoni-on-Free-Agency

“It’s going to be a process where every team will go through, have face time with potential free agents, and you just have to go with your instincts,” D’Antoni explained. “There will be some jockeying going on.”

So, what if the Knicks don’t land LeBron or a top free agent this summer?

“That’s always a possibility,” said D’Antoni. “That’s why we won’t sleep a whole lot for the next week. But we set ourselves up to be able to realize this plan and here we are and let’s see if we can get it done. We’re in the ballgame and we’re trying to win.”

D’Antoni added: “We have to win. We just have to convince the guys coming here that they can win because New York is a place where you need to win. And I think we can do that. Whether they like the style or not is up to the individual. We’ll see how it goes.”

This year’s crop of free agents have been called the best in league history, and only a handful of franchises will get to reap those benefits. Those who are left behind will have some serious catching up to do in filling up their rosters after clearing cap space for that past two seasons.

“This will set a course for the franchise for the next 10 years, which is a pretty important time. And we have gone through two years of not a whole lot of fun. This is what we all signed on for and this is what we’re trying to realize,” D’Antoni said. “I’m excited about it, at the same time obviously I think everybody’s a little nervous about it that’s because it’s high stakes out there. Again, the biggest point is that we have a good hand. We’re selling a good product in New York, and that’s pretty unique.”

Would the Knicks consider this offseason a complete failure should they fall short in landing a franchise player?

“I don’t think you can really address it until November 1st when we start playing,” the Knicks coach said. “We’re going to get the best free agents available, the best team, keep developing our young guys hopefully we’ll have some surprises with them, and have a lot better product next year.”

One thing D’Antoni is encouraged about is the development of the young players on the Knicks’ roster, such as Danilo Gallinari, Toney Douglas and newly acquired Bill Walker.

“I think our core of young players can be put up against anybody,” D’Antoni boasted. “We have some pieces that are very interesting and we have a lot of room, and we’re able to find players that compliment each other, play off each other, and the best fit.”

D’Antoni said Walker and Douglas are working extremely hard this offseason, coming in daily at 8:30 in the morning to workout. “They’re very talented basketball players and have shown the dedication to what they’re doing for about three weeks and that’ll continue throughout the summer. I’m excited about both of them.”

Walker is reportedly down to 227 pounds. He was 254 last year when he was acquired from the Celtics.

“He’s very athletic guy, jumping out of the gym,” D’Antoni said of Walker. “When he did come out of high school he was one of the top two players of his class. O.J. Mayo was the other guy. He just had those knee injuries. He’s back to his athletic form when he was dominating all the Reebok camps and Nike camps.”

D’Antoni also expects center Eddy Curry to be on the team next season.

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