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kriD · 02-23-2006, 07:45 AM

Stoudemire feels no pain in knee after 1-on-1 games

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic

Amaré Stoudemire was barely into his first basketball game in 8 1/2 months when he went down on his back. The US Airways Center's usual bustle of bouncing balls and chit-chat was replaced by a nervous silence.

Stoudemire then popped to his feet, signaled an offensive foul with a big grin, promptly nailed a baseline jumper and delivered a two-handed slam a few plays later.

Stoudemire's return to competitive basketball continued Wednesday with his first one-on-one play with contact. He matched up with another tall, athletic player in Nikoloz Tskitishvili for five games to five points each.

His competitive fire was clearly intact, screaming at the ball to "get in there" and asking to play a tiebreaking fifth game despite being obviously winded. It was 3-3 in the final game when Stoudemire hit a step-back 18-foot jump shot. After an exchange of misses, Stoudemire won with a straightaway three-pointer that was not his first three-point make of the session.

Because he was limited to shooting for two months, his perimeter game may be ahead of his inside game for now.

"My inside game is pretty much based on quickness and my quickness is back to where it was," Stoudemire said. "I've just got to get the explosiveness back and just get the feel back.

"I was getting more and more comfortable, not really favoring it, trying to get over that mental aspect and I felt pretty good toward the end."

Stoudemire said he felt no pain, only stiffness in the left knee that underwent the microfracture procedure in October.

"I was impressed because he seemed to get more and more comfortable," Suns assistant coach Marc Iavaroni said. "At first he was tentative but then got more and more sure of himself. It's hard to believe it's been this long and then here he is on the floor taking chances."

Even when the final game was done, Stoudemire asked Iavaroni if he could work on his defense some more. He said the feel of the defensive end would be hardest to regain.

"My feet were just a little slow," Stoudemire said. "I haven't moved them so fast in close to a year. I'm just trying to get back, get the feel of the game."

Stoudemire said he still would take slow steps, probably limiting himself to one-on-one play for about a week before moving to two-on-two.

"Feeling the power and the explosiveness is going to take time," Iavaroni said, explaining that Stoudemire would be searching for his balance with a healing left knee.

There is still no timetable, just private hopes of a return in mid- or late March. How much does he need to be playoff ready?

"It doesn't matter," Stoudemire said. "Once I get that feel back in the five-on-five and the physical contact, I'm ready for whatever."

02-23-2006, 07:45 AM	#41
kriD Platinum Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Germany Posts: 2,039	Stoudemire feels no pain in knee after 1-on-1 games Paul Coro The Arizona Republic Amaré Stoudemire was barely into his first basketball game in 8 1/2 months when he went down on his back. The US Airways Center's usual bustle of bouncing balls and chit-chat was replaced by a nervous silence. Stoudemire then popped to his feet, signaled an offensive foul with a big grin, promptly nailed a baseline jumper and delivered a two-handed slam a few plays later. Stoudemire's return to competitive basketball continued Wednesday with his first one-on-one play with contact. He matched up with another tall, athletic player in Nikoloz Tskitishvili for five games to five points each. His competitive fire was clearly intact, screaming at the ball to "get in there" and asking to play a tiebreaking fifth game despite being obviously winded. It was 3-3 in the final game when Stoudemire hit a step-back 18-foot jump shot. After an exchange of misses, Stoudemire won with a straightaway three-pointer that was not his first three-point make of the session. Because he was limited to shooting for two months, his perimeter game may be ahead of his inside game for now. "My inside game is pretty much based on quickness and my quickness is back to where it was," Stoudemire said. "I've just got to get the explosiveness back and just get the feel back. "I was getting more and more comfortable, not really favoring it, trying to get over that mental aspect and I felt pretty good toward the end." Stoudemire said he felt no pain, only stiffness in the left knee that underwent the microfracture procedure in October. "I was impressed because he seemed to get more and more comfortable," Suns assistant coach Marc Iavaroni said. "At first he was tentative but then got more and more sure of himself. It's hard to believe it's been this long and then here he is on the floor taking chances." Even when the final game was done, Stoudemire asked Iavaroni if he could work on his defense some more. He said the feel of the defensive end would be hardest to regain. "My feet were just a little slow," Stoudemire said. "I haven't moved them so fast in close to a year. I'm just trying to get back, get the feel of the game." Stoudemire said he still would take slow steps, probably limiting himself to one-on-one play for about a week before moving to two-on-two. "Feeling the power and the explosiveness is going to take time," Iavaroni said, explaining that Stoudemire would be searching for his balance with a healing left knee. There is still no timetable, just private hopes of a return in mid- or late March. How much does he need to be playoff ready? "It doesn't matter," Stoudemire said. "Once I get that feel back in the five-on-five and the physical contact, I'm ready for whatever."