After spending the last few years with the New York Knicks, Amar'e Stoudemire was ready to get out of the Big Apple and land with a contender.
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So when he signed with the Dallas Mavericks, he didn't expect the team to plateau, going 5-6 since his arrival and falling 4.5 games out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Stoudemire let loose on his team following a blowout loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers Tuesday night.
From ESPN:
"I came here to win, and we're [4 ½] games out of being out of the playoffs, which is unacceptable," Stoudemire said. "This is something we can't accept. We've got to find a way to refocus. We've got to key into the details of the game of basketball.
"We can't cheat the game. We can't screw around in games and practices and joke around all the time and figure we're going to win games. This is the pros. It's the highest level of basketball. We've got to act that way."
A perceived lack of attention and professionalism is the last thing a team wants, and generally signals the coach losing control. If the Mavericks want to make a run, they should listen to Stoudemire and figure things out in-house.
