Does Amare Have a Lack of Respect for Defensive Role Players?

After tearing up the first few games of the season, including dropping an unstoppable 49 points on the Indiana Pacers, Amare Stoudemire has struggled a bit as of late. In his last two outings, he's had performances that were definitely sub-par: 11 points and nine boards against Houston, and just 12 points and five rebounds in last night's overtime win in Sacramento.

The reason for Amare's slowdown might just be more mental than physical. After the game against the Rockets, some of Stoudemire's comments would lead you to believe that he's less than impressed with some of the players that end up checking him on defense.

"You got Luis Scola, Chuck Hayes, Carl Landry ... I mean, Scola, it's his second year in the league," Stoudemire said. "Chuck Hayes and Carl Landry, you know ... they're okay players, but I definitely can dominate those guys early. Anytime. Nothing against them, they played well tonight."

Those were some long pauses between those statements from Amare, and you could tell that he was trying not to say anything too disrespectful when discussing his opponents. But it's clear he feels that there's no way those guys should be able to stop him, even though the players he mentioned are more than capable NBA defenders.

Against Sacramento, Amare really did nothing all night until the end of overtime, when he hit a couple of jumpers and blocked a shot at the buzzer (as he did there a season ago -- weird). That was against the likes of Brad Miller, Mikki Moore, and Spencer Hawes: not exactly a list of names that are going to be on a Hall of Fame ballot anytime soon.

It's important for All-Star players like Amare to believe in their own abilities to dominate, but it's equally important to respect the guys on the other team that are there to stop you. Physically, Amare should have no trouble putting up big numbers against Houston or Sacramento. But mentally, over the last two games, it seems like it's been tough for him to prepare for that challenge.