Playoffs? Playoffs? Amar'e can't wait

GREENBURGH, N.Y.

"Can't wait," Amar'e Stoudemire said, unafraid to channel Bart Scott even though the Jets linebacker recently said he trademarked the phrase he made famous back in January.

Stoudemire even said it again for emphasis Friday after the Knicks' first post-regular-season practice in seven years.

"Can't wait."

Before Scott asks for a rights fee, it should be noted that the tone was vastly different in this case. There was no anger, no defiance, only the calm that comes with a mission undertaken. And it was more than mere words. When coach Mike D'Antoni arrived Friday at about 7:30 a.m., he heard a bouncing ball and discovered Stoudemire at work, 3½ hours before practice.

This was what Stoudemire had in mind when he said during the Summer of LeBron that the Knicks were "back," with or without The Decision-maker himself.

"It's remarkable," he said, taking a moment to reflect before the next phase of the reclamation project begins Sunday in Boston, facing a media contingent so large that he spoke to TV and print journalists separately. "The plan was to make it to the playoffs, and there were a lot of people out there who said it wasn't going to happen . . . It's a remarkable thing."

Let's pause here and make one thing clear before anyone gets in trouble with fans: Stoudemire confirmed he is happy to be here, but he was careful to make it equally clear that he is not satisfied. "When I said the Knicks are back, I meant the opportunity to build had started," he said. "The main goal is to make it to the Finals."

Whether that step comes this season or in another year or two, Stoudemire forever will be credited as a pioneer, choosing to accept a challenge in which LeBron James was uninterested.

(Stoudemire also accepted $99.7 million, which helped.)

"I don't think you can put a worth on him signing with us, being the first guy to take the step," D'Antoni said. "It's not an easy choice."

Guard Chauncey Billups went so far as to call the (lower case) decision "brave." Said Billups, "I think for him to come to a place like this, knowing it's going to be heavy expectations and every move he'd make would probably be criticized, I thought it was a brave move for Amar'e."

That might be a bit much, but let's at least call it bold. Billups said the two players with the most impressive "motors" he has witnessed are those of Kevin Garnett and Stoudemire, who will match up in the first series. "They remind me a lot of each other," he said.

Stoudemire recalled Garnett trying to intimidate him when the former was a straight-out-of-high-school rookie in 2002. Stoudemire scored 38.

D'Antoni and Stoudemire said the sprained left ankle that sidelined him down the stretch is not a concern. Beyond that, he said he has fully recovered from a draining March.

When Newsday's Alan Hahn asked him if his tank is full, he deadpanned, "Overload.

"I'm ready to go," he said. "Whenever postseason comes around, I tend to turn my game up a notch. It brings that extra motivation and extra focus out of me. Can't wait."

You might recall Scott said that about the AFC Championship Game in Pittsburgh, which the Jets lost. Stoudemire hopes his wait is more worthwhile.

When someone tried to press him on what would represent success against Boston -- the veiled implication being that two or three victories might suffice -- he didn't flinch. "Well," he said, "we have to win."