It feels like late last season when Amar’e Stoudemire went down, with everyone wanting to know: Where is the secondary scoring going to come from?

After practice on Saturday, Carmelo Anthony had the reason why this season’s team is better prepared for Stoudemire’s absence while the power forward recovers from a ruptured popliteal cyst in his left knee.

“We’re definitely a deeper team,” Anthony said.

Mike Woodson continued the conversation.

“I think our team is a little bit deeper than what we had last year,” he said. “When a key guy goes down, other guys gotta step up, and I feel pretty good about the guys that are in uniform until Amar’e gets back. So it’s going to be my job as the coach to push the guys that do play in practice to play at a high level once they step out on that floor.”

via Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com