One element that separates good teams from mediocre and bad teams is the ability to manufacture substantial and efficient offense from secondary scorers.

There will unquestionably be nights in which a team's best scorer will be taken out of the game, whether by simple cold shooting or effective defensive schemes from the opponent.

For the Knicks, Amar'e Stoudemire has led the team in scoring in 63% of their 44 games.

New York lost their first six games of the season when Stoudemire led the team in scoring. But from November 27th until December 15th, Stoudemire was New York's leading scorer in 10 consecutive games. The Knicks went 8-2 during the stretch, merely losing the bookends to Atlanta and Boston.

The Knicks have a 9-7 record (9-4 prior to the three most recent road losses) when their leading scorer is not Stoudemire, compared to 14-14 when he is their leading scorer.

Stoudemire averages 27.1 points, 9.2 rebounds and a FIC40 of 18.2 in New York wins and 24.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and a FIC40 of 17.0 in their losses. His field goal percentage drops from 53.3% in wins to a more pedestrian 46.1% in losses.

The difference in record between Stoudemire leading the team in scoring or not is not big enough to draw a definite conclusion. Nor does it suggest the Knicks benefit by not having Stoudemire as their leading option, but it does prove they are capable of winning games where he doesn't dominate the offense.

Furthermore, and in some ways related, he has freelanced too frequently in ISOs this season. Stoudemire is and always will be at his best in the pick and roll and in the post, scoring within this structure because he too easily becomes streaky.

The ancillary benefit of nights when Stoudemire isn't excessively calling his own number is the way he has emerged as a setup artist. Stoudemire had a 4.8 assist percentage last season with the Suns (7.0 career average) and it has ballooned to 13.6% with New York.

Game log of when Stoudemire doesn't lead New York in scoring

10/27, at Toronto: 98-93 win, Wilson Chandler (22)
10/30, Portland: 95-100 loss, Chandler (22)
11/4, at Chicago: 120-112 win, Toney Douglas (30)
11/5, Washington: 112-91 win, Douglas (19)
11/12, at Minnesota: 103-112 loss, Danilo Gallinari (25)
11/19, at Golden State: 125-119 win, Raymond Felton (35)
11/23, Charlotte: 110-107 win, Douglas (22)
11/24, at Charlotte: 99-95 win, Felton (23)
12/17, Miami: 91-113 loss, Gallinari (25)
12/18, at Cleveland: 102-109 loss, Felton (23)
12/25, Chicago: 103-95 win, Felton (20)
1/4, San Antonio: 128-115 win, Chandler (31)
1/7, at Phoenix, 121-96 win, Felton (23)
1/12, at Utah, 125-131 loss, Shawne Williams (25)
1/21, at San Antonio, 92-101 loss, Raymond Felton (23)
1/22, at Oklahoma City, 98-101 loss, Danilo Gallinari (23)

• Click here to see New York's results page.