Knicks' Stoudemire on 'mind-boggling' 5-31 start: 'Beyond my imagination'

Following a disappointing 33-49 season last year and an offseason trade that sent Tyson Chandler back to Dallas, no one quite knew what to expect of the 2014-15 New York Knicks.

Observers were definitely open to another bad season, but fans also noted the possibility that in a weak Eastern Conference, they could potentially hover around .500 and challenge for a playoff spot.

Heck, just a month ago, with the Knicks already off to a terrible start, veteran big man Amar'e Stoudemire still held out hope for an Atlantic Division crown.

As the calendar's flipped to 2015, however, and the Knicks hold an unfathomably pitiful 5-31 record, Stoudemire is now at a loss.

"It's beyond my imagination at this point," Stoudemire said before Sunday's loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, as reported by ESPN's Ian Begley. "I never thought I'd see this ... This is definitely kind of mind-boggling."

"When I first signed with New York, that wasn't the game plan," Stoudemire said of the team now in a race for lottery positioning. "But the past is not here. And neither is the future, so we've got to deal with the now, and I think we've just got to continue to try to get better as a team and as players, try to keep improving," he added.

Stoudemire signed a five-year, near-$100 million contract with the Knicks in 2010, helping take the legendary franchise from a perennial lottery team to a three-year playoff fixture again.

Unfortunately, the Stoudemire-Carmelo Anthony tandem never produced as promised, and even the acquisition of Chandler couldn't deliver more than one playoff series victory.