As one of our esteemed readers brought up in response to the Kanye West piece, Allan Houston has signaled to ESPN that he is 90-95% ready to return to the hardwood, but, and here is the key, he doesn't expect to return to the Knicks. Allan Houston is my least favorite Knick of all time. I do not count the Knicks who arrived with or since Isiah because that era simply doesn't exist for me. I choose to remember the Knicks of the late 80s through the exodus of Spree only.
As Ewing's tenure was winding down the Knicks were faced with several choices on how to transition, they could trade Ewing for 45 cents on the dollar to escape his balloon payment contract or let his contract finish and then get under the salary cap, they also had to choose between which type of team they wanted to have. The choices were simple, keep Vanilla Allan Houston and build around a sharp shooting soft as a Dairy Queen parfait non-defending 2 guard or pick a maniacal, yacht driving, computer geek, lock down defending swing man in Latrell Spreewell. Compounding this was the growing rift between the GM and Coach Van Gundy who favored an attacking offense and a strong physical defense. As with most Coach GM battles, the owner chose the GM, the Knicks got rid of Camby and Spree and banked on Houston, Charlie Ward, Howard Eisley Shandon Anderson, Antonio McDyess and Kurt Thomas among other superstars.
Maybe Houston has what it takes to return, but keep this in mind, the NBA instituted a rule allowing teams to cut an injured player and not have to absorb the cap number just for Allan Houston. Forget about his soft play, its been a long time since Houston contributed in any meaningful way, can his body take the pounding of an NBA season, does he really have the desire to play again? Only time will tell, but at least he is not the Knicks problem any longer.
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4 comments:
I wish I was more gifted with the english language so I could express my setiments for Allen Houston better. As many of you know I was never a Knicks fan, however I am still (although I don't like to admit it in public) an avid NBA fan. I have been watching NBA games since the tail end of the Magic Showtime Lakers and the Larry Legend Celtics. I do not believe, in my heart of hearts, there has ever been a softer big time scorer in the NBA in the last fifty years. Here is a guy who could light up the Hawks for 40+ every night in November and December, and drop 15 straight three's out of a dead sleep with a hand in his face if there was nothing on the line. However if it mattered, LIKE IF MY LIFE DEPENDED ON IT, I am not to sure I would take Houston over my grandfather to make one open shot (for those of you who don't know my gransdfather's have been dead 34 and 24 years respectfully). So yes he is Vanilla, Dairy Queen, and any other adjective you can come up with.
The Regulator
thanks for pointing out that a dead squatty Italian guy and an even deader big eared Irishman coould shoot better than Big Al int he clutch
as much as i despise him, he did hit the one runner off the rim 8 times to beat Miami in the playoffs, but clutch was clearly not his middle name
Josh, get back on the Knicks bandwagon now. You'll love David Lee. Maybe even Balkman.
Allan Houston should not come back. He has an arthritic knee and while I'm sure he can still shoot if he's wide open, he won't make contested shots any more.
However, he did suffer from getting a ridiculous contract. It's not his fault that Layden paid him $50 million more than he was worth.
At his best, Houston was a reliable scorer and a better than average shooter. He was not a leader or the guy you wanted as the best player. Complementary to guys like Spre? Then he's a guy you want.
Again, though, he shouldn't come back. He will embarrass himself.
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