scylla
Posts: 20051
Alba Posts: 0
Joined: 8/17/2001
Member: #97
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Iverson's crossover, Duncan's bank shot, Shaq's baby hook, MJ's fadeaway...I think we've arrived at the point where we can add Allan Houston's increasingly familiar brand of unforced turnover to the list of patented moves currently on display across the league. Now, I know, he's an easy target, but that's kind of the point--he's been an easy target for quite some time now. It's not like his game has suddenly deteriorated post-Ewing. His inability to handle the ball under heavy (or moderate, or sometimes no) pressure is not a new development, but one tends to cut promising young players--particularly those with skills as promising as Houston's--some slack. After all, good ballhandling is just as much about hard work as it is natural aptitude, and Allan can't be accused of lacking in either department. Nonetheless, he has used up his benefit of the doubt. No one seems fully able to put their finger on it, but there is no doubt that Houston is not, and will likely never be, the franchise player he was once projected to be. He can be counted on to perform for one half of the season only, disappearing without fail EVERY YEAR for either the first or the second half of the season, consistently using the All Star break as his cut-off point. Lack of heart, fire, drive--call it what you will, but give Sprewell Houston's stroke and you have a monster (give him Houston's character and you have Monty Williams). None of this is Houston's fault, though. He is who he is, and has been, for years now. This summer was our chance to make something happen. I'm no Ernie Grunfeld (RealGM makes my head hurt), but did anyone--ANYONE--think it was a bright idea to max him out? If you listened closely, you could almost hear Knicks fans slapping their collective foreheads in unison. It can't even be excused as paying on potential, unless you really believe Allan's got some new tricks up his sleeve. His play will pick up some, I'm sure, but really, come on...was there even a negotiation? Who, for the umpteenth time, were they bidding against? I know it's poor form to let talented players leave for nothing, but would it have really hurt so much to talk him down to a number that won't preclude a trade (I'm sorry, but it's wishful thinking to believe anyone's taking him off our hands)? None of this is Layden's fault. I like what he's done, given the rather impossible situation he's inherited (although he did, in fine NYK fashion, screw the pooch come draft day). And rigid as he may be, I don't think we're going to find a better situational coach than JVG. Me, I blame Dolan. There was talk at the time of Houston's signing that Dolan didn't want to hardball Houston, largely because Allan's a model citizen...with a little help from his Palm Pilot, of course. That leaves Spree as our only truly viable trade asset, although the junk I hear associated with his name send shivers up my spine...Big Country? Jahidi White and Courtney Alexander? Sweet mother of god, no. I think all we can do as fans (and I AM a longtime loyal fan, dating from the bad old days of Al Bianchi) is get ready to be very, very patient, because it's only going to get worse, in a long-term kind of way. I wish there were, but there's no one trade that's going to 'put us right back in it'. Camby's return will help, but his absence seems to have inflated his value in some people's minds. Canning the season for a trip to the lottery, whether by design or by nature, is a longshot at best. No, there needs to be a purging, a salary dump of proportions unseen since the days of Gary Grant, Willie Anderson and Brad Lohaus. As long as management keeps trying this rebuilding-on-the-fly nonsense, exchanging players of similar value in the hopes that some intangibles will click into place, we fans--the ones who can separate our love of the franchise from our feelings for its personnel and leadership--are going to keep suffering. Because management, whether they're doling out $100M contracts to milquetoasts with jumpshots or insisting that there are, in fact, people sitting in the empty seats in the Garden, just doesn't seem willing to admit that this team is in a downswing.
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