Good news about Whitney:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/14/sports/basketball/14knicks.html

July 14, 2004

Houston Is Healing on Schedule

By STEVE POPPER

PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y., July 13 - As Allan Houston walked into the Pace University gym on Tuesday, Knicks theme songs accompanied his every step and there was not a hint of a limp or a hobble. He strode forward confidently to speak to a group of basketball campers.

But Houston, the Knicks' captain, is not yet ready for the rigors of the N.B.A. He had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in June 2003 and never fully recovered, missing 32 games last season. Houston said nonetheless that he believes he will be able to play without pain.

"My whole body feels much better," Houston said. "But my knee just needs more strength. Everything else, my flexibility, I feel rested, everything feels good. It's just the knee can't go out there and do it yet.

"My goal is to be going all-out by next month. I think the path that I'm doing, I think it's realistic. I've done everything I could to strengthen it and rehab it, but your body alone just needs time to do its thing and heal. My goal is by August to go out there. I can't predict the future. If I had to guess, yeah, I'd be ready by September."

Training camp begins in October, and Houston said he was convinced that he would be ready when the season opens.

He has concentrated on his rehabilitation this summer, ignoring talk of the Knicks' push to acquire another guard, the free agent Jamal Crawford of the Chicago Bulls. Houston is shuttling between the team's practice facility in Greenburgh, where he has worked with the Knicks' strength and conditioning coach, Greg Brittenham, and Boston for hydrotherapy sessions.

But Houston could not ignore that the Knicks' president, Isiah Thomas, had left him unprotected in the expansion draft.

"The most difficult part of this summer is just waiting to be healthy," said Houston, who signed a six-year, $100.4 million contract before the 2001-2 season. "I can promise one thing, and that's I'm going to do whatever I can and I will be healthy. I can't control who comes. The decision to leave me unprotected was a decision Isiah made in assuming that they wouldn't have the money to do that. I don't take offense any of that. I don't think I have room in my mind to think about anything else. I'm so focused on being healthy and being the best I've ever been that I don't even have room in my mind to think about Crawford or expansion."

For now Houston is juggling his rehabilitation with appearances like Tuesday's, as well as a spot as a guest W.N.B.A. announcer on July 24 when the Liberty is host to the Detroit Shock.

But he said he did not see any of this as a sign that he was planning his next career. With three years left on his contract, Houston, 33, is still set on being a part of the Knicks.

"I suspect that what Isiah sees is a nice three-guard rotation for us," Houston said. "The bottom line is you've got to have depth to win championships. You have to have guys that can stay fresh. When the playoffs get long or you go deep, everybody has to go into those last five or six minutes fresh. That would be something I would assume he's looking at."

The Knicks moved no closer to acquiring Crawford on Tuesday. With a sign-and-trade deal stalled, the team may have to decide whether to tender an offer for the midlevel exception, far less than what Crawford is seeking.

Although Houston was quick to point out that no deal had been made, he noted that some people believed he and Latrell Sprewell could not play together. Yet that combination helped bring the Knicks to their most recent N.B.A. finals appearance in 1999.

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

This NY Post takes a more negative view:

http://www.nypost.com/sports/knicks/27303.htm

HOUSTON: MY KNEES STILL SORE

By MARC BERMAN

July 14, 2004 -- Sharing minutes with Jamal Crawford is the least of Allan Houston's worries.

In his first public remarks since the season ended with him sidelined, the Knick forward admitted yesterday that, 21/2 months later, his rehabbing knees aren't fully sound, and he's unable to go "all out" without discomfort.

Houston indicated that, if training camp began today, he wouldn't be ready — a revelation that puts more pressure on Knick president Isiah Thomas to seal the deal for Crawford in a stalled sign-and-trade with the Bulls.

The Post reported Sunday that Thomas refused to include in the package Dikembe Mutombo, who is in the final year of his contract and a marketable commodity in other deals, and substituted Moochie Norris. It's created a snag that still existed yesterday, when there was no indication the two sides spoke.

Crawford is eligible to sign an offer sheet beginning today but is not willing to ink for the maximum mid-level exception of six years, $38 million the Knicks can offer outright. In a sign-and-trade, the Knicks are ready to give Crawford seven years, $55 million.

The poker game is on between the Knicks and Bulls, with a Knick official saying they will "wait" it out. The Bulls contend they won't budge because of Norris' contract.

Houston, who missed 32 regular-season games and the first-round Nets' sweep with arthritic knees, said he expects to be ready by late September's training camp, but his words lacked definitiveness.

"My goal is to be going all-out by next month," Houston said after speaking to kids at the Knicks' summer camp at Pace. "I think the path I'm going, I think it's realistic. I've done everything in rehab. My goal is to be out if we had started practicing [in August]. I can't predict the future. If I had to guess, I think I'll be ready by September."

Houston said he still needs "more strength" in the left knee that wore down due to compensation from microfracture surgery last summer on his right knee.

"I can't go out there and do it yet," Houston said. "Some days it feels really good. Some days I have to let it rest. "

Adding Crawford, a combo guard, would be ample insurance for Houston, but also allows Stephon Marbury more breathers. Chicago's Jerome Williams, Eddie Robinson and Chris Jeffries would be involved in one scenario, with Frank Williams, Othella Harrington, Shandon Anderson and Cezary Trybanski going back.

"I suspect what Isiah sees is a nice three-guard rotation for us," Houston said. "Bottom line is, you got to have depth to win championships, guys who can stay fresh."