Posted by fishmike:

look, I totally understand where Silver and others come from. Its easy to pick Houston (and Shandon) as the last vestige of everything that was wrong with the Knicks.

Make no mistake however.. if he can come back 80% healthy this guy will have a renaissance. Imagine the space he will create for Marbury, Crawford and TT when they slash to the basket.

If he comes back healthy he will be extremely effective. Him and Marbury can be one of the best backcourts in the NBA just like Marbury and Craw would be unstoppable.

And I am not blaming Houston or Shandon for the bad years in the Chaney/Laden regime. I blame Layden and Chaney for the bad years. I just get really really annoyed when people act like Houston is an all star that kept the Knick fan proud. NO! There was nothing to be proud about in those years. And like I said in one of my other posts, this is not Houston bashing, this is bashing people who think Houston lead us somewhere good in those two years. It was their (Chaney/ Layden's) fault that Houston was misused and if u want to say he did a great job, fine but that is not my argument.

Mark my words: You will never hear/read me bash him when the season starts unless something blatant happens. Thats true for every single player that wears a Knick uniform. I might not praise them but I will not bash them. Honestly, this thread is really making my week and I hope to see more like these before the season starts. Makes the day go by quicker.

He's not just a jump shooter. He's a jump shooter thats taken that one skill and turned it into a respectable scoring arsenal. His game is creating space for that jumper.

I think he can jump shoot even if he doesn't have that much space. He is a phenomenal jump shooter but that’s where it stops with that guy. He should be used as a jump shooter because thats where is will be most effective.

A few years ago (99) Houston shot an unreal 48.3% FGs and 43.6% from downtown. With the space these playmakers can create I can see something similar for him. Thats a sick stat. He wont average 20ppg because there will be less shots (for everyone) but if they share the shots will be VERY %

I believe 1999 was Houstons best year as a complete player. I remember him playing defense. Playing it well. The post before this one also pointed out how well he did in the playoffs that year against Atlanta and Indiana. And in one game against the Spurs, our two SGs just exploded having 30pts each.

I argue about this with people all the time and they tell me it was Van Gundy's system that made him a better defender and also an effective offensive player (48% FG). I however think Houston CAN play 1-on-1 defense. I remember him doing very well. I remember him driving to a hoop a lot more and also getting to the FT line a lot too. And McGrady and Pierce are the 2 best offensive players I have seen after Kobe. I will not expect anyone, much less Houston to stop them.

Remember he whole "get low with Wayman" or Wayan campaign they had with Houston? He used to DRIVE then. Not much but he would show ability. I dunno if he stopped doing that because he is injuerd now, but he did not drive much in the two years he was the franchise player.

This is where I come to an agreement with you, that there was nothing much to brag about, besides a couple of Allan Houston 50 pt games, and a few other select moments, in the 3 losing years (Until Isiah came along). All I am saying is that his one on one defense has improved. It's his off the ball defense (On his man0 that he really gets killed at, and he's a better passer you give him credit for, and yes, he deserves to get knocked for his rebounding. But whether you think he's not an all star, when healthy, and when some people do, is just a matter of opinion, and neither side deserves to get bashed. The season before last year, I thought he was all star calibre, but so were a lot of other players, so I couldn't sweat when he wasn't selected. Last season, he wasn't. This season, he probably wont, but who knows. I'm just praying that he's healthy, so we can have a fun backcourt to watch, b/c hopefully, I'll have a dish or cable tv and TIVO to watch the games this year.

Also, I disagree that '99 was Houstons best year. He was super in the playoffs, but during that regular season, basically the whole team, including Spree and Ewing, played pretty below par, until those last 12 games. The most memorable of those games was that big comeback against Miami, when we were down 20 in the 4th, and we won on a couple of LJ 3s. Silverfeul, if you are looking for old Knick games, that's one you should definitely get. That was a fun one.

I think his best year was the year he had the 2 50 pt games (Both wins), but the rest of the team had nothing to show for that year he had, b/c our frontcourt was just so God awful. That's the year I think he stepped up and argueably improved his defense to average, b/c he really bulked up in upper body strength. But again, if you disagree, feel free.

Posted by djsunyc:

allan houston's 2nd half of the 2002-2003 season showed me that he can CARRY the ENTIRE team offensively on his shoulders. if he can just go 20-25 mins and drain jumpers (forget about defense), he will change the whole complexion of this team. heck, if he could've gone 15 mins vs the nets, the series is tied 2-2 going back to jersey.

Please define, "carry the entire team offensively on his shoulders." Do you mean he was leading scorer? If thats the case, true. I generally use 'carry the team' when you carry it somewhere. example: .500, the playoffs, 2nd round of the playoffs.

his role is defined now and that's all we need him to do. and it's a role he can really flourish in...

Yes you are right. He can flourish in this role but more importantly, the team can flourish in this role.

One point about the quote on top:
If you are going to give credit to him for scoring then you cannot blame his lack for driving on coaching. If you blame the coaching for calling plays for him that required mostly jump shots, then the same coaching drew up the plays where he HAD to score more than anyone on the team. He might have done an OK job there but the team suffered and thats the biggest problem.