Posted by Kwazimodal:

If he gets too many minutes in the first half of the season he could be toast by the All-star break.

If he gets too many minutes, the Knicks would be toast by the All-Star break.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/06/sports/basketball/06knicks.html?oref=login

Houston Watches as Knicks Open Camp
By HOWARD BECK

Published: October 6, 2004


HARLESTON, S.C., Oct. 5 - - The Knicks' future, presumed to be a brighter, more enjoyable ride than the recent past, began to take shape Tuesday in a nondescript gymnasium tucked into a modest liberal arts college.

Stephon Marbury, Jamal Crawford and Mike Sweetney, embodying the hope of a new era and carrying the expectations of a swagger-prone general manager, took the court together for the first time.


The scrimmage at the College of Charleston was closed to the news media, but it is presumed that Isiah Thomas smiled approvingly at his creation.

These are, in relative terms, high times for the franchise, coming off its first playoff appearance in three years, bursting with the intrigue of young talent and emboldened by a realignment that makes the Knicks a threat to win their division. That would make them no worse than a No. 3-seeded team, and there are even murmurs that the Knicks could be - seriously - the fourth-best team in the ever-shaky Eastern Conference of the N.B.A.

None of this is unreasonable, except to the extent that it all depends greatly on the one Knick who spent exactly zero minutes scrimmaging on the first day of training camp. While his teammates ran the court, Allan Houston worked on agility drills with the strength coach Greg Brittenham.

Houston, the Knicks' best shooter, their only proven playoff performer, their longtime go-to scorer and their locker-room leader, is a man with suspect knees and no timetable for returning. He is not expected to scrimmage Wednesday, either, and it seems no one - Houston, Coach Lenny Wilkens, Thomas or anyone else - can say, or is willing to say, when he might be ready for action.

Indeed, nearly everything concerning Houston's health - his training regimen, his schedule for beginning on-court activity, his availability for the Nov. 3 season opener - is a mystery.

"I don't want to think about tomorrow or Nov. 3,'' Houston said after the team's morning session. "I'm thinking about today and making progress every day.''

So goes the official, pointedly ambiguous Houston mantra, which is generally repeated by every member of the Knicks' hierarchy. Caution remains the standing order, lest the Knicks have a repeat of last season, when Houston missed 32 games, or of two seasons ago, when Antonio McDyess returned too quickly from knee surgery and sustained a season-ending injury in a preseason game.

Thomas has said that Houston could play, if needed, right now. The stated goal, however, is to ensure that his troublesome knees can last through an entire season and, the Knicks hope, a long playoff run. That said, it is not clear what Houston has to do to prove his readiness, to himself or to Knicks officials.

"Not only does he have to come to me, but the trainer and the doctors,'' Wilkens said. "Everybody's got to tell me, so that I'm comfortable, too. But he's working real hard in his therapy and stuff like that. He's able to run, he's feeling better all the time. But I think we need to wait. I don't think there's any reason to rush. Not after seeing what happened last year.''

While Houston plays the part of the frustrated spectator, the Knicks are trying to sort out a roster similarly steeped in uncertainty.

At the moment, only Marbury and Tim Thomas, at small forward, appear to be locks for the starting lineup.

Crawford could be the answer at shooting guard if Houston is not ready for opening night, but he is only 24 years old and not yet a consistent performer. Kurt Thomas is the sturdy incumbent at power forward, but his name surfaces in trade rumors almost weekly, and Knicks officials are giddy over the progress of Sweetney, entering his second pro season.

"Sweetney has made a huge jump," Wilkens said. "So I feel real comfortable sticking him in there now.''

Only four Knicks remain from last October, and two of them, Kurt Thomas and Shandon Anderson, are perpetual trade bait, making it ever more difficult to gauge team chemistry, or forecast the team's chances.

"It's definitely different,'' Kurt Thomas said of the new-look Knicks. "But hopefully everything will be for the good.''

REBOUNDS

The Knicks have hired MATT DOHERTY, the former Notre Dame and North Carolina coach, as a part-time scout. ... Four free agents in search of a roster spot have joined the Knicks in camp: center MENGKE BATEER, guard ANDRE BARRETT and forwards TRACY MURRAY and BRENT WRIGHT. ...Knicks Coach LENNY WILKENS said that SHANDON ANDERSON's feud with the front office would not affect their player-coach relationship, and that Anderson would be given every chance to earn a rotation spot.

I can't say I'm shocked by this news. The best case scenario, IMO, is that eventually Houston will be a solid performer off the bench. I don't expect him to be a starter getting 38 mpg for an 82 game season ever again.

and Knicks officials are giddy over the progress of Sweetney, entering his second pro season.

"Sweetney has made a huge jump," Wilkens said. "So I feel real comfortable sticking him in there now."

Yea.. I'm giddy too. Everyone is talking about how we need a post presence, but people outside of NY dont mention Sweets much. I admit I only saw him 3 times in college but this guy was a bonafide back to the basket scorer with skills moves as well as power moves.

Don't underestimate our front-court. We do have guys on our roster that can actually play with their backs toward the basket. TT, Vinny, Sweetney, are all players that can play down low. We may not have a big name player in our front-court a la Duncan, Garnett, but we have a combo of players that are very valuable. Sweetney is a very good rebounder, JYD excellent rebounding skills and a huslter, Vinny is very wellknowned for what he can do when healthy. The problem that we will be faced with is very obvious, and Isiah vows to take the proper measures once the opportunities present themselves.

We all know that Kurt and Andrson have to go. We just have to be a little more patient. Something will happen before the beginning of the season, and teams will be dying to have Kurt or Anderson in their teams. I simply hope that Isiah makes the right decisions as far as dealing those two. We don't need superstars in return for them, draft picks will do just fine.

http://www.nynewsday.com/sports/basketball/knicks/ny-spknix1008,0,5641022.story?coll=nyc-sports-headlines

KNICKS
Houston taking it easy
Depth provided by Thomas’ offseason acquisitions allows team to limit star guard’s workload, avoid reinjury

BY GREG LOGAN
STAFF CORRESPONDENT

October 8, 2004


CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Two years ago, when former Knicks forward Antonio McDyess was trying to make a comeback from knee surgery, he was on the court with three minutes left in the third preseason game when he came down wrong and suffered a season-ending injury.

The story virtually repeated itself last season when McDyess and Allan Houston pushed themselves to get back on the court early after surgery and suffered major setbacks.

That won't happen again this season. Determined not to repeat the mistakes of the previous regime, Knicks president Isiah Thomas Thursday said Houston's rehabilitation will include little, if any, playing time in the preseason, and even when he returns in the regular season, the demands on him to carry the bulk of the scoring won't be as great.

Except for the first day of training camp, Houston has worked out separately from his teammates in the morning. While the Knicks do conditioning and classroom work at the College of Charleston, Houston endures a three-hour outdoor workout session at a nearby track.

Houston has attended the evening scrimmage, but his work is limited to a few drills and no contact.

"The worst thing that can happen is if somebody accidentally runs into his knee or something like that," Thomas said. "We've got a lot of good work built up into him. It's important we keep building as opposed to having an 'oops.'

"If he does play in the exhibition games, it will be five or six minutes just to kind of get a feel. But then he's out. We want him around for the real show," Thomas said. "If he's going to take a knee or risk an injury, I'd rather that happen in a real game."

Not that Thomas believes Houston is so fragile that he will break down as soon as he's exposed to contact. It's simply a matter of waiting to test him when it counts.

Former coach Don Chaney and, as it turned out, former president and general manager Scott Layden had their jobs on the line last season, which might have prompted them to take a more aggressive approach with McDyess and Houston.

But the Knicks no longer are so dependent on one or two players thanks to the depth Thomas has added. He made an offseason trade with Chicago for Jamal Crawford, who can play either guard position, and wants to develop second-round pick Trevor Ariza at shooting guard and small forward. Both players worked with the first unit Thursday as coach Lenny Wilkens looked at different combinations.

Asked if Crawford is capable of replacing Houston in the starting lineup if necessary, Thomas said, "Yes. I feel lucky that we got him. He's really good."

The Knicks owe Houston $57.3 million over the next three seasons, so it's not as if they can push him to the curb or trade him. But Thomas hopes to extend Houston's effectiveness by reducing his minutes and the team's dependence on his jump shot.

"The days where Allan Houston had to play 50 minutes and score 40 points to be close in a game, that's not how it is anymore," Thomas said. "Can Allan Houston score 20, 25 points a night if we went to him every single time? Without question. But will we make him carry that type of workload? No, we won't."

Notes & quotes: The financial implications of buying out the final three years of Shandon Anderson's $24 million contract apparently are too great a burden to bear for Cablevision, which owns the club. "Right now, that's not an option," Thomas said ... Nets forward Richard Jefferson recently said former Net Kenyon Martin would win any fight with Knicks forward Tim Thomas. Earlier this week, Thomas said he'd like to fight Martin in a ring, but he avoided the subject Thursday. "Enough said," Thomas said. "I said what I said. I'm waiting for a nice response. Until then, let's play basketball." ... Former Knick John Starks Thursday was named to a newly created position of alumni relations and fan development adviser ... The Knicks released forward Brent Wright so he could accept an offer to play in Europe.