Houston's the ONLY player on this team that can knock down a jumper w/consistency even when someone's guarding him...having a dimension like that on the team is critical when you go through scoring droughts like we saw in last night's game when the Knicks couldn't buy a basket, ESPECIALLY on a team w/o a dominant low post scoring presence...sometimes you just have to give Allan the ball & let him drain the shot in someone's face...you can't have 5 guys on the floor throwing up bricks & then being afraid to shoot the ball in fear of looking bad afterwards.

whether he starts or not when he comes back is up to Lenny...regardless, Allan's role on this team is important & shouldn't be overlooked just because we see a few fancy dunks & crossovers from the new guys.

I think this team definitely needs Houston, especially in the half-court offense. We need a solid spot up guy and Allan is more than solid - he's one of the best. He takes and makes big shots. He's going to be so much better now that he's not asked to carry the team on achy knees.

Anyone who thinks houston is not needed or necsasry obviously has low abasketball I Q.

Posted by jazz74:

houston is a zone buster. plain and simple. he can hit jumpers regularly. remember, he played injured all last year with two bad knees and still avg. 18ppg. not many people can do that. he is by far our best outside threat and still one of the best three point specialists in the league. he will have his role. i am with the notion that he will not avg. 20ppg anymore but he will be effective.

Question.....when has Houston made a defense change to man to man because of Houstons jumpshooting? Please stop the BS....if Houston was the truth as far as carrying teams with his jumper the Knicks would have won a tittle, and would not have missed the playoffs almost 3 straight season and forced Layden to be fired and Isiah to fight all summer to get his replacement.

Get off the BS.....does Houston make his teamates better...has he ever? Houston needs people to create for him or either just a selfish clear out.

Crawford is a treat to get a triplr double....Houston wish he could get close to a triple double. Houston's jumper is needed yeah....but lets not forget how one dementional he is.

On the flip side - crawford would be a great 6th man - providing a huge spark from the bench when H20 sits down or when Marbury is in foul trouble/needs a rest. There are plenty of minutes for the three of them if you arent including Penny in a solid rotation of minutes at the 1 or 2.

Houston will have to change his game a little but I dont see him becoming a shell of his former self just yet - he is going to be as sharp as ever this season mark my words.

1- Marbury/Craw/Penny
2- H20/Craw/Penny
3- TT/Penny/Ariza
4- KT/Sweets/JYD
5- Nazr/Baker

Personally I would give sweets the start at the 4 and slide KT to the 5 unless we are playing Shaq but thats just me. H20 will be the starter once he is back at full health and deservedly so. Maybe crawford will push him.

[Edited by - OasisBU on 10/15/2004 15:05:17]

good post jazz.

now if he can only give back some of his money so that we can afford a superstar under our cap all will be golden!

Posted by EnySpree:

Posted by jazz74:

houston is a zone buster. plain and simple. he can hit jumpers regularly. remember, he played injured all last year with two bad knees and still avg. 18ppg. not many people can do that. he is by far our best outside threat and still one of the best three point specialists in the league. he will have his role. i am with the notion that he will not avg. 20ppg anymore but he will be effective.

Question.....when has Houston made a defense change to man to man because of Houstons jumpshooting? Please stop the BS....if Houston was the truth as far as carrying teams with his jumper the Knicks would have won a tittle, and would not have missed the playoffs almost 3 straight season and forced Layden to be fired and Isiah to fight all summer to get his replacement.

Get off the BS.....does Houston make his teamates better...has he ever? Houston needs people to create for him or either just a selfish clear out.

Crawford is a treat to get a triplr double....Houston wish he could get close to a triple double. Houston's jumper is needed yeah....but lets not forget how one dementional he is.

When have u seen any team clog the middle/ down-low area when Allan Houston is playing? Are you actually gonna say that teams don't change their defense when Allan Houston is playing? Have you ever played basketball in your life? Are you actually gonna say that Allan Houston doesn't spread the floor (offensively)?

If you do believe that then you are saying that Allan Houston changes the defense to man to man cuz that's when the floor is more spread out. Houston has taken people by creating his own shots in more man to man situations than any other Knicks player I know of beside Patrick Ewing.

We have all seen Allan Houston abuse people in the corner for a nice jump shot. And you know what, it was a man to man situation. Do teams just happen top play man to man all day cuz they are playing the Knicks? No! The truth is Allan Houston does change how a team is going to defend the Knicks. And it also depends on who you have on your team that can guard him. Man you sound like this guy never dropped 50 points on the Lakers easily.

[Edited by - Bizzy211 on 10/15/2004 15:37:37]

Ah yes, ball handling ability, pretty plays, rebounding, running the break, and some good D, esp in the PF/C positions, win games.

You dont need shooters! Just look at the USA Olympic basketball team! Theyve got everything listed above in probably every player! And they won the gold and they didnt have any real shooters! Oh wait... no, no they didnt.. Thats right, they lost because defenses could just play zone and none of the US players could exploit the zone with back to back 3's.

Hmm.. maybe it would be a little stupid to bench Houston for most of the game. Maybe it would be stupider to bench him especially if hes only 1 year removed from his best year (PPG). And, for all the Spree lovers out there (myself included), i guess it would be stupid to bench him, too - he doesnt have the assists or the rebounds, just like H20.

Personally, however, itd be most stupid to bench Houston to put Penny in. Penny is clearly the MOST overpaid, overrated, <insert pejorative> player on the Knicks. Get out of my face he's good. He WAS good, but now he sucks. And the Knicks have to get that. That and whiner Timmy Thomas will NEVER be as clutch as Houston. I'd rather have a guy who's quiet and contributes rather than one who acts tough and gets 5PF's, 7pts and a whopping TWO (ill remind you, he's 6'10) rebounds in 22 min against a pathetic Nets team.

Oh and all you KT haters, I'll say it now - KT is a crucial part of the Knicks frontcourt. Trading him for a guy like Wally will cripple the team for the season.



[Edited by - metra on 10/15/2004 15:43:34]

[Edited by - metra on 10/15/2004 15:44:16]

Posted by Stevo718:

But he is very superior in that one dimension and sometimes you need someone that is breed for that last second jumper to win the game.

SOMTIMES is correct. and lets not kid ourselves. We had scoring droughts for the last 2 years like none other, worse than last night. Houston is a jumpshooter. You live by the jumpshot, you die by it. Houston might change the defense slightly and yes, we can absolutely use his outside shooting. But that does not mean he gets the starting SG spot over Crawford. I saw Crawford go for offensive and defensive rebounds. I haven't seen that from Houston in a long long time.

Houston will not start when he returns. I am sure of it. They will make up stuff like, "we are going to ease him in" but the truth is that Crawford can help the team more which is why he will start.

Besides Jordan and Reggie name me 10 players that can catch and shoot even w/ people in his grill and hit... at a high average and do that many times during the game.

Kobe Bryant, Ray Allen, Michael Redd, Peja, Rip Hamilton. I think those are the only real NBA players that can still "Shoot". Houston will come after all of them.

I am also sure this will not even matter. I have been saying this all offseason. Houston will not return in time for the season. When he does return he will not play more than 40 games.