"Brilliant"!

getting a trade exception for Houston or Penny for that matter would be a HUGE piece to have at the deadline.

I know that the team would benefit a great deal if he retires and if the team could get an exemption.

But whatever happens, I support Houston. Since the end of the Ewing era in NY, he's been the one carrying this NY team on his back most nights. He's a great shooter (though somewhat one dimentional) and a good guy off the court.

I don't know about you, but I'm having less and less respect for Isiah. Tell me what kind of man would make a comment like this regarding one of his soldiers who's fighting thru an injury?:

Thomas, the Knicks president, didn't totally dismiss the idea of Houston hanging them up before his contract, which runs through the 2006-07 season, expires.

Asked during a conference call yesterday if Houston's condition - chronic knee pain - could reach a point where the Knicks ask their veteran shooting guard to retire, Thomas said: "I think Allan has to make the decision himself in terms of retiring. That's a question that only the player can answer. That's probably a good question for you to ask him. As an organization we'll continue to support him and try to help him overcome his injuries."

"I think we all hope that he can get back to being Allan," Thomas said. "But I think realistically we may all have to come to the conclusion that he may not ever get there again and we may have to start dealing with that reality."

Isiah's got no class. It's no wonder he pisses off so many people. And I believe that having a boos like this would have a negative influence on the morale & phyche of the team. Is it a coincidence that this team seems to lack chemistry?

Posted by Silverfuel:

Posted by SKY:

he's been the one carrying this NY team on his back most nights.

Carry the team on his back to what exactly? 2 seasons with no playoffs? scored the most points on this team?

Look, I'm not discounting his teammates like Spree, Camby, KT, etc, but without Houston, this team probably couldn't reach the finals in Ewing's last yr being a Knick. And even though you may not like his game, you cannot deny or ignore the huge contribution he's made to this team. Even last yr, he played hurt and carried the team to the play-offs

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/gamelog?statsId=1282&sYear=2003&sType=2
This stats from last yr alone is admirable considering the fact that he played hurt for the most part.

Posted by Silverfuel:

Posted by SKY:

Look, I'm not discounting his teammates like Spree, Camby, KT, etc, but without Houston, this team probably couldn't reach the finals in Ewing's last yr being a Knick.

I completely disagree. I think the teams MVP that year was Spree. We might have somehow managed to do well without Houston but without Spree, we dont even make the playoffs in 199. I agree that 1999,01 were Houstons best years as a complete basketball player and then he signed the contract and started to suck but he was not the main reason we went to the finals.

And even though you may not like his game, you cannot deny or ignore the huge contribution he's made to this team. Even last yr, he played hurt and carried the team to the play-offs

He did not carry any team to the playoffs. Last year, it was Stephon that came in and carried us to the playoffs. With Houston, we actaully missed the playoffs 2 straight years and the better SG was playing out of position.

w/o Allan's miracle shot or his outburst performance against the Pacers in the next series, the Knicks don't make the Finals that year.

dude, what the hell is your freakin' problem w/me? do you have to take everything i say as a personal assault on you? i was only pointing out what the previous poster was talking about when he said w/o Allan the Knicks don't make the Finals that year...

were you beaten as a child?

Posted by Silverfuel:

Posted by TMS:

dude, what the hell is your freakin' problem w/me? do you have to take everything i say as a personal assault on you? i was only pointing out what the previous poster was talking about when he said w/o Allan the Knicks don't make the Finals that year...

were you beaten as a child?

You replied to my post, quoting it suggesting it was not correct so I had to correct you.

And do u have to think that everyone that does not like you was beaten as child? Were you beaten as a child?

[Edited by - silverfuel on 01/27/2005 23:23:25]

He either thinks they were beaten as children or calls them girls. It's impressive maturity!

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/28/sports/basketball/28knicks.html

The New York Times
January 28, 2005

Houston Dismisses Talk of Retiring as Premature

By DAVE CALDWELL

GREENBURGH, N.Y., Jan. 27 - Allan Houston said Thursday that he would keep playing despite unrelenting pain in his left knee, which the Knicks said had an arthritic condition without a proven remedy.

The Knicks made more information available on Houston's knee on a day in which he insistently shot down speculation that he might be, or should be, contemplating retirement.

"At this point, I just want to play," Houston, a member of the team since July 1996, said after practice. "I love to play too much."

The Knicks were buoyed by the return Thursday of guard Penny Hardaway, who has missed 24 of the last 26 games with a strained right hamstring. Hardaway and Houston plan to play Friday against Cleveland at Madison Square Garden, but Houston's future is sketchy, at best.

Houston, 33, who has played in only 20 of the Knicks' 41 games, sounded as if he thought he was facing more than a small hurdle. First, he must ease the pain that has kept him out of the Knicks' last three games. That alone is a huge challenge.

The pain might be temporarily relieved by ice, electric stimulation, ultrasound treatment and anti-inflammatory drugs, but Houston's knee is still arthritic and would be subject to chronic soreness.

Isiah Thomas, the Knicks' president, has said that Houston will probably never return to his old form. In response to a question on Wednesday, Thomas hinted that Houston should consider retirement, but that decision would be left to the player. Thomas, who as at practice Thursday, did not elaborate.

Houston said: "It is up to me. It's just not now."

His decline can be measured. Houston is averaging 11.9 points a game this season, nearly 6 points below his career average. His field-goal percentage is 3 points lower than his career average, and he has become a defensive liability.

"I think Isiah just doesn't want people to expect too much," Houston said Thursday when asked why he thought Thomas said what he did.

Later, Houston said, "He made me understand that he wants me to be healthy - not to go out and kill myself, or reinjure myself."

Houston said that he was not planning to announce his retirement, but that he knew a full comeback would be difficult. He said he had no expectations as to what his role might be.

"I think when I get healthy, I'll see what my expectations are," he said.

Houston was on the injured list for 26 days last February because the cartilage behind his left kneecap had softened, causing intense discomfort. Houston played in only 9 of the Knicks' last 35 regular-season games and missed the playoffs.

He missed the Knicks' first 18 games this season as he recovered and was sidelined again with patellofemoral arthritis, which is caused by degeneration of the cartilage. When he returned, his playing time was increased because of other players' injuries.

"Him being out for eight months, I can't imagine what it was like for him trying to get his rhythm," said Jamal Crawford, who missed 10 games because of a sprained right big toe.

Mild cases of arthritis can be treated with exercise to strengthen the quadriceps muscle. Surgery can clean out loose pieces of cartilage that is causing the irritation and swelling, but there would be less padding between the kneecap and the thigh bone.

The Knicks would be relieved of Houston's enormous salary - he is due $20.7 million for the 2006-7 season - if he filed for a medical retirement, but under N.B.A. rules, a salary cannot be erased from a team's salary-cap figure until two years after the date a doctor determines the player sustained a career-ending injury. Regardless of Houston's status, the soonest the Knicks could be under the cap is the summer of 2007.

Compounding the injury problem the Knicks' downward spiral. They have a 17-24 record, losing 11 of their last 12 games. Coach Lenny Wilkens resigned Saturday, and the Knicks who are healthy want to help the team break its free fall.

"We're getting back some healthy bodies," said Herb Williams, the interim coach.

Hardaway, who has not played since Jan. 4, said he would do what he could. He denied earlier reports that he had asked Thomas to be traded.

"I've never had a conversation with Isiah, let alone anybody else, about getting traded," Hardaway said. He said he went home to Memphis "just to get healthy."

Hardaway was said to be upset at the diminished amount of playing time Wilkens was giving him, but he said he had probably made his injury worse by continuing to play.

"My ego got in the way because I wanted to play more," he said.

So do Houston and all the others on a team that still believes it is in contention for the playoffs. As Crawford said, "Once we win, we'll be O.K., and we'll be over the hump."

REBOUNDS

LeBron James, who crumpled to the floor in the fourth quarter of the Cavaliers' game Wednesday night, had tests on his sprained left ankle at the Cleveland Clinic on Thursday, The Associated Press reported. James traveled with his teammates to New York for their game Friday night with the Knicks, and the Cavaliers said he would be re-evaluated by their trainer, Max Benton, on Friday. James's status is listed as a game-time decision.

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1106980230291040.xml

Knicks put Houston back on injured list

Saturday, January 29, 2005

BY DAVID WALDSTEIN
Star-Ledger Staff

NEW YORK -- Three days ago, when Knicks team president Isiah Thomas gave credence to the possibility of Allan Houston retiring, it seemed almost out of the blue. Today, one has to wonder if Thomas knows more than he's letting on.

Yesterday the ailing Houston was placed on the injured list with a severely arthritic left knee, raising doubts about whether he will be back before the end of the season.

Before last night's 99-96 victory over the Cavaliers, a somber Houston vowed he would be back before next season, but couldn't say exactly when.

"Oh, yeah," the shooting guard said. "There's no doubt in my mind."

Last week Houston circled last night's game as his target for returning after missing three games, so this is a setback. When the pain didn't subside, Houston consulted with his wife, Tamara, and changed his mind.

"Me and my wife talked about it a lot last night," he said, "and that's really when I put a lot of thought into it -- with all the surrounding events."

Houston was making a wry reference to the controversy that erupted from Thomas' comments Wednesday, when he responded to a question about the possibility of Houston's retiring by suggesting reporters ask Houston.

When asked if he and his wife had discussed retirement Thursday night, Houston dismissed the question and said he wouldn't even answer it -- probably the route he wished Thomas had taken.

With Houston going on the injured lost, the Knicks activated guards Penny Hardaway and Moochie Norris.

Houston suffers from a painful condition known as patellofemoral arthritis, where cartilage breaks away from the femur bone and the patella (kneecap) and chips and flakes get into the knee joint and cause swelling. There is no surgical remedy for the condition.

"If you can't do it, you can't do it," he said. "I tried to do it before, and we struggled. I thought if I went out there I would help us. But if you can't function, it doesn't help. I've been there, done that."

Houston sat out all of training camp and the first 18 games of this season after missing the playoffs and 13 of the final 14 games last season due to soreness that developed after he returned from microfracture surgery on the left knee. Houston has played in 20 games this season, averaging 11.9 points, far below his 17.5 career average. In all, Houston was sidelined nine months and acknowledged yesterday he came back too early this year, perhaps because of pressure he applied to himself, as well as some external pressure.

"Everybody wanted it," he said. "Including myself ... I probably did (come back too soon), but you can't look back, you have to look forward. That's why this time I'm going to make sure I can get to the point where I can function and do what I know I can do."

If Houston ever did retire because of the injury -- which seems highly unlikely -- he would receive all of the $55 million or so owed to him on the final 2 1/2 years of his contract. The Knicks would probably be compensated up to 80 percent through insurance. But Houston vowed Thursday he would not retire.

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