Houston’s Knick of Time May Be Up

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

What a difference a week makes. Two days into training camp, Allan Houston was in high spirits. He had completed two pain-free workouts and, although he was taking things slow, was optimistic about completing a comeback from chronic knee problems.


This week, however, the pain in his left knee has returned, and with it the increasing likelihood that the end is near. The Knicks have shut Houston down for at least a week in the hopes that the pain recedes. If it does not, the veteran shooting guard is almost certain to retire. He’s vowed repeatedly that he won’t play in pain this year, after attempting to do so last season in 20 games that were as painful for viewers as they were for Houston. He’s said he won’t go under the knife again, either.


That leaves retirement as the other option, and if it happens, Knicks fans will be left with conflicted emotions. On the one hand, Houston was a high scoring guard whose ability to shoot jumpers over defenders on isolation plays helped key New York’s run to the 1999 NBA Finals. His jumper over Dan Majerle to win Game 5 of the Knicks’ first-round series against Miami was the biggest shot by a Knick in the last decade, and it came on the heels of a knee operation that had left him unproductive for most of that regular season.


On the other hand, Houston has never lived up to the expectations that were heaped upon him when he arrived in New York. He was a very good player, but never a special one, and the Knicks paid him like he was special when they signed him from Detroit. According to my Player Efficiency ratings, which rate each player’s per-minute statistical production, Houston wasn’t anywhere near the A-List for the duration of his Knicks career. From 1997 to 2004, Houston ranked between 12th and 23rd among shooting guards every season except the lockout year – very good, but not great.


Moreover, it was hard for the locals to warm up to him. His best attributes were things like consistency, poise, and avoidance of mistakes. All those were important, but Houston never got fans’ blood pumping like the more erratic but exciting Latrell Sprewell did.


Worst of all, he never lived up to the ridiculous seven-year, $100 million contract that then-GM Scott Layden awarded him in 2000.The magnitude of the deal almost immediately turned the New York fans on Houston, which in retrospect seems horribly unfair. Houston did what any of us would have done – happily taking the money that was being foolishly offered by an incompetent GM. While the boos were directed at Houston, Layden – safely hidden from view on most nights – was the deserving target of the Garden’s ire.


Losing Houston has some practical short-term implications. The Knicks already lacked depth in the backcourt, but now they’re running out of bodies. Stephon Marbury, Nate Robinson, Jamal Crawford, Quentin Richardson, Trevor Ariza, and Penny Hardaway are the only credible perimeter players, and between them they have to cover three positions. Even that assumes Hardaway, whose knees aren’t in much better shape than Houston’s, is capable of withstanding the grind of an NBA season.


From a financial perspective, at least, it’s a win for New York. Isiah Thomas made the decision two months ago to use Jerome Williams rather than Houston as the Knicks’ luxury tax amnesty player, a move that amounted to a bet on Houston being unable to continue. If he does retire, insurance will pick up $24 million of the $40 million remaining on Houston’s contract. Combined with the money already saved by unloading Williams, it was a fiscal home run. (Of course, Thomas immediately turned around and wasted twice the amount he saved on Jerome James and Eddy Curry, but that’s a topic for another day).


In the big picture, Houston may not have lived up to the hype that greeted his arrival, but he provided some memorable moments, stayed out of trouble, and always gave the fans their money’s worth. Houston didn’t do enough to justify his obscene contract, but if he does retire, here’s a more interesting question to contemplate: Has he done enough to have his jersey hanging in the Garden’s rafters?


***


It’s somewhat ironic to see what could be Houston’s final act come on the same day that one of the game’s brightest young stars, Amare Stoudemire, underwent microfracture knee surgery that could sideline him for four months. Microfracture is the same surgery Houston underwent in 2003, and he hasn’t been the same since. Nor have Penny Hardaway, Chris Webber, Jamal Mashburn, Terrell Brandon, and others. It should be pointed out that some players have managed to recover and continue dominating – former Utah guard John Stockton continued his superhuman play as though nothing happened, and star NFL defensive end Bruce Smith had it done to both knees with no apparent repercussions.


Stoudemire’s surgery has to put a healthy dose of fear into even the most optimistic of Suns’ fans. It’s one thing for a jump shooter like Houston to undergo this surgery, but quite another for a human trampoline like Stoudemire. Few players in the league are more dependent on their ability to run and jump than the Suns’ high-flying forward, which makes a full recovery a necessity if he is to continue dominating in the paint.


There are reasons to think Stoudemire will fare better than the Webbers and Houstons of the world. For one, he’s much younger than the others at just 22, so his body should be able to respond better. Second, he has less damage than some of the others, most of whom had secondary problems in addition to a lesion in the knee ligaments.


Regardless, the Suns’ focus now has to shift from winning a championship to just making the playoffs. With Stoudemire expected to miss at least the first half of the season, the Suns suddenly find themselves depending on ex-Knick Kurt Thomas and another microfracture surgery poster child, Brian Grant, to hold down the frontcourt. With 42 to 44 wins likely required to claim a playoff spot in the West, returning to the postseason will be an uphill battle for the Suns – even if Stoudemire can make a full recovery by the All-Star break.


Mr. Hollinger is the author of the 2005-06 Pro Basketball Forecast.


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