<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Isiah Thomas is not convinced Allan Houston will ever be an All-Star caliber player again and hinted that early retirement is an option Houston may want to consider.</div> Full Article figured since nobody else posted it, i might as well. what do NYK fans think of this? ps...mrj18...i guess my assessment of houston and his knee situation wasnt so far off afterall eh
Well Isiah doesn't speak for Allan Houston. Only Allan himself and his Agent do, and his agent said that they never discussed retirement. Seems like Isiah wants him to Retire so the Knicks don't pay him :rollseyes:
I was going to post this but, this site was acting up on me as usual. What else is new ? Anyways, I was very surprised to hear about this. Allan Houston was New York. The thought that crosses across my head is Houston really thinking about retiring? I mean was Penny Hardaway really injured or Lenny Wilkens really fired? Something sounds fishy to me. I think this is just another one of Isiah Thomas' plots to build his own foundationless empire that is bound to cause more long term detriments than we think. If Allan Houston is really contemplating retirement, we are at a huge loss. Allan Houston was a key piece to the puzzle of our future. He was a veteran with experience. Right now, the Knicks are really lacking that because Isiah put together a team of youngsters that couldn?t function together. Allan Houston?s untouchable, top 5 jumpshot is what propelled the Knicks for so many years and was a staple to their offense. We rarely ever see Houston?s shot touch anywhere but, the net. That?s why his name is so true. H2O it just flows like water. I?m getting a headache just thinking about Crawford trying to take over that role Houston had for us. Imagine him bricking contested 30 foot jumpers. Scary thought. I really hope this is a rumor made up by the ridiculous thoughts that pass through Isiah Thomas? mind. I really think it is too early to tell though. Allan Houston is just returning from an injury that took him off the court for more than 9 months. He?s only played about 20 games so far. I think we owe him some more time. We are acting so impatient. Now if Houston were to rush back in and hurt his knee more seriously, we will have an enormous problem and yet, we are not willing to wait for him. Houston deserves more time he is a soldier and we are all forgetting that. Let?s not forget that before his recent injury last season he only missed a total of 11 games throughout his 10 year career at the time. That?s just about a game per season. Even if he did decide to retire, we still owe him all of his money so what good will it do if he decides to retire? All we do is throw money at a player to leave just like Shandon Anderson. That just makes no sense to me. Many times I think people take Houston?s contract out of proportion. Yes he is extremely overpaid, but he?s an all-star an Olympian and the contributions he has made are unparallel to this franchise. Many people say awful things about Houston because of that contract. How here would turn down a 100 million dollar contract? How many here are better than Allan Houston? I didn?t think so. All we do is point fingers and judge someone but we fail to realize how they felt or think about the situation that they were out in. Back in 02-03 when McDyess was injured, Sprewell was gone a little bit, and we were just flooded with other injuries, Houston carried us on his back and we almost made the playoffs. Remember 53 against the Lakers, 50 against the Bucks, remember how many times he sealed the game for us. Or remember how many times he won the game for us? Remember in Miami where he made that shot to clinch the series for us. ?Ewing got all the glory, Sprewell got all the love, and Houston hit all the big shots.? Remember this guys. Btw, that?s from Tribute not me. The fact of the matter is Houston is still very much a part of this Knicks organization and always will be. Losing Houston to retirement is a big loss no matter how you cut the cake. He is great for us on and off the court and his heroics will not be forgotten at least not by me. If Houston retires I think we all owe it to him to revive his appreciation thread. This time I want to see everyone in it not just me and Tribute! Hopefully we really wont have to because it is only a rumor.
Here's where I think you're wrong, mj. Houston is past his prime. His knee will never fully get better, which is an intergral part of his "sweetest stroke in the NBA". All visionary Knicks fans will agree that if Houston retired, it'd be a step in the right direction for the Knicks. We'd be clearing up TONS of cap space, which means we could actually make some moves for star players instead of using MLEs on people like Vin Baker. We could finally compliment Marbury with a big man who can put up 20-25 points a game, which is what we so desperately need. Come on Houston, hang up the jersey and take a job in the office. It'd be the best for the organization.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Platehpus:</div><div class="quote_post">Here's where I think you're wrong, mj. Houston is past his prime. His knee will never fully get better, which is an intergral part of his "sweetest stroke in the NBA". All visionary Knicks fans will agree that if Houston retired, it'd be a step in the right direction for the Knicks. We'd be clearing up TONS of cap space, which means we could actually make some moves for star players instead of using MLEs on people like Vin Baker. We could finally compliment Marbury with a big man who can put up 20-25 points a game, which is what we so desperately need. Come on Houston, hang up the jersey and take a job in the office. It'd be the best for the organization.</div> If Houston retires I'm pretty sure we would owe him his money. Even we don't, why should he retire for Isiah Thomas the very person who left him unprotected in the expansion, the very person that tried to trade him to Toronto. I still have faith in Allan Houston that he can recover. I will believe, I will believe!
H20 dropping 50+ on the Lakers was priceless, but dude will never be the same again.. one of the top three injury prone players in the NBA today (just stating the obvious)
Houston has had a great career. He can retire knowing this. He's played alongside some of the greatest players in Knicks franchise history, was an elite player at his position(Ewing, Starks, LJ) and has become arguably the third best shooting guard the franchise has ever seen. He was the leading scorer of the Knicks for years and led the Knicks by example to one of their finest hours('99 Knicks). He's been selected to the All Star team twice and probably deserved to be on the All Star team one or two more times and has gone to the Olympics. He even had one or two commercials and made himself a bundle of money while he was at it . He's played in alot of big games, played a huge role in bitter rivalries, was and still is widely regarded as the best shooter in the NBA. Not many players have accomplished all the things he's accomplished. He is a true winner. He can look back and say "Damn, it was one helluva run". He wont be the only player to retire early due to injuries. Both Bernard King and Larry Johnson had their respective careers cut short because of injuries. He wont be the only great player to leave on bad terms with the Knick fans either(Ewing). So he'll be in good company. With that being said, he isnt going to retire. I doubt he's even considered it before today. I would be very shocked if he did. He's going to try to get back to 100% so he can keep on playing and helping this team. He does not want to go down the same path LJ went down. And that is good. He shouldnt give up especially after Grant Hill's emergence. Everyone had that man counted out and now he's back and playing almost at the same level he used to play at. Who's to say it wont happen to Houston? Afterall they both had the same surgery so maybe Houston will be back to the old Houston or maybe not. But after the miracle that is Grant Hill just about anything is possible. So he should stick around and not give up prematurely. I personally think he has one more good run(two or maybe even three good seasons) in him. Besides even if Houston retires we wont be under the cap until JYD's contract expires which ends at the same time as Houston's. We havent even filled up Shandon Anderson's roster spot so we dont need that extra space. It makes no sense for us to be happy if he retires. He gets his money and we get nothing but one less experienced player on the team. The best move right now is to just hope he returns to his old form or something like it. He's more valuable on the team rehabbing and possibly getting healthy while mentoring our younger players than at home getting his paycheck. If Houston becomes another Grant Hill story then we'll all be so happy he didnt retire and that we didnt trade him. So let's keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best. By the way I do believe Houston can return to his old form and help us get to where we want to be. And after Grant Hill's story noone can tell me Houston cant go back to the way he used to be.
man...some of you guys are talking like houston will be a staple of the knicks organization for years to come he'll always be remembered as a knick, thats for sure...but if thomas has a chance to ship him out, he'd do it pronto. houston's contract is probably one of the worst in the league, if not THE worst. thomas' plans for the future could only include houston because noone will take that contract...unless maybe its in its last year. he was a great player...and a clutch player though...i certainly do miss the H20 of old
I don't know about Allan returning to form. As much as I don't want to see him retire his injury is really serious guys. He's basically playing without cartilage on his knee. No one has ever come back the same from that surgery. He still has one of the best shots in the game but he can't curl off screens like he used to, which makes him 50% less effective. Personally I hope he doesn't retire. He is still one of the best shooters in the NBA albeit a very high paid one. I hope Isiah doesn't get his way and force him into retirement. I'm sorry but the person that I think should retire is Isiah. I think he has run this team into the dirt and he is only setting himself up to coach the team again. His ego is bigger than the teams and that is never good coming from a GM. I just don't think he is good for the team. It seems like there is more news about him than the team itself at times. He fights with players, proposes horrible trades and leaks them to the press, fires one of Lenny's longtime assistants and plants one his own in the staff, and now he is suggesting that one New Yorks most loyal players must retire? I may be biased but he has to get the boot. He caused controversy in Toronto, Indiana, and now New York. Coincidence? I think not.
