SYDNEY – Allan Houston does not want to follow Patrick Ewing out of New York and is willing to add point guard minutes to make a lineup with Latrell Sprewell and Glen Rice work.
Houston had his Dream Team experience rattled yesterday when he learned Ewing had been dealt as part of a four-team, 12-player trade. The expectation has been that the moving of Ewing would force the Knicks to then deal Houston as a way to enlist a scoring/rebounding front-court presence.
Having similar types in Houston, Sprewell and now Rice – all of whom expect to be primary scorers – only heightens speculation one will be traded, with Houston the most likely candidate.
“All I know is anything is possible,” Houston said. “People were saying Spree and I wasn’t going to work, even though it’s two people instead of three, it did work. People were saying Glen, Kobe (Bryant) and Shaq (O’Neal) wouldn’t work (with the Lakers), and it did work. You have to be on the same page and you have to get good support.”
In order for the three scorers to co-exist, one would almost certainly have to come off the bench. It is a role Sprewell disliked early in his Knick career. Rice did not like being so de-emphasized in the Laker offense even while starting. Houston, though, would not rule out the possibility of putting all three on the floor for long periods simultaneously.
Jeff Van Gundy did not show an affinity for the big backcourt of Sprewell and Houston last season. But Houston hinted the team did not commit to that enough in preparation last year. To make this work, Houston said he would be open to orchestrate the offense on a team already crowded with point guards in Chris Childs, Charlie Ward and Erick Strickland.
“It’s definitely something I would be comfortable with,” Houston said of the point. “I haven’t done it a lot, but I did it in college. Not to say because I did it in college, I could do it now, but its something I would be comfortable with. I think my mentality is such that I can do it. I wouldn’t mind doing that, I think it would make us better. What we would have to do is practice it and feel it out more than we did with other combinations (last season).”
It is a much greater probability, however, that Houston will be traded than play any significant point minutes for the Knicks.
“You can always look at it in different ways,” Houston said. “I seem to look at it in a positive way. If God wants me to be in New York, that’s where I’m going to be. If God wants me to be somewhere else, that’s where I’ll be. That’s where I find my peace. Do I want to play in New York? Yeah, of course I do. For me to look any further than what’s happening right now is not healthy. Now my teammates are Glen and everyone else, Travis Knight, Luc Longley. I don’t think it’s in my best interest to really think about what’s going to happen next. What happens next is hopefully we’ll have a good training camp.”
Houston said he planned to reach out to Van Gundy or GM Scott Layden to try to get his situation clarified. But he recognizes that if a team can trade it’s all-time leading scorer, he can be moved. Still – despite all the recent rumors – Houston admitted some surprise that Ewing was actually traded.
“We all know that we’re going to miss Patrick’s presence,” Houston said. “People thought we were a better team without him. It wasn’t that, it was just Patrick just needed to play a little less minutes so he could stay fresh for the whole year. Now we are without him totally. So it is going to be a big difference.”