AUBURN HILLS – Allan Houston no longer dreads going back to Motown, where he’s had some of his worst games the past three seasons. He longer believes Detroit fans hold any bitterness toward his defection. He thinks they understand now. He was only bolting for New York to try to win a championship.
“I think some of it has changed by the fact of how we’ve been able to be successful in the postseason,” said Houston, whose 2-0 Knicks face the 0-2 Pistons tonight at the Palace of Auburn Hills. “They see now why I left. It wasn’t just a matter of all the dramatic episodes people made it out to be.”
That last line was a reference to former Pistons coach Doug Collins, from whom Houston reportedly didn’t appreciate getting tongue-lashings. “I wanted to play for a team that wanted to win,” Houston added. “I think now people see that decision. No one [in Detroit] ultimately can question why I went to New York.”
Of course, the diehard Piston fan could claim Houston would’ve been competing for an NBA title if he had just stayed put and formed an awesome tandem with Grant Hill. Since Houston left after the 1995-96 season as a free agent to sign a seven-year, $56 million megadeal, the Pistons haven’t gone past the first round of the playoffs.
Houston’s wife hails from suburban Detroit and they still visit yearly. “I went back to Detroit last summer for a couple of days and people wanted to meet me as opposed to whatever it was the first time I went back,” Houston said. “It was, we wish you had stayed, as opposed to, you betrayed us. I don’t blame them for being bitter because you should be loyal to your team and your city. That’s how it is. I don’t care. That’s my decision.”
There may be another betrayal this summer, when free-agent-to-be Hill ponders whether he can win a title in Detroit. Hill was one of the people who thought Houston bailed.
Houston doesn’t rule out Hill jumping ship, either. Hill is off to a great start, scoring 41 and 30 points in the first two games.
“I think he’ll be faced with that,” Houston said. “Fortunately for me, I wasn’t in the situation he’s in. I hadn’t established myself in this league as much as he has so it wasn’t as big a deal for me to leave as it would be for him. So I don’t envy his situation.”
Whether the Knicks return home 4-0 could depend on whether Houston again has the yips against his old club tonight. The Knicks finish their three-game road trip in Cleveland tomorrow.
With the fans taking a certain amount of glee out of it, Houston has shot the ball terribly against the Pistons. In his first game back to Auburn Hills in December 1996, he scored two points in 20 minutes, picking up four fouls and shooting 1-for 4. The following season he shot 14 for 50 against the Pistons in four games (28 percent).
Supposedly, he started to loosen up in his last visit in March but still shot just 4 of 12, winding up with 13 points. Houston once said he thought the Pistons went out of their way to shut him down, even at the expense of letting other Knicks beat them.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Houston said. “I think I’m a different player and a different person. Time really helps a lot. I’m just basically more comfortable with myself and this team in general.”
In the Knicks’ 84-74 win over Chicago Wednesday, Houston delivered in the clutch and finished with 23 points (10-of-15 from the field). Houston shot just 5 of 15 in the season opener vs. Cleveland.
The tag-team effect of Houston and Latrell Sprewell was never more evident with 7:21 remaining. Sprewell drove to the hole and kicked a pass out to Houston at the 3-point line. He drained it to give the Knicks an insurmountable 69-60 lead.
“We know what we have to do,” Houston said. “Now we’re looking to make each other better. Last year we were just trying to hold our own. I think that was a big play. When we drive, we know where to look for each other. We’re trying to get our spacing better and I was just the happy recipient of that pass.”
Named tri-captain in preseason, Houston appears to be so much more brash in every aspect now than when he first visited Auburn Hills in 1996 as a frightened Motown traitor who still deferred to Patrick Ewing. For him to have a vintage Houston game here tonight would further eliminate doubts about whether he’s got the stuff to be a champion.
“At this point I know how I have to play,” Houston said. “It’s not a matter of numbers. It’s a matter of how I’m playing because if I’m playing a certain way, the numbers are going to be there anyway. I worry about staying active so when I do get the ball, I’m thinking about attacking. When I get 15 shots very few times am I only going to hit five of them.”
