Allan Houston, the shooting guard on whom the Knicks depend for scoring, says his rehabbed knee is "feeling good and strong" but that he plans to take the season off.

"You don't want to rush back," he said. "Just because I'm painfree and the knee's rested and solid; just because I'm outrageously overpaid and the team desperately needs me as its only outside scoring threat; just because I took last year off and spent most of it talking about how badly I wanted to play and contribute; I can't let any of that influence me.

"You've gotta make the right decision today. And I'm almost there, but not quite. I think another year off and I should be ready to contribute in the 2005-2006 season. We're taking this thing a year at a time."

Houston reiterated how difficult it is for him to watch from the sidelines as the team struggles offensively, saying "Of course you wanna play. But you guys don't know...you can't possibly know what I'm going through. I'm telling you, the knee feels good right now. In fact, my doctors tell me there's nothing wrong with it. But the thing is, you don't want to press it."

Accordingly, Houston plans to have a 24th MRI on his knee next week, and expects the results to be no different than the prior 23. "The knee's fine. Structurally. Emotionally. That's not the point."

Stephon Marbury, the Knicks' point-guard, who for the sixth straight year is said to be entering the season with a new, unselfish attitude, said, "It's about winning. That's it. It aint about nothing else. You know what I'm sayin'?"

Isiah Thomas, the Knicks' General Manager, said he "loved Marbury's focus" and agreed with Houston's doctors that Houston was a "pussy."

"It's not easy when your guys are going to war and all you can do is sit around in a designer suit and clap their shoulders," Thomas said.

"Unless you're Allan Houston."