Allan Houston is still re-habbing and may see serious competition from Jamal Crawford for his playing time.  

But the Knicks' deadly perimeter threat is happy that Crawford has joined the club, and he short-circuited a controversy by making his pleasure with the move known.

Houston said he'll be at full strength by the start of training camp and wants to be Crawford's mentor.

"Joe Dumars and John Starks were people I consider mentors," Houston said. "Jamal is in his career where I was, coming from Detroit. Whatever he's willing to take in, I'm willing to help him. I want to do the same thing John Starks did with me. I want to help him become better than he already is, on and off the court."

"My goal has always been to do drills on the court in August," said Houston. "I still have a ways to go, but I'm right where my goal is. My goal is to play in August and I think in a couple of weeks I'll be able to go out and play.

"The key right now is the progression. I'm being very smart so I can be my strongest not now, but when I need to be. To sit out that long and be ready to play at that intensity, you have to build up to that. That's what happened last summer. I tried to come in and go all out without making progressions. That's why I had a setback."

Houston hasn't spoken to Crawford yet but he did make a recruiting call to center Erick Dampier.