I’m pretty sure everyone up in Saratoga Springs is counting the minutes.

Mike D’Antoni  doesn’t run long practices.

I’m going to be watching camp from a distance. Somebody has to stay down here and cover the Giants, but I will be checking in here from time to time with some thoughts.

And to help pass time, maybe we should talk about the role Allan Houston wants to play.

“I know what it means to wear this uniform, and hopefully, as the culture evolves back into a winning culture, whatever I can do to lend myself to that is what I want to do,” he said. “That’s really the big picture. It’s not like I’m going to be here five more years.”

Unlike last season when he needed to be with family, Houston spent more time preparing for this comeback.

“There were a lot of things nobody had control over last year,” he said. “I wasn’t at a point and time in my career where I was going to miss those days when my child was born. I wasn’t going to do that. The timing was really bad. I prepared my body even before camp better this time. I got my body used to running up and down and playing. I didn’t try to kill myself. I took a day off when I needed it, and I got better as I went on. … Last year, I felt like I had to prove something as well. I felt I had to go out and prove in the first couple weeks that I had to make it and I had to really set myself apart, and that wasn’t the reality. As we go further along into training camp and even into November and December, we’ll have a fair assessment of whether I’m going to be able to help and be able to be a part of things. Knowing that in my mind helps me prepare better.”

Remember, the Knicks will have to waive somebody to make room for Houston.

The 37-year-old admits to feeling a little out of place here. He used to watch Patrick Ewing Jr. and Danny Grunfeld shoot around when the Knicks were practicing at Purchase College, and now all three are in the same layup line.

“It does (feel odd),” Houston said. “You kind of feel like you’re in between, I don’t know, it’s hard to explain. You’re the older guy, and still playing, but you’re part of that older generation, too. I think that’s why it’s important for me to realize as I come in, it’s about what role can I play to help that transfer. When I walked in here, I walked into a very fortunate situation. I walked into Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley and John Starks teaching me what it means to be a Knick, to play in the Garden. I feel like my responsibility is not just to make some jump shots, but to also kind of transfer some of that experience, what that’s like, what that means. And not to impose my will, but when it’s needed, to help, whether it’s practice, or whatever it is.”

We’ll see whether that helps or not.

Malik Rose actually owns championship rings. He’s been preaching about what it takes for the last couple of seasons, and sometimes I wonder if anyone in this locker room bothers to listen to practical advice.