When Jeff Hornacek was hired as the head coach of the New York Knicks, it was claimed that he would have full freedom to run his own offense.
As part of Phil Jackson’s master plan, the Knicks are continuing to run the Triangle offense in large part. And as has been the case since Phil’s arrival in New York, it isn’t going over too well.
Following a brutal loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on opening night, Derrick Rose once again declared his preference over running pick-and-rolls over the Triangle.
Following via Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News:
“With me, of course, I want pick and roll every time down,” he said, “but with the triangle, with the auto, towards the end, when you saw us running it, it was just us trying to get used to it so it’s not that foreign.”
Carmelo Anthony agreed with his new teammate:
“We want guys to feel comfortable with kind of who they are. We don’t want to try to change anybody’s game. If Derrick feels comfortable being up there in high pick and roll, that’s his game, you can’t take him away from that,” Anthony said. “You want to utilize guys’ strengths. That’s who he is, that’s who he’s always been. We want to rely on that. We don’t want to take that away from him.”
These are already some scathing quotes one game into the season, but they make sense. When Derrick Rose is playing well (which is not often, these days), he is able to get to the rim at will and finish around the trees. He is not at all a prototypical Triangle point guard, especially considering his lack of a shooting touch.
I’m sure Hornacek isn’t too crazy about running the Triangle, either. Even though most teams run elements from the infamous system, not many have focused their franchise identity around it. Jackson has an almost cult-like obsession with the Triangle as it helped him win eleven rings as a coach. But it’s time to move on and build around the players he has.
