BORN TO RUN!
Free from Phil triangle, Hornacek opens it up
Knicks, who will likely struggle defensively, look to push tempo on offense this year
THE KNICKS project as pitiful on defense again, so their best chance of winning games is scoring A LOT of points.
That was rarely accomplished with the triangle, which slows down the game and theoretically translates to better defense because of court positioning. Just ask Phil. But that didn’t happen, either. The Knicks were terrible defensively in the years under Jackson, dropping to 23rd in the league in points allowed per game last season. Despite the new regime trumpeting defense as a focal point, it wasn’t addressed in the offseason. Tim Hardaway Jr., Michael Beasley, Enes Kanter and Doug McDermott are all considered, at best, subpar individual defenders.
This places a lot of pressure on Jeff Hornacek — now free from the triangle restraints — to create a juggernaut offense. He began implementation Tuesday in the first day of training camp, then relayed to the media his vision for the offense. It sounded similar to the system he ran as coach of the Suns, which was heavy on pace and 3-pointers.
“I think we’re going to try to open it up, obviously the strength of our team should allow us to that,” Hornacek said Tuesday. “We think we can spread the floor out a little bit more and maybe get up and down the court a little bit more.”
Kristaps Porzingis created a little tremor by saying the Knicks were teaching the triangle in the first day of training camp. It seemed plausible only because Kurt Rambis remains the associate head coach.
But Hornacek explained it as an issue of semantics. This will not be the fullblown triangle that Jackson installed in the second half of last season.
“Those are basketball actions, you know, if you’re going to throw the ball into the post guy and run some split action and you guys want to call it ‘Triangle,’ that’s basketball,” Hornacek said. “So, yeah, there’s some of that we ran last year but that’s, again, that’s just basketball stuff.”
The Knicks last season averaged 104.3 points per game (19th in the NBA) while shooting 44.7% (23rd) and taking 24.7 3-pointers (21st). They’re hoping to improve after subtracting two of the better offensive players at their respective positions, Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose.
“You know we probably just didn’t get enough easy shots (last season),” Hornacek said. “Scouts are tougher, we were taking tougher shots and shot 44 percent as a team.
“If we can kick that up to 46 percent and mix in a few more 3s, now you’re getting a couple more points. Maybe you’re getting the chance to set your defense up better so it kind of all goes hand in hand.”
As the hire of the fired president, Hornacek is under pressure this season to deliver with a roster that is unevenly balanced towards big men and offense. He has a reduced training camp to sculpt the schemes and determine three starting spots - point guard, small forward and center. It’s a recipe for early struggles. At least there is less reason to believe that drama will grip the franchise like last season.
“Can our guys now handle distractions? I don’t know. Hopefully we don’t do that,” Hornacek said. “Hopefully, we just play the game, and the focus is on the New York Knicks organization and what we can do to grow.”