The New York Knicks are at the tail end of yet another disappointing season mired by flip-flopping offensive schemes, public squabbles between stars and the front office and terrible defense. Recently, Carmelo Anthony shed a bit of light to the disarray, questioning the team’s decision to move back to the triangle offense.
“Earlier in the season, we were winning games, went on a little winning streak we had,” Carmelo Anthony said after Wednesday’s loss to the Utah Jazz. “We were playing a certain way – we went away from that, started playing another way,” the All-Star forward added.
After starting the season playing at a faster pace, which was preferred by Carmelo Anthony, the New York Knicks have decided to switch to the triangle full time following the All-Star break. As noted by CBS Sports, Phil Jackson has said that the triangle would help improve the team’s defense because it is designed to limit the opposing team’s transition opportunities. But as noted by CBS Sports, the team’s defensive rating has been much worse in 2017 than at the start of the season.
The Triangle hasn’t changed the offense hardly at all, but the defense, which it was supposed to help, has gotten worse. pic.twitter.com/dvQX2FK4h7
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) March 23, 2017
As reported by ESPN, New York Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said the Knicks will be exclusively running the triangle offense next year. Hornacek has also challenged his core – Carmelo Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick Rose – to embrace the pass and cut system of the triangle if they want to become a playoff team. Interestingly, of those three, only Porzingis has said that he like the triangle. He is also the only one in the group that the Knicks see in their future.
The New York Knicks have lost eight of their last 10 games, and are just 27-45 for the year. Carmelo Anthony was surrounded by a swirl of trade rumors in February, despite having a no-trade clause in his contract.
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