National Basketball Association

New York Knicks: Jeff Hornacek Explains Complexity Of Triangle Offense

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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New York Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek explains the difficulty of running the triangle offense. It’s not what you might expect it to be.

The New York Knicks have embraced the need to modernize the triangle offense. A faster tempo, 3-point shooting, and the pick and roll will all be welcome additions to the system New York failed to run in 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek acknowledged the complexity of the system, but looked beyond the traditional criticisms of it.

Point guard Derrick Rose recently explained that the triangle offense provides playmakers with an abundance of options. Thus, the issue isn’t the lack of possibilities, but instead the need to choose the right one.

According to Marc Berman of The New York Post, Hornacek echoed Rose’s sentiment with a similar evaluation.

“It’s complicated in the sense guys have a lot of options to do, and it’s just a read,’’ said Hornacek. “That’s where the complication comes. The setup of it is not complicated. It’s a matter of those guys understanding without the ball what’s going to happen. The more they do it, the more they’ll get it. The guys from last year have seen some of this stuff, picked it up quicker, but the new guys got a lot better than yesterday. We really ran through all the different options. They’re starting to figure it out.”

In other words, the triangle offense is a system for decisive playmakers who can read and react.

Players who struggle to turn the corner off of a high screen will be prone to rushed shot attempts and turnovers. Players who stop and think instead of reading and reacting will run into the same issues.

That’s exactly what Phil Jackson was alluding to when he stated the Knicks’ need for a decisive point guard.

A 34-year-old Jose Calderon and rookie Jerian Grant struggled to fill the point guard role for the Knicks in 2015-16. Calderon lacked the speed and quickness to get the Knicks into their sets at an effective pace and Grant was inexperienced.

Though it’s all on paper, the Knicks appear to have personnel that fits the system entering 2016-17.

Derrick Rose is still one of the most effective guards in the NBA at creating penetration and Brandon Jennings is a career starter. Both are capable facilitators who have the court vision and creativity to feed their teammates.

If Jennings and Rose are to individually and collectively embrace the role of a facilitator, then the triangle offense should work much better under Hornacek than it did Derek Fisher and Kurt Rambis.

The question is: do the Knicks actually have the decisive playmakers necessary to help the triangle offense flourish?