Phil Jackson has not yet given up on the New York Knicks eventually mastering the triangle offense.
Yes, the team’s attack looks vastly different this season. It’s faster. The Knicks are shooting more threes. There has even been some more pick-and-pop action with Kristaps Porzingis.
Don’t take this to mean New York has abandoned the triangle altogether. It hasn’t. Jackson, in fact, was recently at practice schooling Courtney Lee in its intricacies, per the New York Post‘s Marc Berman:
Knicks president Phil Jackson huddled with shooting guard Courtney Lee for 15 minutes after practice Monday, brandishing a clipboard and reviewing details of the triangle offense.
It appears the usage of Jackson’s triangle is starting to ramp up. As much as new coach Jeff Hornacek is speeding up the offense and adding new wrinkles, the triangle aspects are still prevalent in their halfcourt offense. It’s also noteworthy Jackson never huddled with an individual player during the Derek Fisher reign to diagram sets amid practice.
It is not uncommon for team presidents to attend practice, or even to speak with players—especially if said presidents have a strong basketball background as a player or coach or, like Jackson, both. And fans shouldn’t be worried about the Knicks relying too heavily on the triangle. They haven’t been overworking their post play and, overall, are making quicker decisions, even in half-court sets.
But you can still see traces of the triangle in off-ball movements, particularly during those half-court sets. And that won’t change. The Knicks won’t distance themselves from that system so long as Jackson is in charge. They may only accentuate its nuances as time goes on and players become more familiar with it.
As for whether this hybrid approach will be good or bad, we’ll have to wait and see.
