Jeff Hornacek foolish to hint at getting rid of players who don’t love the triangle offense

The New York Knicks aren’t really in a position to be threatening players.

Mired in one of the league’s worst rebuilds, the Knicks and head coach Jeff Hornacek probably shouldn’t be throwing out hints about moving on from players who aren’t running something like the triangle.

Alas, that’s where we’re at with Hornacek, who hinted recently that he and the front office would reshuffle the roster until they had guys who wanted to run their desired system, according to NorthJersey.com:

“Scoring the basketball we have guys that can do that. But do we have the right fit of guys running the system. If we think that we can somehow with a fresh start of training camp and go to it right off the bat if that helps us and Phil and (general manager) Steve (Mills) we think maybe the same guys on this team could have a different outlook on it then we’ll stay the same. If not they’ll look at other guys.”

On one hand, Hornacek isn’t saying anything too terrible. He should want guys to play hard within the system and do it well.

But on the other, the Knicks need to run a system that fits the roster assembled. If people putting the roster in place don’t do the job right, guys like Derrick Rose and others just might not like the system. It’s a balance, and one the Knicks have failed to achieve.

Broadcasting a strict system they won’t deter from won’t help the Knicks in free agency if the market’s best players don’t want to run it. And the Knicks aren’t in a place where they can eliminate themselves from consideration in the minds of great players, nor can they start shipping away some of the core in place if it doesn’t want to run the triangle.

Something has to give. New York’s rebuilding effort years down the line might hinge on the staff’s willingness to alter the plan.

About Chris Roling

Chris is an Ohio University E.W. Scripps School of Journalism graduate and associate editor here at TSD. He also covers breaking news and the NFL at Bleacher Report and resides in Athens (OH) with his wife and two dogs.

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