The New York Knicks are committed to running the triangle offense again. Though the fans may not be fond of it, Kristaps Porzingis likes the system.
No two words are more polarizing to New York Knicks fans than, “Triangle offense.” Despite the decorated history of the proven system, the Knicks’ erratic results under team president Phil Jackson have alienated the masses.
Though the working theory is that the players don’t enjoy playing in the system, the future face of the franchise feels otherwise.
New York ran the triangle offense throughout the 2015-16 season, but it drifted away from the system in 2016-17. Since the 2017 All-Star Break, however, the Knicks have been running the system with regularity.
According to Al Iannazzone of Newsday, rising star Kristaps Porzingis gave a surprising response to the topic of the polarizing offense: “I like the triangle.”
"“I like the triangle,” Porzingis said. “My first season, the whole first season we played nothing but the triangle so I know it pretty well. I like the offense. It can only work if everybody believes in it and everybody executes it the right way.”"
That last sentence is what matters most.
The key to any system being learned and executed is a commitment to actually learning and executing it. Throughout Phil Jackson’s tenure as team president, he’s been accused of pushing the triangle offense onto his players and coaches.
One of the primary tells that the system hasn’t been warmly received is the tone that was taken by the coaching staff that Jackson originally put into place.
Derek Fisher and Kurt Rambis attempted to install the triangle offense during the 2015-16 NBA regular season. Rambis accused Fisher of failing to commit to teaching the system, however, and Jeff Hornacek has attempted to blend systems throughout 2016-17.
After nearly two full seasons of noncommittal execution, Porzingis believes that coach Hornacek is beginning to teach the Knicks the right way to run the triangle offense.
"“We’re starting to learn it now the way we should,” Porzingis said before the Knicks’ Wednesday morning shootaround. “We should have been playing from the beginning of the season. So we’re a little behind. But every game we’re getting a little better. Hopefully, I don’t know when, we can start using it properly and making some impact playing it.”"
It’s taken quite a bit of time for New York to fully embrace the system, but it appears as though such a result is transpiring.
The triangle offense may be polarizing, but it’s built on the foundation of principles that work. Those principles include creating penetration, spacing the floor, ball and player movement, and rewarding the top defenders with touches to keep their morale high.
For Porzingis, the triangle offense would prevent opposing defenses from being able to predict where he’s going to be on the floor and thus limit the number of double teams he faces.
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If the players and coaches are willing to fully commit to the triangle offense, the results could be promising for the New York Knicks.