The New York Knicks have executed at an abhorrent level on offense. Head coach Jeff Hornacek acknowledged the issues and explained how he plans to address them.
Through three games, the New York Knicks are the worst offensive team in the NBA. That’s a bold claim, but the statistics support the inefficiency that’s plagued a team that was expected to struggle on the opposite end of the floor.
As fans and analysts search for answers, the Knicks’ coaching staff is taking a calmer and more collected approach to working through this three-game stretch.
New York currently ranks dead last in the NBA in scoring offense, offensive efficiency, and three-point field goal percentage. It also ranks No. 24 in assists per game, No. 25 in field goal percentage, and No. 28 in assist-to-turnover ratio.
Per Ian Begley of ESPN New York, head coach Jeff Hornacek addressed the offensive woes and how he’s attempting to rectify them.
"“There was probably five or six of them that we (wanted executed) and we were just a little out of position. Maybe we forgot we were supposed to turn and screen. And so those are things we’re working on. We go over it every single day. It’s new guys and a new system… it’s just learning the offense.”"
Although fans are in the right to be frustrated, Hornacek hit the nail on the head: New York has a new roster and a new system, which means progress will require patience.
New York has played a grand total of eight games with its revamped roster, with just three of those outings coming in the regular season. For what it’s worth, eight of the active players on the 15-man roster played for teams other than the Knicks during the 2016-17 campaign.
That includes starting center Enes Kanter and backup small forward Doug McDermott, who were acquired via trade less than one month before the preseason opener.
It’s also worth noting that rookie point guard Frank Ntilikina missed all but one preseason game, as well as two of the Knicks’ first three regular season outings.
Thus, while it may be easy to point fingers, the context makes the early inconsistency relatively understandable. New York underwent significant turnover on the roster and in the front office, and still hasn’t played a sustained stretch with all of its core players.
The Knicks need to improve sooner than later, but it isn’t yet time to hit the panic button and make drastic changes to the structure of the organization.
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Simply put: Jeff Hornacek and the New York Knicks should be given more than three games before jobs are lost and careers are defined by the masses.