New York Knicks: Jeff Hornacek on plan for point guard rotation
New York Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek has three point guards in his rotation. Hornacek did his best to explain how he plans to utilize the three.
A low-risk, high-reward midseason roster move is beginning to pay off for the New York Knicks. After months of playing without a penetrating point guard, former G League standout and 2013 NBA lottery pick Trey Burke has arrived to fill a debilitating void.
As Burke provides what no other point guard on the roster has been able to, however, questions have inevitably surfaced about what the future holds at the point guard position.
Burke is joined by 34-year-old floor general Jarrett Jack and 19-year-old rookie Frank Ntilikina. All three players bring something different to the rotation, with Burke heralded for his driving ability, Jack for his leadership, and Ntilikina for his defense.
According to Al Iannazzone of Newsday, head coach Jeff Hornacek explained his plan for utilizing Burke, Jack, and Ntilikina from hereon out, stating that it all depends on the situation.
"“It’s kind of that game-to-game situation,” Hornacek said. “They all lend something different. It’s not like we can say, ‘Well, one guy is not doing this or not doing that.’ We know what they’re capable of doing. Jarrett does a great job at times running our team and keeping us controlled. Frank has had good moments offensively when he’s hit big threes for us late in games. We like his defense. And Trey, we like his ability to get in the lane and create some havoc that way. So it’s tough sometimes, but maybe it settles at some point. Trey just got here what, a week and a half ago? We’re still trying to work on it.”"
For as long as New York is committed to making the playoffs in 2018, it will evaluate what it can do to avoid stagnation.
Burke’s ability to create consistent penetration has provided shooters with new opportunities to find opening along the perimeter. His aggressiveness as a scorer and proficiency in running the pick and roll have also applied pressure to opposing defenses.
For as well as Burke is playing in this small sample size, however, developing Ntilikina remains a priority, and Jack deserves credit for making Kristaps Porzingis better.
Considering Burke has appeared in a grand total of six games in 2017-18, one can only surmise that striking the ideal balance will take time.
In a perfect world, the Knicks would be able to plug in all three of their point guards at various points of games. As the season progresses, however, the coaching staff will have a better idea of what it should be prioritizing, and thus, set a more concrete rotation.
In the meantime, the Knicks seem comfortable playing Burke and Ntilikina together, thus providing depth and untapped potential at multiple positions.
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The New York Knicks may not have a concrete answer about what will be done with the point guard position, but the solutions should present themselves in the coming weeks.