Shaq blames triangle failure on players who don't pass

Shaquille O'Neal isn't hearing any criticism about his former head coach, Phil Jackson.

The Zen Master is under fire for forcing his beloved triangle offense upon his New York Knicks. The results are largely poor, but that's only because the Knicks aren't willing to share the ball, O'Neal told Al Iannazzone of Newsday.

"When you're a player and you're used to doing something one way and then you bring in the system, a lot of guys don't like to give up their habits," O'Neal said. "With the triangle, the ball can't stop.

"If you look at how the second team runs the triangle, guys that don't have a lot of experience in the game or have a lot of habits, they run with a lot of force. There, late in the fourth quarter, they got a couple of back-door plays. It definitely does work."

Failing to move the ball is one thing, but some responsibility also falls back upon Jackson for pairing up shoot-first players in Derrick Rose and Carmelo Anthony. Those former stars have built tremendously successful careers by operating with the ball in their hands, and getting them to change their games was an uphill battle.

Even if the system were run correctly, there isn't any guarantee it would work. Teams have tried to run the triangle, but only Jackson's star-studded teams have produced anything more than mediocre results.

The modern game is predicated on 3-pointers and shots at the basket, but the triangle largely produces mid-range shots. That's fine when Jordan is taking the shot, but asking Ron Baker or Sasha Vujacic to run the system is another issue altogether.

But O'Neal isn't hearing that one either. He acknowledges that Jackson had talent, but it was the system that produced championships.

"You always hear people say, of course the triangle worked with Mike and Scottie, Shaq and Kobe, which is true. But if you look at all our games it was the others that propelled us to that next level.

"I have three championships because of the triangle and also because of Derek Fisher, Big Shot Bob (Robert Horry), Rick Fox, guys that because of the triangle were able to be involved in the offense. When you've got a guy that holds the ball, nobody is really involved, everything is out of whack."