New York Knicks president Phil Jackson has a lot of influence on the team's offense, despite never serving as their head coach. But he's confident his triangle offense, which won him 11 NBA championships combined with the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls, can work in the Big Apple, regardless of who's manning the sidelines.
The Knicks' Jeff Hornacek has continued to enforce the triangle since the All-Star break, even though it likely isn't his system of choice, but veteran coach Larry Brown isn't having it.
Brown, who coached the Knicks for the 2005-06 season, feels that if Jackson wants the triangle implemented, it should be the Zen Master serving as the coach, since no one knows how to run that offense better than him.
"I can't figure out how you can hire a coach and tell him how you want him to play. I can't figure out how you can draft players for a coach that you know coaches a certain a style, and has been successful doing that style, and get him to play a style that you feel comfortable with," Brown said in an interview on Sirius XM NBA Radio, according to ESPN's Ian Begley.
"Then you coach. You're talking about one of the greatest coaches in the history of our sport. Let him coach. If he wants to do the triangle, put it in, let him coach it, and then teach everybody around and get the players that are comfortable playing it."
Hornacek said Monday that he'll use the remainder of the 2016-17 season to evaluate his players in terms of how they fit into the triangle.
New York ranks 16th in offensive efficiency, averaging 105 points per 100 possessions. They've also lost three of their last four games, and seven of their last nine, blowing a 17-point lead to the Toronto Raptors at Madison Square Garden on Monday.
