As the New York Knicks stumble toward a fourth straight playoff-free spring, some players may no longer be paying attention to first-year head coach Jeff Hornacek.
Some Knicks have "tuned out" Hornacek, a source told the New York Daily News' Stefan Bondy, whose colleague Frank Isola also reports that Carmelo Anthony avoided the coach's postgame address after last Wednesday's loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Anthony is clearly weary from a season in which team president Phil Jackson has effectively tried to drive him out of town. Prior to scoring 27 points in another loss (to Brooklyn) on Sunday, Anthony had gone a season-long five straight games without recording 20 or more.
Following the Brooklyn loss, teammate Kristaps Porzingis described the Knicks as being in a state of "confusion."
Related: Jackson has more triangle seminars in store
And after weeks of positive spin, Hornacek conceded Tuesday that the postseason is likely not in the cards this year.
"The playoffs might not be in reach," he said. "Until you're mathematically done you're always going for it. But sometimes it’s realistic." Going into Tuesday night's contest against the Indiana Pacers, the Knicks are 6.5 games out of eighth place in the East with 15 to play.
Hornacek's hiring last spring was met with surprise, considering he had no real previous relationship with Jackson or experience running the president's prized triangle offense. After trying out various modified offensive sets earlier this season, the Knicks recently switched back to the venerable triple-post offence.
