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The Big 3 of the New York Knicks front office — Phil Jackson, Steve Mills and Jeff Hornacek — held court Friday afternoon. We’ve already discussed Phil’s controversial non-comments on the Derrick Rose trial, if you’re interested. Here we are going to look at the on-court stuff.
Hornacek admits that he doesn’t exactly have the most run-n-gunningest roster, but there are “some guys that can run the court.”
Hornacek on the #Knicks offense. "We do have guys that can run the court, and we want to use our defense to trigger early offense." pic.twitter.com/KEWbtjQDlk
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) September 23, 2016
The whole “use defense to trigger early offense” thing will be a fascinating subplot to the season. The 2015-16 squad was dead last in the league in steals and in forcing turnovers. You’re not going to run many fast breaks if you never get your opponent to cough up the ball.
Hornacek also said this, which I’m just going to assume is something he had to say:
Hornacek: "We feel that guys are going to push each other. I don't expect any minutes restrictions." #Knicks
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) September 23, 2016
Derek Fisher did an excellent job in limiting minutes last season for his veterans; Kurt Rambis ... eh, not so much. Hornacek is a smart guy, though. He’ll listen to the medical staff.
Here we have Phil talking about Willy Hernangomez, the benefit of his familiarity with Kristaps Porzingis. He mentioned it in the same breath as the Joakim Noah-Derrick Rose relationship, which, I mean ... they didn’t play together that long. Still, it should help.
President Phil speaking on the relationship between @willyhg94 & @kporzee, and how they bring a "certain sense of bond together." #Knicks pic.twitter.com/r1PgoIGbT4
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) September 23, 2016
Willy retweeted this video, which is adorable.
Phil, on Mindaugas Kuzminskas:
Phil on @MKuzminskas: "I think our fans are going to like him a lot. They are going to want to see him out there on the floor." #Knicks pic.twitter.com/vK0lYthdvw
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) September 23, 2016
Phil, on Melo:
What is @carmeloanthony working on for the upcoming season? Jeff and Phil dive in to the answer. #Knicks pic.twitter.com/p1SyKnTTmT
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) September 23, 2016
He mentioned the lack of respect Melo gets in regard to foul calls (true!) and talked to Melo about running the lane more often. I personally prefer Melo operating as a trailer on the break — he gets open looks from three and generally creates panic in the defense — but we’ll just have to wait and see.
Media Day is next week. Get excited!