The Knicks are kicking off the 2017-18 season devoid of two familiar faces. Phil Jackson “mutually agreed” to part ways with the team after four seasons of failed Zen tricks and the imperfection of the triangle offense. Before he was sent packing, he managed to destroy the trade value of Carmelo Anthony to the point that all New York was able to get from the Thunder for the 10-time All-Star was Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a second-round pick.
With Jackson and Anthony elsewhere, we finally have a chance to see what Jeff Hornacek’s offense really looks like. And to get an idea of what we can expect, we can look back to what his teams ran during Hornacek’s stint with the Suns. The Suns didn’t have any star players during his time with the franchise, so the ball moved around for equal opportunity play in Phoenix.
One of the favorite sets of those Phoenix teams was the UCLA offense. The UCLA Bruins were known for running 1-4 high sets often, where the point guard would start at the top of the key and the remaining four players would space out foul line extended with two bigs on the elbows and two wings stationed above the break behind the 3-point line.
There is a lot that can be accomplished out of this setup. With the Suns, there was a focus on off-ball cuts and screens away from the ball to get players open. Yet, it’s the idea of allowing Kristaps Porzingis work from the elbow that really opens up the floodgates for the Knicks.
During this summer’s FIBA Eurobasket, Porzingis played for his home country and was used predominantly as a center. He also was exposed to a healthy diet of elbow and above-the-break touches with the national team. He’s an extremely fluid athlete for someone that stands at a towering 7-foot-3, and Porzingis can put the ball on the ground to make dribble moves some players a foot shorter than him struggle with. The combination makes him a nightmare matchup against traditional power forwards and centers.
Porzingis is one of the best shooting bigs in the league today as well. He made 35.6 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3-pointers last season and 41.6 percent of his midrange pull-ups, according to NBA.com. With his feet set, he is likely to drill the open looks.
Throw in the fact that he’s most comfortable operating from the top of the key and on the wings — two spots he shined with Latvia and spots he should get perimeter chances in Hornacek’s new offense this season — and Hornacek’s system should be able to maximize his unicorn skill set.
Anthony has been known to torpedo an offense due to his affinity to take his defender one-on-one. Derrick Rose is also no longer with this team and his one-track attack mind didn’t help facilitate much offense for Porzingis, let alone any of his other teammates.
The Knicks are officially in the Kristaps Porzingis-era. For this season, they’ve outfitted him with Tim Hardaway Jr., Frank Ntilikina, Enes Kanter, Willy Hernangomez and Doug McDermott as his supporting cast. That list of names doesn’t exactly shout playoff-caliber, but we will learn if Porzingis can be the focal point of an NBA offense. His summer with Latvia certainly helped believers feel good about his future as the face of a franchise.
The rebuild is underway in New York, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel with Porzingis, Ntilikina, cap room in 2019 and the Knicks having control of all their future first-round draft picks going forward. If Hornacek wants to remain the man in charge as the franchise attempts to fortify themselves into a contender in the Eastern Conference, then he must find a way to get the most out of a player like Porzingis at all cost. If he can’t, James Dolan’s deep pockets will just toss cash at someone else.
Add us as a preferred source on Google