It could be yet another rough year in New York, as the Knicks go through the painstaking process of learning the Triangle Offense.
Phil Jackson may have won a record 11 NBA titles with it, but players have a tough time grasping the offense, and it’s proven rather unpopular through the League.
JR Smith, who started for the Knicks Wednesday night, thinks it might be a long time before his team is comfortable with head coach Derek Fisher’s new offensive system.
Per the NY Post:
“It’s going to take a few months. Over the course of the year understanding where everybody is going to be,” Smith said about getting a team to feel comfortable in yet another new system. “It’s going to take a while.”
“We went out there and started thinking too much instead of just playing,” said Smith about the Knicks’ 106-86 preseason loss to the Boston Celtics. “We have to trust our instincts a little more and just play. We all know how to get into our offense and just play the right way. It’s just a matter of … if they take something away, don’t get too anxious or too nervous and turn the ball over. And don’t let our offense dictate our defense. We got turnovers, put our head down and they kept running the ball down our backs.”
“J.R. has been consistent in practice,” said Fisher. “His work ethic has been great. He’s picking up the system as well as you can possibly expect of a guy in the first week or so. So we felt it was right to go this way. We spoke to [the team] about the fact that things can change. Don’t take this as a final way we’re going to go about our starting lineup, but I think J.R. deserved this.”
