Phil Jackson had a few interesting things to say about the New York Knicks in a recent interview on Shaquille O'Neal's podcast:On his offseason acquisitions: Jackson told O’Neal on “The Big Podcast with Shaq” that there were some inherent risks in his offseason acquisitions of Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. But he sees a big upside for the Knicks thanks to the addition of both players.
“Both of them I think have some career left even though they’ve had injuries, and it’s what they call risk-reward. What was the risk and what was the reward? And I felt it was a minimal risk and a great reward if we were able to put together a good team,” Jackson said. “Bringing Jeff Hornacek in as a coach, who wants to play a pretty fast pace, and having guards that can play that pace, benefited our style.”
Derrick Rose, if healthy, fits the style of play the Knicks want on offense. Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images
Most NBA observers would probably agree with Jackson -- the club has the potential to be one of the top teams in the East, but, given the recent injury history or Rose and Noah, no one would be surprised if things go south. And if the Knicks have another rough season, the blame could lie with Jackson since he put the roster together.
Rose, who is currently in Los Angeles attending a civil trial over allegations that he and two friends raped a woman, is a free agent after this season. Noah is signed for four years at approximately $18 million per season. He’s expected to make his preseason debut Saturday against the Boston Celtics after missing two games with a hamstring ailment.
On the difficulties of teaching the triangle: Jackson also expanded on why teaching the triangle in today’s NBA is so difficult. Hornacek, the new head coach, plans to run aspects of the triangle offense this season, using it as a way to space the court in half-court sets.
“How do you teach a system that requires so many fundamental skills to players that really haven’t been taught some of that basic stuff? Footwork and passing and all those rudiment type of skills that are learned that have been, that have changed over a few years? It’s a different game,” Jackson said. “I solicited Jeff because Jeff came from a system, Utah had a nice system, and he wanted to accelerate the game and play at the pace that’s kind of, present ballplayers like to play at. And yet, find a way to try and incorporate (a system to space the floor in the half-court offense). It’s got to be done in a way in which it doesn’t slow the game down but actually accentuates what they’re trying to do.”
Hornacek plans to increase the Knicks’ pace this season and run some more pick-and-roll plays early in the shot clock. Through two preseason games, the Knicks rank ninth in pace. Last season, they ranked 24th in the statistic, which is a measurement of possessions per 48 minutes.
Why not coach? Jackson also explained why he’s decided against coaching in New York. He cited health concerns.
“There’s a toll, and the toll on coaches, I’ve been through it and it's extreme,” Jackson said. “Even winning and having some success in coaching, (there’s) a great toll. First of all, the practices. And I felt if I couldn’t get up and down with the players on the court, then I might not be able to come back.”
Hand-picked roster? There was one portion of the interview that wasn’t entirely accurate. Jackson said that this summer was the first in which he was able to hand-pick his roster.
“We talked about, in our initial meeting last Monday, about the fact that this is all hand-picked. This is a hand-picked team. They all fit together in a way in which -- we haven’t had this opportunity since I’ve been in New York,” Jackson said. “A lot of it was we simply had players who were here because of the past administration. And this is the first time we had an opportunity to not only get players but also have money to go out and solicit players off the free-agent market.”
There’s no question that there are many new faces on this roster. But at the beginning of the 2015-16 season, Jackson described his roster as hand-picked as well. That team featured just one player -- Carmelo Anthony -- from the day that Jackson inherited the roster in March 2014.
