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The Knicks’ Triangle Offense Is Starting to Change Shape

In both message and scheme, New York looks to be de-emphasizing Phil Jackson’s beloved offensive system

Knicks guard Jose Calderon, right, uses a ball screen from Quincy Acy to drive to the basket against the Washington Wizards on Jan. 7. ENLARGE
Knicks guard Jose Calderon, right, uses a ball screen from Quincy Acy to drive to the basket against the Washington Wizards on Jan. 7. Photo: NED DISHMAN/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES
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By
Chris Herring

July 14, 2015 5:39 p.m. ET

0 COMMENTS

LAS VEGAS—When Phil Jackson and Derek Fisher took over the Knicks last year, they claimed to be prioritizing defense, even if there wasn’t much to suggest that notion was true.

Yes, they began training camp last year with an entire day of defensive drills. But there was no mistaking the fact that Carmelo Anthony, New York’s star player who had just received a $124 million contract, is known almost solely for his scoring ability. Top off-season acquisition Jose Calderon, someone Jackson described as an ideal fit on offense, isn’t really known for his defense either.

Then there was the choice to partner with celebrity Knick fan Spike Lee to make a film explaining the crux of Jackson’s beloved triangle offense.

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The triangle, an offensive philosophy successfully used by Jackson to the tune of 11 NBA championships, was imported by the Knicks’ president upon his hiring in March 2014.

But as Jackson and Fisher head into Year Two at the helm, there seems to be a concerted effort—not only in message, but scheme as well—to de-emphasize Jackson’s offensive system of choice.

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The Knicks haven’t scrapped the triangle, which is still their base offense, even here in summer-league games. But from last year to now, there’s been a considerable difference concerning how and when the players rely on the system to score.

It could be argued, though, that the best indication of this shift took place in a war room rather than on the hardwood.

New York’s decision to take not one, but two first-rounders—power forward Kristaps Porzingis and point guard Jerian Grant—who specialize in the pick-and-roll was telling. Given that pick-and-roll sets have traditionally been limited in the triangle offense, the draft selections suggested the Knicks were more prepared to begin building around their talent instead of letting their system fully dictate what sorts of players are on the roster.

“The offense is going to be designed around the guys that we have,” Fisher said after the team drafted Porzingis and Grant. “The screen and roll is going to be a part of what we do, but it’s not necessarily going to become something we rely on to get good shots at all times.”

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It’s worth noting that this shift, another positive sign for an organization that’s seemingly embracing more basic, normalized trends around the league lately, first became noticeable toward the end of last season, once Anthony was lost for the year due to knee surgery. The Knicks moved the ball fine last season, and passed it plenty, ranking second in the NBA in that regard. But the team had no one—not even Anthony, really—who could penetrate into the lane and consistently create looks for himself or others.

The Knicks set an NBA-low 35 ball screens a game during the first month of play last season, while possessing the ball on the elbow—or the pinch post, as it’s known in the triangle—a league-high 37 times a night over that span, according to SportVU player-tracking technology. By the final month, though, New York was running almost 56 ball screens a game, essentially a league-average number, while posting just 28 elbow touches per contest.

The team has appeared to be even more dedicated to screen-setting this summer in hopes of freeing up open looks and pick-and-roll opportunities. Porzingis, in his NBA debut last week, sprinted around the court to set a total of five ball screens in his first minute of play alone, something that would’ve made for an unusual sight last season.

‘I’m excited about being able to play faster and doing some different things in the open floor.’

—Derek Fisher
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“[Fisher] said he wants us to run more drag screens to start plays,” said Grant, explaining that coaches want to get he and others in downhill situations more frequently, to put more pressure on the defense and to quicken the tempo of the offense. “He’s been saying that we want to run, and push the ball after a miss. If we can’t get that, then we can run a drag screen or go into our basic offense. But he wants us to try to control the tempo first.”

As far back as five months ago, Fisher began hinting that he might begin tweaking the Knicks’ struggling offense to examine how it could be better used in a modern-day context.

“That’s my job to do that,” Fisher said in February, before his the Knicks finished 29th in offense. “I’m not trying to duplicate exactly what [Jackson] did, the same way he didn’t do that with [triangle innovator] Tex Winter. I’m not worried about that somehow going against the grain. [Phil] hired me to coach, so I have to do what I think is best for these guys, and we’re going to evolve in that fashion.”

It’s unclear whether relying less on the triangle will improve the offense, though that approach could flatten the learning curve newcomers face when learning the system. For how much faster the Knicks currently look in summer league, we don’t know whether that will translate during the season, when Anthony is back in the mix. The Knicks, who ranked last in fast-break points in 2014 and have been among the league’s five-slowest teams for each of the past three seasons, play considerably slower with Anthony, who had the NBA’s third-highest isolation rate last year, according to Synergy Sports.

“I’m excited about being able to play faster and doing some different things in the open floor,” Fisher said, citing Porzingis’s trailing ability as a reason the team could be better in transition. “We’re doing some different things to make sure we emphasize the pace more, to not give our players the impression that we want to walk it up and get right into our [triangle] format.…Defenses are too good for us to use our half-court sets every time down.”

The changes are smart by Fisher but there was nothing wrong with the offense as it was designed. All Fish is doing is finding a way to finally get his players to run the offense closer to how it's supposed to work, by having them do things they are familiar with before getting into the sets. Phil ALWAYS wanted to push the pace and flow rather than go straight into a slow half court walk up. That was just our lack of talent not being able to push the pace. Once Shved came in he actually understood what Fish wanted done and was able to bring more creativity and flow to the offense and Fish put in more PnR. Still the proper way to run the system was not to walk it up and be robotic.

Phil Jackson 2008:

Finally, I want the offense to flow from rebound to fast break, to quick offense, to a system of offense. The defenses in the NBA are so good because the players are so big, quick, and well coached. Add the pressure that the 24-second clock rule applies to the offense to find a good shot, and the defense gets even better.

Knicks1969 wrote:You simply can't ask guys who have played ISO ball all their lives to change their styles and become team players. When your roster is loaded with guys like: Amare, Carmelo, JR, Iman, and THJ, the triangle will never be a success

UH they still run the Triangle. The offense has ISO built into it but they get into the ISO looks off motion rather than just strictly trying to force it to a guy as everyone else stands and watches. THE ONLY difference now is how they get into the Triangle. Instead of walking it up as they often did at the start of last year they Push the ball the way the offense was designed but they go into quick screens and look for quick scoring opportunities. If they don't get that THEN they go into their Triangle formation. In truth this is much closer to what they should've been doing anyway, but players were too concerned with getting into the Triangle as opposed to just playing and letting it flow.

The big change comes with having a guard who can make stuff happen. Last year it was Shved and now we have Jerian who is making a huge difference in what we can do because of his versatility and quickness.

So before they get into this stuff below, now they look to push the ball and look for a lane to attack the basket if that's not there they run some drag screens before going into the Triangle set below.