I thought this part of the article was most interesting. You can tell Phil truly believes in his approach to the game but at some point he must have realized that things are different with today's players. I think it weighed heavily into his shift to Hornacek. He's still a believer in his basic Principles of ball, but the things he used to do in order to reach his players aren't going to work with these players. He mentioned the AAU mentality.

TRADES AND FREE AGENCY

“We spent a lot of time trying to get something done, but there was no way I was going to deal our 2018 first-round pick. It was clear all along that the free-agent market was the main way we could keep progressing.

“One of our several needs will be to sign a guard who can penetrate and attack the basket in early offense and screen/roll situations. Whomever we sign also has to avoid over-handling the ball and be able to get us into our offense if we can’t run ourselves into an easy shot.

“I’ve always liked big guards…6-4, 6-5, around there. That’s because having someone that big reduces the disadvantages of having to switch on high screens.”

THE TRIANGLE

”The prevalent game plan in the NBA today is to keep the offenses very simple. Most coaches just want their players to go out there and bust it. They’ll run something for this guy or that guy off a double-screen or a high screen-roll, but their offenses are not formatted.

“That’s all most players want to do anyway. It goes back to AAU ball where the kids play ON teams but not WITH teams.

“What the triangle does is to format what players are supposed to do. Basic basketball is all it is. And it’s a lot simpler than some critics believe. When the Spurs’ early offense doesn’t turn up something positive, they frequently go right into actions that are incorporated in the triangle offense, so it’s not mystery ball and, it’s not outdated by any means.”

Nalod wrote:Credit both Fish and Phil for keeping it pretty much on the top shelf. Phil referenced his personal life and struggles with Divorce and bicoastal with the kids. No reference to Barnes and Govan which was cool. Kept it about baskeball and philosophy.

Remember, if this was written in February his comments about Rambis were about him being coach then.
I wonder if he'll ever do some files about why he seemed to promote Rambis as head coach then went to Hornacek? Was it at the bequest of his owner? Public/media not loving Rambis as many have speculated?
Hard to believe Phil caving if his conviction was high on Rambis.

Exit interviews... people point to Melo, but all signs point to the players simply not liking him. When you listen to him talk I can see the communication problems.

CrushAlot wrote:

fishmike wrote:

Nalod wrote:Credit both Fish and Phil for keeping it pretty much on the top shelf. Phil referenced his personal life and struggles with Divorce and bicoastal with the kids. No reference to Barnes and Govan which was cool. Kept it about baskeball and philosophy.

Remember, if this was written in February his comments about Rambis were about him being coach then.
I wonder if he'll ever do some files about why he seemed to promote Rambis as head coach then went to Hornacek? Was it at the bequest of his owner? Public/media not loving Rambis as many have speculated?
Hard to believe Phil caving if his conviction was high on Rambis.

Exit interviews... people point to Melo, but all signs point to the players simply not liking him. When you listen to him talk I can see the communication problems.

Also, the triangle workshop may have given Phil some insight into the way the players and Kurt interacted.

good call... I get the feeling he's got a good BB mind but cant reach people. Communication is a skill some simply don't possess. Tough to be a HC without that at a high level

Seems once Phil hired Fish and saw what he did in practices and game time coaching, I think he regret the move. On the flip his first choice in Kerr was so much better. There had to be doubt in Phil's mind all along. Now with Hornachek, you get a guy much like what Phil was looking in Kerr. Someone who will run some Triangle, run his own higher paced offense, most importantly view the team as a whole and not individualize the practices and players as much. Going to be interesting to see if the Knicks improve on offense with Hornachek. You look back at Fish, he didn't run all that much Triangle either. So much was made of it in the media, but it wasn't much Triangle that Fisher was running. And now Hornachek isn't going to run all that much either. It's about whether the coach can get a solid 9 man rotation, consistency, and get the team to play together. Fisher had his moments, but I know for a fact that I was yelling in every game thread that his rotation was god awful, and he had no consistency in how he wanted the team to play on offense.

Obviously the hiring is on phil. I knew from day 1 fisher wasnt ready to be a head coach. HOWEVER im happy with hornacek coming here

nixluva wrote:I don't think Phil expected Fish to be 100% from day one. He even stated that he wanted to mentor him. It seems Fish was much further away than Phil thought. Fish was much more immature than he presented himself.

yup phil definetly made a bad decision but im glad he realized it and got hornacek who i think will flourish with KP