Carmelo Anthony: I got Jeff Hornacek’s point ‘loud and clear’
By Marc Berman September 27, 2016

Jeff Hornacek knew his first practice as Knicks coach would be spirited when he saw the entire club already on the court one hour early at their Tarrytown headquarters.

“It was a sign to me guys are ready to go,’’ Hornacek said Tuesday. “I was a little worried about wearing themselves out even before practice started.’’

Two-a-days won’t begin until the Knicks practice at West Point Wednesday. But Hornacek already got his fastbreak message across, and Carmelo Anthony felt good vibes from the fifth head coach he has had as a Knick.

“You can feel the energy from the first huddle that we had today,’’ Anthony said. “I thought he took control of the court. He made his voice clear, loud and clear what we wanted, what he expected. Guys responded well. It’s always good to set the tone on the first day.

“As far as what he wants for us, he wants to run and play at a faster pace.’’

A triangle-with-tweaks is the goal for Hornacek, who never ran Phil Jackson’s beloved system as a player or coach and employed a speedball system in Phoenix.

Hornacek said little of the offense was shown on Day 1, but he had the team do some scrimmaging to get used to the faster pace. It will be a departure from Kurt Rambis’ slowdown triangle. Nevertheless, Hornacek maintains in halfcourt sets “aspects of the triangle” will be in place.

“Maybe it’ll take a little bit of time, but that’s why you have preseason,’’ said Hornacek, who will coach his first game Oct. 4 in Houston in the preseason opener. “Once we get everything in the first three, four days, we’ll do a lot of scrimmaging.”

Joakim Noah was excused from the season’s first practice because of a family issue and will be back Wednesday at West Point.

This will be the Knicks’ third straight year going to West Point for camp. Knicks general manager Steve Mills said Anthony told him after the team trained in Tarrytown in 2013, it would be better if the team got away to bond.

“It’s worked out well for us,’’ Knicks president Phil Jackson said. “It’s 40 minutes away from here. They’ve been great hosts. They haven’t jump-started our season, although we got off to a good start last year [22-22]. It hasn’t been success thing where we have to replicate it but we like it and wanted to go back.”

Former coach Derek Fisher, fired last February, didn’t like to scrimmage a lot because he didn’t want to wear out the players. Hornacek said he feels it important to get players to know each others’s moves.

Another difference between Hornacek and Fisher/Rambis is the Knicks’ new coach is a technician when it comes to shooting style. During the final stages of Tuesday’s practice, when the players were just shooting at separate courts, Hornacek, the former shooting guard, examined them closely.

Hornacek, former shooting coach with Utah, said he will often give pointers when he sees something amiss.

“I try to go to them to see what they’re feeling,’’ Hornacek said.

He also encourages player input.

“If a guy’s been in the league 10, 12 years and says, ‘Hey coach, how about we do it this way,’ I’ll be like ‘OK,’ ’’ Hornacek said.