mafra
Legend
SAN ANTONIO ? The triangle is gone but Jeff Hornacek?s offense remains stuck in another era.
In case you?ve been cryogenically frozen like the Knicks the last four years, the NBA is all about 3-pointers these days. The Warriors won two championships with it. The Cavs embraced it to compete with the Warriors. The Rockets have shattered every 3-point record you can imagine.
Heading into Friday?s games, they were dead last in the league in 3-point attempts (21.6 per game) and makes (7.8).
Conversely, they led the NBA in midrange shot attempts (22.6 per game), which have been labeled unacceptable by others because of its inefficiency. The Knicks are an analytics geek?s nightmare.
Unlike while under Phil Jackson?s triangle spell (when the Knicks were in the bottom-10 in 3-point attempts for three straight seasons), this isn?t by design.
Hornacek is encouraging more 3-pointers. It just isn?t happening.
?Of course I want more,? the coach said. ?We?re not getting many. Some of them we?re passing up. We?re not getting the penetration sometimes to kick it out. On the break, they got to be able to let them fly.?
So what?s the problem? The Knicks are slow and their point guards ? Jarrett Jack and Frank Ntilikina ? are neither great at shooting 3s (35 percent between them) nor good at penetrating to create that shot for others.
Tim Hardaway Jr.?s absence ? which is at 14 games and counting ? has dampened New York?s transition game, cutting into those 3-pointers created early in the shot clock.
?We call him angry grandpa,? said Michael Beasley in a bow to Hardaway Jr.?s grouchy demeanor. ?Him going down was definitely detrimental to the team.?
It?s no coincidence the Knicks? 3-point attempts have declined since Hardaway Jr. went down with the stress injury, falling to 18 attempts per game over the last five games.
That?s where we miss Tim who?d come down the court create something to get us some 3s,? Hornacek said. ?The rest of the guys are doing it through execution. A lot of team?s 3s aren?t off set plays. It?s transition, it?s offensive rebound kickouts, guys penetrating to the basket and getting into the paint.?
?We try to emphasize that, try to get it in the paint, try to kick it out to guys. I think sometimes we get in there and say, ?Okay, I got an 8-footer.? But teams that get a lot of 3s, they say, ?I don?t want the 8-footer, I want to kick it out for a 3.? So we have to do a better job of that.?
The other issue is that the offense is built around Kristaps Porzingis, who is a great 3-point shooter but not yet adept at passing out of double teams. Despite often commanding the ball, Porzingis has notched more than two assists just twice this season.
So when the ball goes into the post to Porzingis, the guards on the perimeter (Courtney Lee) aren?t benefitting with open looks.
?I?m still learning but I?m happy with the decisions I make,? Porzingis said. ?Passing out of the post when the double-teams come, I?m reading defenses better. Early on, I was forcing too much. Now I?m finding the open man much more but I still have a long way to make those passes sharp.?
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/b...ains-bafflingly-inefficient-article-1.3726530
In case you?ve been cryogenically frozen like the Knicks the last four years, the NBA is all about 3-pointers these days. The Warriors won two championships with it. The Cavs embraced it to compete with the Warriors. The Rockets have shattered every 3-point record you can imagine.
Heading into Friday?s games, they were dead last in the league in 3-point attempts (21.6 per game) and makes (7.8).
Conversely, they led the NBA in midrange shot attempts (22.6 per game), which have been labeled unacceptable by others because of its inefficiency. The Knicks are an analytics geek?s nightmare.
Unlike while under Phil Jackson?s triangle spell (when the Knicks were in the bottom-10 in 3-point attempts for three straight seasons), this isn?t by design.
Hornacek is encouraging more 3-pointers. It just isn?t happening.
?Of course I want more,? the coach said. ?We?re not getting many. Some of them we?re passing up. We?re not getting the penetration sometimes to kick it out. On the break, they got to be able to let them fly.?
So what?s the problem? The Knicks are slow and their point guards ? Jarrett Jack and Frank Ntilikina ? are neither great at shooting 3s (35 percent between them) nor good at penetrating to create that shot for others.
Tim Hardaway Jr.?s absence ? which is at 14 games and counting ? has dampened New York?s transition game, cutting into those 3-pointers created early in the shot clock.
?We call him angry grandpa,? said Michael Beasley in a bow to Hardaway Jr.?s grouchy demeanor. ?Him going down was definitely detrimental to the team.?
It?s no coincidence the Knicks? 3-point attempts have declined since Hardaway Jr. went down with the stress injury, falling to 18 attempts per game over the last five games.
That?s where we miss Tim who?d come down the court create something to get us some 3s,? Hornacek said. ?The rest of the guys are doing it through execution. A lot of team?s 3s aren?t off set plays. It?s transition, it?s offensive rebound kickouts, guys penetrating to the basket and getting into the paint.?
?We try to emphasize that, try to get it in the paint, try to kick it out to guys. I think sometimes we get in there and say, ?Okay, I got an 8-footer.? But teams that get a lot of 3s, they say, ?I don?t want the 8-footer, I want to kick it out for a 3.? So we have to do a better job of that.?
The other issue is that the offense is built around Kristaps Porzingis, who is a great 3-point shooter but not yet adept at passing out of double teams. Despite often commanding the ball, Porzingis has notched more than two assists just twice this season.
So when the ball goes into the post to Porzingis, the guards on the perimeter (Courtney Lee) aren?t benefitting with open looks.
?I?m still learning but I?m happy with the decisions I make,? Porzingis said. ?Passing out of the post when the double-teams come, I?m reading defenses better. Early on, I was forcing too much. Now I?m finding the open man much more but I still have a long way to make those passes sharp.?
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/b...ains-bafflingly-inefficient-article-1.3726530
