It’s still early in the season but the Knicks are visibly struggling as they learn the Triangle Offense. It’s a system Phil Jackson used to win 11 rings as a coach of the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers. As the Knicks new president of basketball operations, Jackson hired his former player Derek Fisher and both are trying to teach the system to the Knicks. Obviously it’s going to take some time for them to get it but Jackson isn’t interested in jabs from the NBA commissioner, Adam Silver in the meantime.
Here’s Adam Silver’s comments via the New York Daily News:
“I watched the Knicks game last night,” Silver said at a Nets community event on Thursday at a City Harvest Food Rescue facility in Long Island City. “Clearly, they’re still learning the triangle,” he said with a laugh. “I still don’t understand it. But they’re learning it. But that’s what the game is all about. You have a new coach, you have a new president of basketball operations in Phil Jackson; you have a couple new players on the team.”
Jackson spoke with reporters before the Knicks tipped off at home against the Hawks on Monday, and offered this response (via Steve Popper of NorthJersey.com):
Phil: It was fun to have Spike do the little piece, have a humorous part in it, but …
I wasn’t so humored by the commissioner actually jumping in on top of that, too. He doesn’t need to get in on that. …
Phil part 3: There’s enough focus on the triangle. It’s not anything. It’s a system. It’s simple basketball. Just play the game.
