ORLANDO, Fla. _ Phil Jackson isn't the only person who wants the Knicks to run more triangle. Kristaps Porzingis is fan of the offense that has been criticized by many and said the Knicks should have been playing it from the start of the season.
"We're starting to learn it now the way we should," Porzingis said before the Knicks' Wednesday morning shootaround. "We should have been playing from the beginning of the season. So we're a little behind. But every game we're getting a little better. Hopefully, I don't know when, we can start using it properly and making some impact playing it."
Porzingis will return Wednesday against the Magic after missing the past two games with a sprained right ankle. The second-year big man is happy the Knicks have gone back to emphasizing the triangle since returning from the All-Star break last week.
Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said one of the goals for the remainder of the season would be to "continue to grow the offense," and that they would evaluate players on whether they can play in the offense.
"I like the triangle," Porzingis said. "My first season, the whole first season we played nothing but the triangle so I know it pretty well. I like the offense. It can only work if everybody believes in it and everybody executes it the right way."
Hornacek ran aspects of the triangle early in the season, but then the Knicks went away from it after a team meeting the players called in which they voiced some concerns to Jackson and Hornacek.
Now the triangle is back, and one of the reasons Hornacek said they're running it is it helps balance their defense. He said Jackson mentioned that to him in one of their discussions.
"We talk about it a lot," Hornacek said. "Different things in the triangle you can do. Sometimes you call them out of timeout plays. That's some of the things Phil has said; some plays that maybe he used. We're talking all the time.
"That came up in one of the discussions, that it does give you better balance. We had guys that were getting stuck in the corner. That was part of it. Even that, I don't know how many possessions in a game, we're probably still not anywhere close to 50 percent of the time running it."
