MILWAUKEE _ Derrick Rose only knows one way to play, and that's to attack the basket. But Jeff Hornacek said it puts the Knicks at a disadvantage defensively when Rose doesn't convert or get fouled.
Hornacek would like to see Rose kick it out to his teammates more or make sure he draws more fouls on his drives.
"We've still got to trust our teammates," Hornacek said on Friday. "If he drives in there and he's open he takes the shot. If they collapse and they come in on him he's got to be able to kick it out.
"We've got to be able to get him to the free-throw line. Get six, seven points at the free-throw line will help us. When he goes in there and doesn't finish, the (other) team scores seems like 95 percent of the time when they go in the other direction. He's out of the play, he's underneath the basket and the other team is off to the races. We've got to either end the possession with a make or hopefully he gets fouled so we can set our defense."
Rose believes he's drawing contact but he's not getting the benefit of the calls. He's attempting 3.7 foul shots per game. Rose shot 6.9 per game when he won MVP in 2010-11 and 6.1 the next season. This was before knee surgeries slowed him, but Rose has regained that explosiveness.
"All I hear from the refs is they don't see the fouls whenever I do go in there," Rose said. "They say they don't see the foul. I don't know if I'm too fast or I play through contact. I can't help it that I'm strong."
Hornacek believes Rose is getting fouled sometimes, but it's also the way he goes to the basket that could be limiting the calls he gets.
"Sometimes he's giving kind of the double-pump in there, which when a referee sees that they think he's just avoiding the contact," Hornacek said. "Derrick has looked at it. He knows he needs to get to the free-throw line more. He probably will try to be more aggressive going at guys rather than avoid them and try to make the shots. He'll mix that up."
