New York Knicks' Transition to New Era Will Be a Painful Process
Not even the most basic basketball minds should have needed to see the New York Knicks' first preseason game to know that the team's rise from clown to contender would include a lot of self-exacting pain.
Overnight transformations are rare. Even the super-est of superteams—like this year's Cleveland Cavaliers—are subjected to learning curves that can be, shall we say, less than pretty.
Kinks need to be ironed out. Chemistry needs to be forged. Roles need to be embraced and understood, and then executed properly.
The Knicks are in a more tenuous position. They're not just adding new pieces or adapting to the skill set of one or two players. They're installing a completely new system—Phil Jackson's famed triangle offense—which is just another way of saying they're undergoing culture shock.
Everything is changing, top to bottom. And these kinds of product restorations aren't typically quick. More importantly, they're never painless.
The First Loss
Some understood the significance of New York's organizational overhaul from the beginning. Others may have actually needed to see the Knicks in action, outside of training camp, far away from the untamed idealism that pollutes practices and exhibitions within which there are no opponents.
Those who needed to be injected with additional perspective did not abandon their televisions disappointed Wednesday night. The Knicks were out of sync and sorts, falling to the Boston Celtics 106-86.
Now, single-preseason contests that don't include campaign-crushing injuries matter very little. The San Antonio Spurs fell to Alba Berlin despite Tim Duncan and Tony Parker each logging over 30 minutes. Neither has since announced his retirement nor has head coach Gregg Popovich demanded both be traded for cap space, draft picks and a Sega Dreamcast.
Entire preseason showings can matter, as a previous, deep statistical dive shows. But one game is no reason to panic or wonder if Jason Smith is, in fact, the missing link.
At the same time, this was not a performance to dismiss. Rather, it was—even if only slightly—indicative of where the Knicks stand right now.
Evidence and footprints of the triangle could be found in just about every offensive set. The Knicks were trying to get passing patterns down and attempting to understand how off-ball motions worked. All deviations from systematic structure were brief or out of necessity, with the shot clock winding down.
And so the Knicks looked bad. They committed 28 turnovers. Yes, 28. That's happened just six times by any team in the regular season since 2010, but the Knicks, they of little triangle understanding, coughed the ball up just as much like it was nothing.
Passes were sent to where players were previously standing. Overpassing was infectious. Players were hesitant to shoot at times, even Carmelo Anthony. Less than a third of their shot attempts (21) came in the restricted area. It was an exercise in unusually cruel execution.
So, under the circumstances, it was normal.
A Different World
Anyone hoping for an instant turnaround must understand this isn't a venture to be taken lightly. Many of the follies and foibles from New York's first exhibition will become standard as they grapple with the intricacies of their new offense.
New head coach Derek Fisher even had the foresight to suggest the team's mistakes were par for the course:
Such is the price when purging a franchise of widespread ruin. That's what consumed the Knicks last year. They ranked 11th in offensive efficiency, but their play—especially in the fourth quarter—was painfully predictable.
Give the ball to Anthony. Stand there. Repeat.
That the Knicks managed to survive offensively attests to Anthony's dominance as well as their lack of ball movement and direction, which Fisher and Jackson are trying to address now.
Like Posting & Toasting's Joe Flynn points out, the Knicks haven't ranked better than 15th in assists per game since Anthony arrived. Last year, they also ranked 23rd in total passes per game, according to NBA.com.
Transitioning from an isolation-heavy, one-dimensional attack to a more team-oriented, pass-packed approach isn't easy. Fits of disappointment and anguish are experienced along the way. Most of the time they don't disappear right away.
"It's going to take a few months," J.R. Smith said after New York's loss to Boston, per ESPNNewYork.com's Ian Begley. "Over the course of the year, understanding where everybody is going to be, [understanding that] 'some like it here, [some] like it like that.' It's going to take a while."
It's not just Smith who understands this, either.
During the Knicks' loss to the Celtics, MSG Network ran a clip of Anthony divulging what Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Scottie Pippen all told him about playing in the triangle:
"The one message that they keep telling me is ‘Just be patient. There’s gonna be times when you feel like you’re not a part of it. Just be patient, it’s gonna come to you.’
And I can see that now in practice. I find myself just being there going, ‘OK, just be patient. It’s gonna come.’ And then, before you know it, I’m within the offense.
"
When your best player—a perennial All-Star—cops to struggling within the offense, it doesn't spell good times.
These Knicks are not a tenured powerhouse. They're new to each other, new to the concepts and culture that are suddenly their own. And when there's that much unfamiliarity, there's bound to be pain.
Pain Now, Success Later(?)
Endure.
Things should get better, maybe even soon.
Until then, endure.
Alfred said it to Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight, and it applies here.
For the Knicks to survive this rebuild, they'll have to withstand failures and defeat. They're going to miss shots, commit turnovers and think too much. They're going to look bad, sometimes horrible. They're going to bring the hurt...on themselves.
And that's to be expected.
Like Flynn cautions, pain is the cost of innovation:
"Change can be scary, my friends. The vast majority of basketball fans will say that they prefer an offensive with more passing. It just feels right. But the disturbing truth is that the franchise is in the process of fixing something that wasn't broken, at least as far as offense was concerned. The Knicks could have kept Tyson Chandler and Ray Felton, re-signed Melo, pad-locked Bargnani to the bench and fielded a top-ten offense that never turned the ball over.
On the other hand, we would have had to sit through another season of blown fourth-quarter opportunities as opponents doubled Melo 27 feet from the basket while his four teammates stood and watched.
"
Assembling personnel and hoarding talent is only part of what the Knicks are trying to accomplish. Returning to the playoffs is only part of it, too. Those are the easy parts. The challenge is turning all those parts into something special, and it's one the Knicks must get used to conquering.
What's supposed to happen next year when they're coming off a summer rife with even more change? Less than half the roster is under guaranteed contracts beyond this season. The Knicks will have cap space, and they're expected to spend it. Some are even convinced, including Begley, that they'll hold out until 2016, when Kevin Durant is slated to reach free agency.
Entertaining such pursuits is fun and even makes sense, but roster turnover is the enemy of consistency. It means more new faces, all of whom will have to labor through lessons in triangle-ing, just like the Knicks are now.
That's what this team is up against: combating extensive and unavoidable change that, by design, results in extensive and unavoidable pain. The on-court product will look unbecoming in the meantime. The hope is that patience and process will eventually pay off, replacing pain with promise and the Knicks we see now with a team that's comfortable in its new skin.
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com unless otherwise cited. Contract information via ShamSports.com.
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