Carmelo Anthony said he’ll change for Phil Jackson. Phil Jackson said he is committed “to saying Carmelo is in the future plans.”
Sounds perfect.
Jackson also said Tuesday at his introduction as Knicks president that he is a big proponent of system basketball, and that he loves the triangle offense with its passing, movement, and cutting. It is not quite a system designed with Anthony in mind.
“I would educate anybody that wants to know the nuances of the triangle. I coached it for 20 years,” Jackson said. “It’s been very effective. It’s a simple offense. It’s pretty logical and pretty practical in many ways. It’s not an insistence, but I do like to have a system. I like a method of playing basketball.
“[Some] of the principles are hit any of your four teammates [with a pass], three offensive rebounders on the boards, two defensive balance guys after a shot goes up. All these things are important to me in basketball and enumerating those things makes for a real solid team effort both on offense and defense.”
OK, so can Anthony fit in with all that? Or is the new committed relationship destined to last about as long as the Kardashian-Humphries marriage?
“Developing a system so that balls can move, passes are made and people make cuts and create open opportunities for teammates. These are things that are important to me,” Jackson said. “I believe in system basketball.”
Anthony recently has said the right things. Regarding a two-year old critique from Jackson that ball movement dies with the Knicks star, Anthony said it probably was true back then. But he has evolved. Championship or bust. And if that means triangle cuts and reads and motion, so be it. There are skeptics.
“I don’t know if he can adjust because he’s been set in his ways for 11 years in the league,” said one veteran NBA scout. “The triangle is read, motion. If the ball always stops in his hands, it will be impossible to run. The triangle is an offense for five people not one person, it’s a two-man game and a set with three guys. … Now if Carmelo can adjust his game, he can thrive, will thrive. I just don’t see how after all these years.”
Jackson stressed how Anthony has shown a willingness to adjust, citing the Olympics where one of the game’s megastars accepted a bench role.
“He showed … playing a role as a bench player on a magnificent team that won a gold medal that he can play a role if he has to play a role,” Jackson said. “He’s a basketball player and that’s what players want to be able to do. They want to be able to cut, to pass, to be in different spots on the floor, to attack or to play. I think that Carmelo will be just fine. I see no problem in it.”
But Jackson sees problems elsewhere in the NBA, starting with the basics.
“I see a tremendous amount of footwork incorrectly, sometimes three or four steps before people make a move. Footwork is very important, passing is very important. Those are junior high school/high school skills that have to be reiterated.”