It is very easy to pick on the New York Knicks, in fact it is almost too easy. From hiring Mike D’Antoni to coach them, then firing him only to hire Mike Woodson as his replacement. The 2014 offseason had the Knicks back in the news, hiring Phil Jackson as president of the Knicks. Now they have somewhat become different by hiring some fresh blood in Derek Fisher. A Phil Jackson disciple who has won five championships playing under him.

Fisher is dusting off the triangle offense for the Knicks. A shiny style of offense that inspires hope for the fan base. I don’t blame the fans for being excited. It is a system that has had success, eleven NBA titles to be exact.

The triangle offense is predicated on ball movement, easy buckets down low and an emphasis on offensive rebounding. There are no set plays with the set offense looking like a triangle on the court. Not hard to see when in action.

I am a firm believer in talent wins and we place too much emphasis on the system or style of play. Phil Jackson won eleven NBA championships with three of the top ten players in the history of the NBA playing under him and at the time a top power forward/center in Pau Gasol as well in 2009. With players like that regardless of system you will more than likely win and be very successful.

Now here come the New York Knicks and the attempting of the triangle offense. They have one corner of the offense in Carmelo Anthony, we know what he is. But that is just one corner, in the past the triangle offense has had at least one other top player on the court whether it was Jordan and Pippen or Shaq and Kobe Bryant. There has been a dominant duo on the court to make the offense go.

The Knicks have Carmelo and who else?

An injury plagued Amare Stoudemire?

What about an erratic JR Smith?

Is Iman Shumpert just another guy?

The Knicks talent level is average at best and that’s because they have Anthony on the roster. Otherwise Smith is boom or bust, never know what you will get from him. There is no front line, Amare is a shell of himself. Jason Smith is a good jump shooter. And you have hustle guys in Quincy Acy and Samuel Dalembert.

You can say they will have growing pains, which I am sure they will or you can say they aren’t healthy. But early in the season they are showing signs of the triangle working. The Knicks are a top ten team in offensive rebound and assists which follow the trend of the triangle. Going back to all the championship teams that Jackson has coached, his teams average out at sixth ranked in assists and offensive rebounds. Otherwise the Knicks are a disaster on both sides of the ball. Ranked in the bottom half of the league in offensive/defensive rating. That is not good.

Again’ there is not enough fire power on the team outside of Carmelo Anthony. They have no low post threat, their average shot distance is fourteen feet that is three feet farther from teams in the past that have ran the triangle offense under Phil Jackson.

Will Fisher just become another failed coach who attempted to run the triangle only to resign two years into his NBA career and be another Kurt Rambis? Or will Phil Jackson surround him and Anthony with the talent that gives the Knicks the best chance to succeed and make a deep playoff run?

Who knows, the season is still young but it does not look good for the Knicks.