Even if he stands 7-foot-3 with the ability to shoot from an extended range, Jeff Hornacek is opting to have a traditional center starting for his team rather than playing Kristaps Porzingis at the five.
The New York Knicks‘ head coach recently explained why he wants Porzingis to remain as their power forward as it will not increase the likelihood of freeing up the weak side when they play defense.
“That’s an option we’ve gone to sometimes. Sometimes it’s worked, sometimes it hasn’t been great. So we want the big guys. Sometimes when we take those guys out our protection at the basket isn’t as good. That puts a bigger emphasis on our guys outside to have to stop the penetration. Because KP can block shots in there, but then his man may be doing stuff on the weak side. So I think we’re better in the long run when you have two big guys down there — KP and somebody else defensively.”
Hornacek also discussed the possibility of the 21-year-old Latvian cutting into the minutes of his centers which he called ‘capable” which goes to show the trust and confidence he has with Joakim Noah, Willy Hernangomez and Kyle O'Quinn.
“We have three capable centers in Jo and Kyle and Willy played really well in Denver so if we play KP more at the 5 it kind of takes away those minutes.”
With their current record of 15-13 for the season, the Knicks have been successful by using a traditional lineup with Porzingis at the power forward position.
If New York continue to win games at their pace as the campaign progresses, it won't come as a surprise that they will be able to make a return trip to the playoffs after missing out on it the past three years.
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