New York Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek insisted the recent lineup changes and minute allocations made after the All-Star break have been solely decided by himself and his coaching staff, with no influence by the team's front office.
Hornacek warned prior to the All-Star break that his team would see an infusion of younger faces — something that became more acceptable with the injury to Kristaps Porzingis.
“All we ever talked about was get all these guys some minutes,” said Hornacek, according to ESPN's Ian Begley. “Play guys who are playing well, trying to find them all some minutes and get them experience and get them in games.”
Hornacek recently inserted Trey Burke into the starting lineup in place of Emmanuel Mudiay, gave the starting point guard spot to rookie Frank Ntilikina and shuffled minutes at the center and power forward position.
These moves have left out veterans like Courtney Lee, Lance Thomas, and Enes Kanter without their usual allocation, which has led to frustration in the locker room.
The Knicks haven't had much to play for after a brilliant start to the regular season, slowly becoming far from a reality and even more so after Porzingis tore his ACL — making this team a project for the long run.
Burke has been a shining point of this late season, especially considering how he was even a doubt to make the roster from the onset, choosing to play in the G League to figure himself out and ultimately proving to be the best backcourt player out of the trio with Mudiay and Ntilikina.
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