New York Knicks President Phil Jackson promised new head coach Jeff Hornacek that he would be open to altering the triangle offense, but that may not have been because he thinks it's no longer effective.

It may be understandably difficult to move the needle for Jackson who won 11 rings in his coaching career utilizing the offense to shape how his team approached games.

Jackson spoke with Charley Rosen last December in a series called The Phil Jackson Chronicles, and recently posted his latest interview regarding the NBA and of course the triangle.

When Rosen asked Jackson why his team is so ineffective running the offense, Jackson responded with this:

Today’s players simply lack the skills to play the triangle. They know how to play one-on-one, catch-and-shoot, and they’ve mastered crossover dribbles, spins, playing off of screens and step-back shots. They don’t know how to execute things like inside-reverse pivots and other basic footwork. They have no sense of timing or organization. They don’t really know how to play five-on-five basketball. It’s strictly generational.

That’s why Fish {Derek Fisher} wants to uptempo the offense. And why he spends a half-hour before practice doing lots of skills work.

The NBA is changing to a faster paced game, and there is an argument that Jackson's philosophy of forcing players into a painstaking offense is not progress.

Coach Jackson spent many sessions going through skills and running drills with both the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers. Basic fundamental aspects of the game that many players hadn't had to run through for many years were necessary to compete at the highest level in the triangle offense.

Many modern players are not necessarily brought through the ranks of fundamentals, and even Lakers legend Kobe Bryant laments that european players are more skilled and AAU basketball is awful for the game of basketball.

I think that is just by luck in the generation that I grew up in. My generation is when AAU basketball really started becoming s—. I got lucky because I grew up in Europe and everything there was still fundamental, so I learned all the basics.

While the 90's and early 2000's triangle offenses were technically sound, and the results were phenomenal, some argue that Jackson was fortunate to have some of the best players in NBA history to spearhead the entire campaign. What caused that style of basketball to start fading was the implementation of the zone defenses.

The generational changes are not what Jackson is used to, and many players do lack the know how to do the smaller more effective things to win games. The San Antonio Spurs and the Golden State Warriors run plenty of triangle sets, and remain two of the top teams in the entire NBA, but the list of teams following suit quickly fades.

Jackson is partially right in his comments, but it's not necessarily a generational issue, as much as he needs the right players to run the offense effectively as well.

The Knicks are hoping things come together by first trading for Derrick Rose who doesn't need the ball in his hands the entire game to be effective, but only so useful at that point. They signed Courtney Lee because he is a great complimentary two way player, and very reliable teammate.

They also signed Joakim Noah who is a smart rebounding big man with passing skills, and adding them all into the mix with Carmelo Anthony, who can effectively work in the post. Kristaps Porzingis is a young stud on his way to stardom, and ripe for shaping into just what they need to contend in the Eastern Conference.

Jackson's staff complained about players and the mistakes they made in the 90's, and there doesn't seem to be any indication it will stop here. He will truly have to ease up a little if he truly desires to see results in New York.

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