So now they apparently know what’s going on with the playbook.
Just two days after players admitted confusion and disarray with the offense, the Knicks were going the opposite way and insisted a solid practice Thursday would go a long way in fixing what’s wrong with their world.
Well, they can prove it at home Friday against the Nets.
“It was great just to air things out out here — meaning getting out here, competing on both ends of the floor,” said Tim Hardaway Jr., one of the outspoken critics of the offense after the Knicks were demolished in Boston on Tuesday. “We know we took a blow the last game. So we just wanted to come back here, get things taken care of on the floor. We got better today.”
How much better they got can be gauged against the offensively potent Nets, who led the NBA in scoring after five games at 121.2 points but were last in scoring defense at 119.4.
“Everybody focused in on both ends of the court, on our defensive concepts and our offensive concepts. The focus was above par. It was at a high level today. I’m excited and anxious to go out there and play tomorrow,” Hardaway said.
After the 110-89 blowout loss in Boston, Hardaway claimed, “We’re all out there just running like we don’t know what’s going on,” while Courtney Lee stressed, “We got to pay attention more in practice,” insinuating teammates were as familiar with the playbook as the names of every 1932 U.S. Senator.
After practice in Tarrytown, coach Jeff Hornacek acknowledged the offense looked as smooth as gravel on selected plays but claimed the team is “95 percent” aware of the offense. So repetition continues for a team with lots of new faces in essentially a new offense.
Among the new players are three point guards — including rookie Frank Ntilikina, who practiced after sitting two games with a sprained left ankle and should make his regular-season home debut against the Nets.
“There [were] a few plays,” Hornacek said. “There’s probably five or six of them that we want execution and we were just a little out of position. Maybe we forgot we were supposed to turn and screen. So those are things we’re working on. We go over it every single day. It’s new guys and a new system. … At some point, old habits come back.
“For some guys, if they’re a guy who rolls to the basket every time, that’s what they’re used to. And sometimes he goes back instead of rolling into a screen,” Hornacek said. “So it’s just learning the offense. They got about 95 percent of it, so it’s just those few breakdowns and it’s us moving the ball a little bit quicker.”
The offense has hardly been a thing of beauty, averaging a league-low 93.3 points, a tad behind the 108.8 points they yield defensively. Coincidentally, one Las Vegas line Thursday listed Hornacek the second-most likely coach fired, behind New Orleans’ Alvin Gentry.
“You see a few plays in crucial times maybe that don’t get executed. If one guy screws up a play, then all of the sudden you’re kind of out of it. Then one guy goes one-on-one to break it down and we get nothing. We have to be able to execute and know all the plays. … There’s a lot more stuff that we put in, but they’ll get it,” Hornacek said.
After Boston, players also noted on-court communication needs improvement.
“That’s standard basketball,” Hornacek said. “When you get ready to run a play, your point guard is big at making sure that everybody sees the call. Not just come down and calling it out so just one or two guys see it. It’s all a work in progress. Our guys do it well a lot of the time, but there’s still room for improvement.”
Which starts at practice. Which the Knicks insisted was the case Thursday.