Jeff Hornacek willing to sit Derrick Rose, Carmelo Anthony in favor of young players
At 26-38 on the year and 12th in the Eastern Conference, the New York Knicks have been forced to do some soul-searching. But fortunately, head coach Jeff Hornacek may have found his zen.
The Knicks defeated the Orlando Magic by the final of 113-105 on Monday in a game that saw Derrick Rose benched for the entire fourth quarter in favor of rookie guard Chasson Randle. Carmelo Anthony also sat out Monday’s game with knee soreness and was noticeably absent for an over nine-minute stretch in the second quarter against the Golden State Warriors the day before.
After the win over Orlando, Hornacek indicated a willingness to keep playing his younger guys over his veterans in certain situations.
“Some nights that’s going to happen,” said Hornacek, per Al Iannazzone of Newsday. “They enjoyed playing together. They moved the ball and didn’t try to do too much. The other guys stepped up.”
Anthony and Rose are two of the team’s three leading scorers this season (along with 21-year-old Kristaps Porzingis). But they do have a tendency to strangle ball movement and take the entire offense hostage as they jab step and go off the dribble. For Hornacek, who’s had his fair share of frustrations with the duo over the course of the year, a more invigorated youth movement could help him find some meaning in the final month of this lost season.
H/T NBA Reddit
