The triangle offense is all Swahili to Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni.
Before Houston’s 129-122 victory over the New York Knicks on Saturday, D’Antoni, who previously served as New York’s head coach, was asked about the idea of the Knicks running less triangle this season. He responded with this amusing quip, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
Mike D'Antoni doesn't know if Knicks are running less triangle: "If the triangle hit me upside the head, I wouldn’t know what it was."
— Stefan Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) January 1, 2017
Oh, the subplots galore. D’Antoni is, of course, famous for his free-flowing, up-tempo offense, a sharp contrast to the notorious rigidity of the triangle. Meanwhile, his tenure as Knicks head coach was from 2008 to 2012, well before triangle fanboy Phil Jackson was hired as president. But D’Antoni still has something of a personal history with Jackson after being chosen over the Zen Master to serve as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers in 2012.
With the 26-9 Rockets 2nd in the NBA in points per game this year and 4th in overall pace (as opposed to 13th and 9th, respectively, for the 16-17 Knicks, who are still occassionally haunted by the ghost of the triangle), it’s no wonder that D’Antoni just doesn’t give a damn about the triangle offense.
H/T NBA Reddit
