It’s hard to put a finger on culture. Everyone can have a different idea about what it means, whether it’s good or bad and, if it’s the latter, the best practices to go about changing it.
In sports, we tend to judge team chemistry on a scale of wins and losses, and after a disappointing 2013-14 campaign, the Knicks were clearly in need of a boost. So those in charge of leading the team to new heights this year and beyond spoke Friday about the work that started as soon as last season ended.
As they addressed the media to formally kick off a new year, President Phil Jackson, General Manager Steve Mills and first-year Head Coach Derek Fisher delivered a clear message that the wheels of change are in motion, while offering a glimpse of what their vision could look like on the court this season.
“We’ve had a considerable amount of personnel change,” Jackson said of his first offseason at the helm of New York’s front office, which included a blockbuster trade, multiple draft picks and re-signing star Carmelo Anthony. “We’re trying to get people who fit together and can work together.”
After a series of moves that turned over more than a third of the roster, Jackson spoke hopefully about balance; he cited a healthy mix of youth and veterans, size and speed. All three men on the podium were pleased with the team’s overall physical condition entering camp and each spoke of the organization’s emphasis on a strong training program.
There’s a sense that things are heading in the right direction, but the Knicks’ brain trust knows that real improvement comes from establishing a system and addressing the issues that ailed them a season ago. That’s why Fisher, in particular, stressed defense as both his top priority entering camp and a hot topic during offseason conversations with his players.
Fisher’s task: Take a roster with a bunch of new faces and revitalize a defense that ranked 24th (out of 30) last season.
Tyson Chandler will no longer anchor the paint, as he had since coming to New York in 2011. Jackson praised Chandler’s play with the Knicks, but took what he saw as an opportunity to improve the team this year and down the road when he traded the former NBA Defensive Player of the Year, along with Raymond Felton, to Dallas for a package that included Jose Calderon, Samuel Dalembert and Shane Larkin.
When asked how he’d measure success during Year 1 of his reign, Jackson’s answers reinforced the belief that stopping the opponent starts with individual effort but requires a collective focus. “Playing without inhibition, with energy – that’s success,” he said. “Teamwork, support for each other – as a team and especially on defense. Bonds. Chemistry. Intensity.”
Jackson noted on multiple occasions that he expects the Knicks to be “quicker” this season, particularly along the perimeter, which should help on the defensive end and could potentially open up the offense, which slipped out of the top 10 in efficiency just a year after finishing third in the NBA.
We got a glimpse of the Triangle Offense in Orange and Blue during the Knicks’ Summer League stint – and even joked that Tim Hardaway Jr., rookie Cleanthony Early, Larkin and Co. could teach the veterans in camp after executing it so successfully at times in Vegas. But we could only imagine how it would look with Anthony as the focal point.
Fisher and Jackson are optimistic that Melo can take his game to another level, but both spoke about lightening his load by clearly defining his options within the framework of the system and asking him to trust his teammates.
“There’s a period of time in which it takes a scorer to play with the idea that you can’t score every time you touch the ball,” Jackson said. “It’s a natural instinct; looking to score is one thing, holding the ball is another.”
Jackson invoked Michael Jordan (“never 100 percent comfortable” playing at the top of the key) and Kobe Bryant (“a natural”), both for their differences in style and similarities in success. He assured the gathered media that Carmelo Anthony would be quite comfortable in his role from the start of camp.
The process continues as the Knicks prepare to head to West Point for a week of practice and team building. Jackson estimated that it takes a month to six weeks for a team to gel. There will be growing pains, but for those who embrace the work, the fun part comes in the meantime as it all comes together. Jackson’s plan: “We’ll try to control what we can control…and rely on the young players playing hard every night to support the veterans.”
There’s a certain amount of faith that goes with watching a new regime implement an entirely new system, especially with the ambitious talk of changing culture. Soon enough, there will be tangible results from which Fisher, Jackson, Mills and their support staff can determine who fits and how to keep building. As training camp officially gets underway and the Knicks take the next step, the vision continues to take shape.