How Crucial Will Triangle Be to Derek Fisher's Success as New York Knicks Coach?

It wouldn't be fair to Derek Fisher or the New York Knicks to suggest that the coach's familiarity with the triangle offense was the sole reason he landed the gig.

But it certainly didn't hurt.

If the 40-year-old—who suited up at point guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder just last May—finds some success on the Madison Square Garden sideline, he'll have his expertise with the system to thank for not only helping him land the position, but also excelling at it.

After suffering through 45 losses last season, the Knicks took a geometric approach toward turning the franchise around.

First, they filled their team president post with staunch triangle supporter Phil Jackson, who netted 11 world titles while running this offense during coaching stints with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers. Jackson, in turn, handed over the coaching reins to Fisher, the floor general on Jackson's five banner-raising squads in L.A.

Like the system itself, these moves are interconnected. The Knicks aren't gambling on Fisher's ability to guide them down the road to relevance, they are betting on his chance to traverse that path by deploying an offense he knows like the back of his hand.

When fellow Jackson disciple Steve Kerr—the early favorite in the Knicks' coaching race, per ESPN.com's Marc Stein—signed on to lead the Golden State Warriors this offseason, the former sharpshooter said the offense he planned to implement would be "influenced by the triangle," via San Jose Mercury News' Tim Kawakami.

Perhaps due to the proximity of Jackson, Fisher has more openly subscribed to the system.

Before Carmelo Anthony had even agreed to his new five-year, $124 million deal with the Knicks, Fisher was discussing how well the scoring forward fit the offense. If Fisher thought highly enough of the scheme to use it as a negotiating tool, it's safe to say his attack will be more than just influenced by it.

And why wouldn't it be? Not only do both Jackson and Fisher know how successful it can be, it also includes the elements needed to move the Knicks away from the ball-stopping isolation plays that have plagued their production in recent seasons.

Despite an individually brilliant year from Anthony (27.4 points, 24.4 player efficiency rating), the Knicks finished the 2013-14 campaign just 11th in offensive efficiency (105.4 points per 100 possessions). Movement, of both players and the ball, was almost nonexistent. New York's 54.2 assist percentage was the fourth-lowest in the NBA.

If Anthony didn't do something on his own, that something often went undone.

For the Knicks, the triangle represents more than a philosophical change. It symbolizes the freedom they'll now be afforded in a system that emphasizes options over strictly controlled actions.

"It's a system, and not a set of plays," Bleacher Report's Dylan Murphy wrote of the triangle. "... Instead of having to sprint to different spots and remember different actions...the triangle blossoms like a tree. One choice leads to two options, which leads to three more, and so on."

When executed properly, the offense puts defenses in situations they can't possibly win.

"If you just choose to run 'plays', you can choke those plays off," Knicks assistant Jim Cleamons told NBA.com's David Aldridge. "But if you run a system, if you take an option away, there's another option. It's perpetual."

However, keeping every option available requires a complete commitment from every player. And therein lies the biggest challenge Fisher and Jackson will face during their first full season in their new roles.

The first—and certainly most important—step is getting Anthony on board. Not only is he the best player on this roster, he's also the most equipped to reprise the go-to scoring roles that Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant mastered during their times under Jackson.

To his credit, Anthony sounds eager to play his part.

"This new system is going to enhance my game," he told reporters at media day, via Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal. "It's going to enhance my teammates' games. As a whole, we're going to be successful."

Granted, everyone is happy, in the best shape of their lives and fully supportive of their team's plans at media day.

But Anthony's comments carry more substance than the typical on-camera commitment. Actions speak louder than words, and his show someone legitimately interested in figuring things out, per Herring:

Interest alone won't make Anthony's transition easy, though. This is a significant step away from a style that has helped him: win a national championship, become a No. 3 pick, book all those All-Star trips, capture a scoring crown and claim gold medals at the past two Olympic Games.

Whatever Anthony has been doing, it's been working. Any resistance to change would not be surprising, it would be expected.

"There's a period of time in which it takes a scorer with mainly a scoring mentality to play with the idea that you can't score every time you touch the ball," Jackson said at media day. "A lot of the scorers, it's a natural instinct: I get the ball, I look to score."

In this offense, Anthony won't need to look for his own shot. The ball will find him.

Under Jackson, Jordan averaged 23.4 field-goal attempts a night. For Bryant, the number was 21.4. Over his career, Anthony has averaged 19.7 shots per game. Only four times in his 11 NBA seasons has he taken more than 20 a night.

It's probably safe to assume those figures have been shared with Anthony at some point, per MSG Network's Alan Hahn:

This offense not only caters to potent individual scorers, it's also designed to make their lives easier.

Because there is so much movement around them, these premier players wind up attacking a defense that cannot give them its full attention. And those moving pieces are not decoys, either. As Grantland's Chuck Klosterman explained, this system helps make everyone on the floor a scoring threat:

The real advantage of the Triangle is what it does for players with less ability. Most NBA sets are static; they require perimeter players to create their own shot, usually off the dribble. The Triangle’s relentless off-the-ball movement allows standing jump shooters to contribute within their own preexisting skill set. ... You don’t need four or five athletic scorers to make the Triangle work. Two is plenty, because it amplifies the value of role players.

That has to be music to Anthony's ears. There have not been many players more in need of scoring help. His 32.4 usage percentage ranked fourth among all double-digit scorers last season.

The Knicks have scorers on the roster, and this offense should help clean up their production.

J.R. Smith (46.5) and Jose Calderon (45.9) ranked second and fourth, respectively, in catch-and-shoot three-point percentage out of the 72 players to average at least three such attempts per game last season, via NBA.com's SportVU player tracking data. The triangle should give them a wealth of clean looks.

Slashers Iman Shumpert and Cleanthony Early should benefit from the emphasis on off-ball cuts. Amar'e Stoudemire should have the chance to showcase his skills in both the high and low post, while Samuel Dalembert, Jason Smith and Andrea Bargnani can fire at will from the elbows.

If Anthony buys into the offense, the rest of the roster should follow his lead. At least, they will if they ever want to see the floor.

Expect Fisher to embrace and implement all elements of the offense—and Jackson to prod him along should the coach's commitment ever waver.

While Jackson did not publicly profess an allegiance to the triangle at his introductory press conference, he left little doubt about what he had in mind for the Knicks.

"I believe in system basketball," he told reporters. "(Knicks general manager) Steve Mills came out of Princeton. I came out of a system that we ran here in New York in which team basketball was an important aspect of playing. We believe that is what we want to accomplish here."

If something distracted you while reading those comments, it was probably the blaring sirens and flashing lights adorning Jackson's not-so-subtle context clues: system basketball, team basketball. Outside of actually drawing a certain three-sided object, he could not have painted the picture any clearer.

Jackson wants the triangle, so an alternative for Fisher does not exist even if he wants one.

Considering Fisher has seen what this offense is capable of, he probably was not seeking out other options anyway. He knows that is the key to maximizing this team's offensive execution, and given the mess he inherited at the opposite end, it's his best shot at righting the ship.

The triangle offense will be the most vital ingredient in Fisher's recipe for success. It might be his only one until New York has enough financial flexibility to greatly improve the roster.

Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.

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