Can Phil Jackson's Triangle Philosophy Mesh with Jerian Grant?
The Knicks entered this season with a glimmer of hope. Through their first 44 games, they were 22-22, contesting other Eastern Conference teams for the 8 th seed. A mix of mental toughness, solid bench play, and a defensive scheme that helped defend threes made the Knicks look like an actual playoff team. It seemed as if Fisher finally got through to this team as a coach. Then Melo was affected by nagging knee injuries, and the flaws of the Knicks as a whole spun out of control. Fisher ended up going 23-31 before Phil Jackson stated, “it’s a lot easier to fire a coach than 15 players.” The firing of Fisher was a mix of losing games, Matt Barnes , and shying away from the triangle. New head coach and company man Kurt Rambis has stayed true to Jackson’s triangle views, but how has this affected the rotation? Jose Calderon is maintaining his minutes, while Jerian Grant’s minutes are diminishing. This would be understandable if the Knicks were making a push to the playoffs, and if Calde