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          New York Knicks

          Phil on Melo: 'The ball can't stop'

          • Ohm Youngmisuk, ESPN Staff WriterSep 24, 2014, 04:36 PM ET
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              Ohm Youngmisuk has covered the Giants, Jets and the NFL since 2006. Prior to that, he covered the Nets, Knicks and the NBA for nearly a decade. He joined ESPNNewYork.com after working at the New York Daily News for almost 12 years and is a graduate of Michigan State University.
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          Now that Phil Jackson has kept Carmelo Anthony in the fold, the Knicks president is ready to see how the triangle can make Melo a better player.

          In a Q&A with the New York Post’s Steve Serby, Jackson talks at length about several topics pertaining to the Knicks. Jackson offered a glimpse at what he might be expecting from Melo:

          Q: How and why will the triangle offense make Carmelo a better player?

          Jackson: It’ll give him opportunity to be a passer, a rebounder, and probably easier spots to score from than he’s had before, I think. I hope that’s true for a lot of the players.

          Q: Hawks GM Danny Ferry recently made comments about Carmelo in which he reportedly said: “He can shoot the [bleep] out of it, but he screws you up in other ways. So is he really worth $20 million? I would argue if he plays the right way, absolutely.”

          Jackson: I think there’s probably 15 players in the NBA that are very similar position. I don’t know if all of 'em are paid $20 million, but the coaches and GMs are talking about it in those type of terms -- how much does this guy hurt your team, or hurt the game flow because he’s trying to score. The attempt to score, the need to score, the pressure that he feels he has to score. ... Does he take away from the team game? That’s what Danny’s talking about there. And that’s where Carmelo’s gonna move forward this year in that situation -- the ball can’t stop. The ball has to continually move. It moves, or goes to the hoop on a shot or a drive or something like that. In our offense, that’s part of the process of getting players to play in that rhythm.

          Q: And Michael Jordan had to make that adjustment too, right?

          Jackson: Michael had to be able to share the ball, other people had to get shots, only so many shots available out there. And when someone’s taking 27 a game or something? 25 a game, that’s maybe a third of the shots. That can’t happen in basketball.

          Q: Is Carmelo on board with this?

          Jackson: All we talked about in our negotiation was, “I’d like not to have to feel like I have to carry the load to score every night.” He wants some help.