Melo: Knicks played 'faster and more free-flow' before Hornacek embraced triangle

You're not going to believe this, but another member of the New York Knicks is unconvinced about the merits of the triangle offense.

Since the Knicks suddenly pivoted away from head coach Jeff Hornacek's more uptempo, improvisational offense that incorporated elements of the triangle, to a full-scale embrace of team president Phil Jackson's preferred system, it's already drawn criticism from Derrick Rose and Kristaps Porzingis. This week, Carmelo Anthony joined the chorus.

"Early in the season, we were winning games, went on a little winning streak we had," Anthony told reporters ahead of Thursday night's game against the Portland Trail Blazers, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. "We were playing a certain way. We went away from that, started playing another way. Everybody was trying to figure out: Should we go back to the way we were playing, or try to do something different?"

Anthony's frustration, like that of Porzingis and Rose, largely stems from the fact that the triangle was re-emphasized midseason, causing confusion up and down the roster. But Anthony also suggested Hornacek's early-season system allowed the Knicks to play a better brand of basketball.

"I thought earlier we were playing faster and more free-flow throughout the course of the game," he said. "We kind of slowed down, started settling it down. Not as fast. The pace slowed down for us - something we had to make an adjustment on the fly with limited practice time, in the course of a game. Once you get into the season, it's hard to readjust a whole system."

After his name was bandied about in trade talks all season, Anthony's future in New York figures to be a focal point of the Knicks' coming summer. Perhaps Jackson's will, too.