Phil Jackson on Knicks, triangle: 'So far, my experiment has fallen flat on its face'

Few people who follow the NBA would call Phil Jackson's first season in the New York Knicks' front office a success. 

Jackson signed a lavish contract last spring to run the Knicks as both president and general manager, demanding autonomy in the bargain from notoriously meddlesome owner James Dolan. 

His arrival met with much fanfare and an equal measure of skepticism, not the least because one of his chief mandates was to resurrect his beloved triangle offense, which has failed almost universally at the NBA level when coached by anyone but Jackson and played by anyone not named Jordan, Pippen, Bryant, or O'Neal. 

Just past the midway point of what's been a disastrous Knicks season on all fronts, the rookie executive - he of the famed 11 Rings - is humbled. 

"Like nothing I’ve seen before," Jackson told the New York Times' Harvey Araton of his team's start. "So far, my experiment has fallen flat on its face."

The Knicks players have been griping about the challenges of solving the triangle's complex web of movement and passing since the preseason, and 48 games into Year One, the team ranks 26th in offensive efficiency.

"Of course it’s a concern of mine, the perception that it’s too difficult to learn or too difficult for today’s players to embrace," Jackson said. "But I think anyone that believes he’s a total basketball player is going to want to do it. A sound offense incorporates all the basic skills of any player you have, whether you’re a center, a power forward, whatever."

The other major point of scrutiny regarding Jackson's beloved system is that it emphasizes the mid-range jump-shot, a relic in today's NBA of 3-point bombing and pace-and-space, or as Jackson describes it, "screen-and-roll, break down, pass, and two or three players standing in spots, not participating in the offense."

While acknowledging that some of his decisions as general manager - like trading Tyson Chandler this past offseason for a package headlined by Jose Calderon - have backfired ("My guesswork, my anticipation in that regard, was kind of eye-opening for me"), Jackson isn't giving up on the triangle. 

"I think it’s still debatable about how basketball is going to be played, what’s going to win out," he said. 

"This is just the first chapter."