Whether or not the fans love the hire of Jeff Hornacek to the New York Knicks is one thing. Whether their star, Carmelo Anthony. loves it, is another.
Once news broke that Phil Jackson made his decision on who the next head coach of the New York Knicks was going to be, our attention quickly turned to analyzing the move.
Then, shortly after that, came Carmelo Anthony’s thoughts about the hire.
It seems all is well in Knick-land.
According to Ian Begley of ESPN New York, Melo is “looking forward” to Hornacek’s uptempo system:
“I played against him a couple of times when he was the head coach out there in Phoenix. Everybody knows he likes to play an uptempo pace of game, likes to get out in transition, likes to speed the game up a lot. So from that standpoint, I’ll definitely be looking forward to that.”
Adding onto that enthusiasm is Anthony’s current physical appearance (photo above).
Sporting a “Cassius Clay” jersey, Anthony looks to be in tip-top condition while the NBA plays on into the conference finals.
Hope and optimism remain the prevailing thought.
“It sets the stage for us to do that,” Anthony said. “[It’s a] new opportunity, something new to play with, something fresh, a clean plate. So hopefully we can build off of this momentum.”
Melo also maintains he had nothing to do with the hire:
“Whatever Phil did, he did on his own,” Anthony said.
With Hornacek now in tow, whether or not the triangle is dead will be on everybody’s mind. Moreover, the idea of what’s going to happen with Kurt Rambis will also remain a hot-button topic in the days/weeks to come.
Right now, though, all is well in Melo and Knick-land.