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New York Knicks: Derrick Rose Wants Jeff Hornacek To Get On Team’s Defense

By Kenneth Teape

Nov 17, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; New York Knicks guard Derrick Rose (25) talks with New York Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek against the Washington Wizards during the first half at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 17, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; New York Knicks guard Derrick Rose (25) talks with New York Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek against the Washington Wizards during the first half at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports /
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The New York Knicks have struggled on defense, so Derrick Rose asked Jeff Hornacek to be tougher on the team defensively.

The defensive side of the ball has been a problem for the New York Knicks all season. They rank 25th in the NBA in points allowed, giving up 108.1 points per game. Oddly enough, they are actually slightly better than average in shooting percentage allowed.

The Knicks are 13th in the NBA in opponent field goal percentage, allowing teams to shoot 45 percent on the season; they are also 12th in opponent three-point shooting percentage, allowing teams to shoot 35.6 percent from beyond the arc. But, they do not force many turnovers, as opponents average only 12.8 turnovers per game.

Part of the struggles for the Knicks is that they foul way too much. They are giving their opponents 25.5 free throw attempts per game; only three teams in the NBA give up more free throws per game.

While the numbers do not paint a horrible picture for the Knicks defensively, they struggle to do it consistently; just look at their last week of playing alone. They gave up under 100 points twice, which followed two games allowing 110 points or more. Heading into Saturday, the Knicks ranked 25th in the NBA in defensive efficiency.

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Consistency on the defensive end of the court is key for the Knicks if they want to turn around their season. Injuries have hurt them during their recent skid, but the same problem has persisted defensively no matter who is in the lineup.

It is something point guard Derrick Rose would like to see change and he is hoping that head coach Jeff Hornacek can bring it out of the team. The two had a discussion following the team’s practice on Saturday and Rose made one request; ask for more from the team defensively.

"“Our defense triggers a lot of things,” Rose said. “And I told him he has to be on us hard about defense every day. Like, beat it in our heads where we get tired of hearing him talking about it.”"

When asked to elaborate and pinpoint what was hurting the Knicks, Rose said there was not one thing that stood out, but a combination of multiple things.

"“It’s not just one element,” Rose said. “It’s all of it — effort, schemes, decision-making, personnel, communication. It is everything.“You can tell when we’re out there. You have some games where we have everything clicking. It’s no middle ground with us,” Rose added. “It’s either we look good, or we look quite different than that. I wanted to say another word, but quite different than that. We got to have an in-between. Then right when we’re slipping, we got to be able to let everybody be aware of that and try to fix it — not after the game, but during the game.”"

The defense has been a topic of discussion for the Knicks virtually all season. Early in the season associate head coach Kurt Rambis was put in charge of the defense and nothing positive came from it. Last month Hornacek said that some players asked to practice more defense and the coaching staff adjusted accordingly.

Most recently, league sources told ESPN that veterans expressed frustrations about the schemes that the Knicks used defensively. Joakim Noah said on Thursday that the Knicks had simplified some things defensively, to which the Knicks responded to with one of their best defensive efforts of the season.

It is encouraging to see a player ask for more from the coaching staff to get the team going. Rose has had his own problems defensively, grading out as one of the worst defensive point guards in the NBA in defensive RPM.

Next: New York Knicks: 5 Early Season Takeaways

He is not the sole problem defensively for the Knicks, as it is a team issue. It is an issue Hornacek and company have to figure out sooner than later or this season will go down the drain.

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