Carmelo Anthony excited to play faster pace under Jeff Hornacek

NEW YORK -- Carmelo Anthonyis looking forward to playing at a quicker pace under Jeff Hornacek, who is expected to be named the next head coach of the New York Knicksin the coming days.

"I played against him a couple of times when he was the head coach out there in Phoenix," Anthony said in an interview Saturday with WNBC-TV. "Everybody knows he likes to play an up-tempo 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."

Anthony's comments suggest that team president Phil Jackson has given Hornacek the freedom to tweak the triangle offense, as several reports have indicated. The Knicks ranked in the bottom third of the NBA in pace the past two seasons, when they ran the triangle. Hornacek ran a faster-paced offense with the Suns, who ranked in the top 10 in pace in each of his three seasons as coach.

Perhaps more importantly, Anthony said Saturday that he believes Hornacek gives the Knicks a chance to turn things around. The club has missed the playoffs in each of the past three seasons.

"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."

Hornacek was offered the Knicks' job by Jackson and general manager Steve Mills earlier this week, and negotiations on a contract with the club have begun, league sources said.

Interestingly, Anthony said he didn't share his opinion on the coaching search with Jackson before Hornacek was offered the job.

"Whatever Phil did, he did on his own," Anthony said.

Anthony said several times in recent weeks that he hoped to share his thoughts on the team's next coach with Jackson and Knicks management.