MILWAUKEE — Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek has told point guard Derrick Rose that he needs to find a way to draw more contact and be less crafty on his way to the basket so he can bloom at the free-throw line.
Rose, who was benched in the fourth quarter of the Knicks’ 116-111 win over the Bucks on Friday night, has complained about not getting enough calls on his forays to the bucket, and said he may be “too fast’’ for the officials to see what’s taking place.
Rose, who went made all four of his free throws on Friday night, had no free-throw attempts in Wednesday’s loss to the Bucks and just two in the prior game against the Magic despite taking 33 combined shots. He entered the game averaging just 3.6 free-throw attempts per game this season.
Rose seemed especially down after the heartbreaking loss to the Bucks, when he didn’t get a whistle while trying to receive the game-turning inbounds pass with eight seconds left. The Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo slapped down hard and the ball knocked off Rose’s knee.
But that was a fluke play. Hornacek said Rose has to draw more fouls — or dish more — on his many dashes to the hoop because when he misses, the other team usually scores on the ensuing possession.
“I think he does get fouled sometimes, but sometimes he’s giving the double-pump in there,’’ Hornacek said before the Knicks’ win. “When a referee sees that, they think he’s just avoiding the contact.
Derrick has looked at it. He knows he has to get to the free-throw line more and try to be aggressive going at guys instead of avoiding them and still try to make the shot. He’ll mix that up. But we got to get him more to the free-throw line.’’
Rose, who believes he has been dealing with non-calls for years, said he still is figuring out what else he can do.