The New York Knicks will have a different feel to their on-court performances next season. With Mike Brown now as the new head coach, succeeding Tom Thibodeau, New York is prioritizing a better offensive plan to win more games.
Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns could have an explosive season under Mike Brown
That means that the Knicks’ offense will feature more passing and shooting, as those are the two key points of emphasis in Brown’s coaching style. The player who may grow the most under Brown is All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns.
Towns enjoyed a phenomenal first season with the Knicks last year, averaging 24.4 points and having the second-most rebounds in the league with 12.8 per game. Furthermore, his efficiency remained on track with his career averages, as he shot 52.6% from the field and 42% from three-point range.
However, a deeper look would suggest that Towns was not utilized properly under Thibodeau and was not maximized with Jalen Brunson. The two were expected to be a dominant pick-and-roll duo, but they suddenly stopped going to it during the playoffs.
Tom Thibodeau did not properly utilize Towns’ strengths
In the postseason, Towns had the fourth-lowest pick-and-roll frequency as the roll man, at just 6.1% frequency, according to NBA tracking data. Furthermore, he averaged the second-fewest points per possession as the roll man at just 0.77, with only Kristaps Porzingis of the Boston Celtics averaging less.
Instead, Towns was used more often in the post, earning a frequency of 19.1% of his possessions being used in the post. That was a lower frequency than his spot-ups, which were 17.7%, and New York was not a team that moved well off the ball under Thibodeau.
Towns is an effective post player, but his main strengths offensively are at the perimeter. Under Thibodeau last season, his three-point frequency was down significantly, as he averaged 4.7 three-pointers per game during the regular season.
That figure was his lowest since the 2018-19 season, which was also the last time he was coached by Thibodeau while they were both with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The following season, Towns attempted a career-high 7.9 threes per game and averaged 26.5 points, a career-high that still stands today.
Mike Brown will change the Knicks’ style of play next season
During the playoffs, his three-point usage continued to trickle down, which was most notable when he went through an eight-game stretch in which he made a combined four three-pointers. It is worth noting that he was playing through a finger injury, but the lack of attempts was hurting the Knicks’ floor spacing.
With Brown as his coach, that should change. As previously mentioned, his main points of emphasis are playing fast and efficiently. In the 2022-23 season as the head coach of the Sacramento Kings, he led them to become the top offense in the league and featured a playstyle in which they played fast and shot a ton of threes.
Sacramento was 12th in pace that season and shot the sixth-most threes per game at an average of 37.3 per night. In addition, they averaged 120.7 points per game, an unprecedented figure that led the NBA by a decent margin.
Brown could deploy a game-changing strategy for Towns
One of the keys to their free-flowing offense was how he used his All-Star big man, Domantas Sabonis. The big man was featured in a lot of high-post-up situations, which allowed the lanes to open up in the paint and for them to make good cuts off the ball, as he had a 14.9% post-up frequency in the 2022-23 season.
Additionally, the high post has always been a strength for Sabonis, and Brown took advantage of that and created a well-oiled machine offensively.
As for Towns, using him more in the pick-and-roll with Brunson as well as featuring more high-post-up sets can open the entire offense as a whole, which would also maximize Towns’ offensive talent. Towns has shown to be capable of making the right reads off of double teams and scoring in other areas of the court, and with the enhanced floor spacing New York has, they have the potential to be the most potent offense in the league.
Towns is one of the most skilled centers the league has ever seen, and Brown has the luxury of deploying an all-around seven-foot scorer at his disposal. Getting him more involved in the action as well as utilizing his strengths could be game-changing for the Knicks, which is what they will want to see if they want to win a title next season.
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