The New York Knicks look much different on the court under new head coach Mike Brown. The Knicks play much faster, move the ball quicker, and get more three-pointers up, but there is also a bigger change that has helped the other things fall into place.
Knicks’ Mike Brown gets praise for strong communication
Brown is a much more engaged communicator with his players than Tom Thibodeau was as the Knicks’ head coach. Usually, after subbing players out during games, he’ll stop them to have a quick chat before they head to the bench, which wasn’t typical under Thibodeau.
Mikal Bridges said that simple things like that go a long way towards the success that they are trying to build.
“When you come off, just telling you what you did wrong, and sometimes even if you didn’t do anything wrong,” Bridges said, via Jared Schwartz of the New York Post. “For example, in the game, I think he was taking me out and telling me what the minutes were going to be. He kind of let me know ‘I’m taking you out right now not because you did anything wrong, it’s just going to be we’re putting you back at this [other] moment.’”
“It’s just communication. Sometimes you can be playing hard and you don’t know if you messed up on a couple of things. If you get taken out, you’re kind of looking around and it’s like ‘did I do something wrong?’ Verbalizing that gives you confidence. You’re not wondering.”
Brown’s coaching fits perfectly with these Knicks
That communication seems to be helping Bridges play more freely. He looks much more comfortable under Brown’s system and has gotten off to a very strong start on both ends of the floor this season.
Last season, it took a while for Bridges to get going, and Thibodeau’s system was clearly not a good fit for him. Oftentimes, he was uninvolved in the offense and was spotting up in the corner, and his defense wasn’t up to par either.
This year, he looks like a much more comfortable version of himself, and he is thriving. It isn’t just him that’s benefiting from Brown’s coaching, as the whole team has begun to find its rhythm as of late, and they have won three consecutive games after a 2-3 start.
They’ll look to continue their recent stretch of strong play when they take on their crosstown rival, the Brooklyn Nets, on Sunday.