Another new era of New York Knicks basketball begins Wednesday night when veteran coach Mike Brown makes his New York coaching debut against former Knicks assistant Kenny Atkinson and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Brown spent the last two-and-a-half seasons with the Sacramento Kings, practically resurrecting the franchise in his first head coaching job in nearly a decade. He was fired last season and replaced with assistant Doug Christie, and Brown was hired to replace Tom Thibodeau in New York over the summer.
This despite Thibodeau leading the Knicks to their first Conference Finals in 25 years and making them regular playoff contenders again. Thibs was 226-174 in his five seasons and was named NBA Coach of the Year in 2021. Unfortunately, old habits die hard and Thibs devolved into his usual approach: lean on the starters with minimal bench support. All too often would he use an eight-man rotation instead of a more balanced, say, ten.
Now, owner James Dolan and team president Leon Rose hope Brown will follow that lead, plus the usual fan gripe to “open up the offense.”
None of this is to say the Knicks shouldn’t have hired Mike Brown and kept Thibodeau. It was time for a change. Brown, while not perfect, has a strong record. This is the man who coached a young LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first NBA Finals in 2007. Brown also spent a season-plus coaching the Lakers, plus one more forgettable season in Cleveland in 2014-15. He then spent six years as Steve Kerr’s associate head coach with the Golden State Warriors, winning three championship rings. Brown also won a championship as an assistant with the Spurs in 2003.
Add a 454-304 career record, and Mike Brown is clearly a competent man. Being fired by the Lakers five games into the 2012-13 season is his sole failure. And, to be fair, we’d all make the same decision if our coach had a starting lineup that included Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Steve Nash, and Dwight Howard, and somehow decided the Princeton Offense was a winning strategy. Because passing the basketball back and forth and back and forth again and again always leads to clean baskets.
Not.
But I digress. What can we actually expect from Mike Brown now that the Knicks have handed him the keys? He’s all about “pace-and-space,” which the Knicks must improve. They barely kept up with the Pacers in the East Finals. Yet, despite going 4-1, the Knicks struggled with pace all preseason.
The good news for the Knicks is that all of last year’s core players are back. Jalen Brunson’s running the offense while Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby handle the 2 and 3 spots. Josh Hart is probably the spark plug off the bench with Deuce McBride and veteran Jordan Clarkson. Guerschon Yabusele and Tyler Kolek also add depth, though the team still needs help behind Mitchell Robinson. The fragile big, along with Hart, will miss Wednesday’s season opener.
Put it altogether and what should fans expect from the Mike Brown New York Knicks? On defense, think something just as relentless and frustrating as Thibodeau’s defense, albeit with less of a “bully-ball” feel. Offensively, expect a tighter, more streamlined variation of Mike D’Antoni’s “seven seconds or less” run-and-gun.
One could argue that, under Brown, the East is the Knicks’ to lose. Particularly with their newer, deeper roster and Celtics star Jayson Tatum out for the year with a torn Achilles. The Cavaliers, though talented, overachieved to 64 wins in Atkinson’s first season and now, for some reason or another, have brought in Lonzo Ball.
But the coach can only do so much. The Knicks themselves need to show up for Brown, or else his “pace-and-space” could see him rocket-launched out of New York fairly soon into his four-year, $40 million deal.
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