After they got off to a 2-3 start, including a 10-point loss at Chicago on Friday, Steve Popper of Newsday wonders whether the Knicks‘ offseason coaching change was necessary or if they were trying to fix something that wasn’t broken.
Management decided to replace Tom Thibodeau after he took New York to the conference finals last season and brought in Mike Brown, who promised to give more minutes to bench players and institute an up-tempo style. Popper points out that the Knicks still have a roster filled with players who were acquired to fit Thibodeau’s slower-paced, defensive-minded approach. When they faced the Bulls, who are built for a faster style of play, they gave up 135 points.
Popper states that the adjustment has been particularly difficult for Karl-Anthony Towns, who is projected to spend more time at power forward after primarily being used as a center last season. Popper believes Towns is miscast by being asked to run the floor in transition like a wing.
Towns didn’t address his individual role after Friday’s loss, but his comments reflected the overall frustration of the team.
“Just obviously we’re not happy,” he said. “We had three winnable games and we didn’t do enough to close the game out. For someone like us, that was our identity last year — close games we usually win. So obviously it’s a different feeling not being able to close the games out.”
There’s more on the Knicks:
- Josh Hart told Brown that he doesn’t want to move back and forth between starting and sixth-man duties, so he’s now a full-time reserve, Popper adds in the same piece. Hart said even though it was his idea, there might be times that he struggles with not being a starter. “I think throughout the season it’ll be a battle of, you know, kind of fighting the egotistical view of it,” he said. “I think I did have a good year last year. And you know, with a different role, now it’s totally different. I think the biggest thing, I’ve had to sacrifice my whole career. I talked about it the whole time last year. You know, that’s something that I try to do every year and try to make sure whether I’ve got to sacrifice or not, make the team the best that we can be. So it’s never like, OK cool and it’s seamless. There’s going to be days where I’m just like, ‘Man, that’s some bull.’ You know what I mean? But it’ll be a constant thing of fighting that, but making sure I know that this is what’s best for the team and locking in on that.”
- Hart told reporters on Friday that he’s not considering another surgical procedure for an injured finger on his shooting hand, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. Hart wants to avoid a prolonged recovery that could sideline him for several months.
- Brown was sharply critical of the Knicks’ defense following the loss to Chicago, relays Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News. The Bulls scored 72 points in the first half and finished the game with six players in double figures. “Our defense tonight was nonexistent and it starts with guarding the basketball,” Brown said. “We have to be better guarding the basketball. And it has to be with a sense of physicality because if we don’t, teams are gonna do exactly what Chicago did tonight on the offensive end of the floor.”
- After missing four games due to left ankle injury maintenance, Mitchell Robinson made his season debut on Friday, posting four points and 11 rebounds in 20 minutes. He’s being listed as questionable for Sunday’s rematch with the Bulls in New York, according to James L. Edwards of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The NY media is going to make this a tough season.
Hart led the team in VORP last season and was their 2nd best rebounder and was also 2nd in apg and 5th in ppg. IMO benching him is a mistake.
Hart’s VORP was just Thibs minute inflation. Teams didn’t guard him, his def on & off ball is a notch below good and OG’s value goes way beyond what VORP tracks.
What does OG have to do with it? Benching him would be a similar mistake. IMO that applies to all of last season’s starters.
His VORP doesn’t mean they can’t do better than Josh Hart, Which They can. Especially as a starter & if they can’t that just shows you how flawed the roster really is.
Honestly, they absolutely needed a coaching change.
Now, was Mike Brown the person they should have hired? Not so sure…
Specially considering their biggest weakness last season was their defense. They have a really good roster, it is hard to blame this on the front office.
A lot of us had the same concerns preseason but a fun story’s a fun story …till it isn’t
It’s 5 games folks, let’s not start questioning the coaching change quite yet.
If they lose at home to the Bulls tonight, can we reasonably question the change?
I don’t love the Mike brown hire but all the issues I’ve seen referenced seem to have nothing to do with Mike brown.
For example, Mike brown is not the reason KAT passed up 15 shots a few days ago. KAT’s tendency to defer is his own issue that he also had in Minnesota.
It’s just delusional fans are finally waking up,they bought all the media hype and thought the roster was deep, but it’s really just a solid starting five. If anyone is to blame is Leon Rose for the roster construction.
Just said this on another post and the Knicks fans(I’m one) acted like I was crazy.
This team has no bench. Having played overseas I don’t think a lot of people understand that 33 is the end of 80 percent professional careers.also there is a reason players are bought out. Clarkson (is cooked) I will give GY a little more time.
Shamet is a 3rd string guard ( not sure what the love of fest for him is) who would not be on a team if the Knicks didn’t sign him
Mitch doesn’t play and is in and out of the lineup
Kat- the main problem with Kat is not how or what he does. He is who he is at this point. The problem is he is paid like max player. He is not a max player caping the knockout. Samething I say about LeBron at this point 50 million is too much of the cap for defensive liabilitys.
Last but not least this team is getting exposed via tap. Bronson and Kat are getting attacked, so if they have a off night they can keep up scoring. The bench is not as good as people though. Only Hart and McBride are 2nd string guys. Kolek is a 3rd string point guard. Hulk is a decent back up big. But with Mitch out he starts. This team has no shoot at winning a championship. If they come out the east they will lose in the finals 4-1 easily
Agreed with everything except about Kolek… he is a GLeague guy at best – he was even horrible in Summer League. I guess maybe that’s 4th string NBA haha.
I said the Knicks have a flawed roster and people disagreed with me, as well.
I actually like Kolek but I will always speak the truth and analyzing his game as a 24-year-old. He just doesn’t have much of a ceiling left. So I do think if he can make his shot consistently he can run the third string if there’s an injury for a couple games or there’s foul trouble back to backs for about 5 to 7 minutes. Every team needs those players. However, if he’s on the court for a long stretches, just like shamet it’s going to get exposed.
On the other Knicks post that’s why I said they should be playing Daddiet to develop and grow his game. He is a pretty good prospect but I don’t understand playing shamit over top of him. We’ll see tonight what they do against Chicago but I just think they’ve been exposed All the people that are saying you’re wrong aren’t really watching the tapes or maybe not knowing what they’re looking for. But every team is going to run the same pick and roll downhill spread out offense against the Knicks and just attack Kat. Mich has no offense so kat and Bronson have to be lights out.
It’s not to say that the Knicks won’t win games because they will. They have the talent. But the thing is I just don’t think every game in a four game series all the cylinders will click
Hahaha been saying this all off season now watch ppl get gassed because the beat a bulls team
I can’t recall – what team did Popper coach? Wait – he’s never coached ? 5 games dude – new system – maybe give it a month?
Sounds more like being in denial over something that is evident. Everyone proclaimed Finals or bust for the Knicks while forgetting they got swept by every contender in the regular season and that their Conference Finals was largely a fluke. They remain a low 50s ceiling team.
When you bring a new, veteran coach and give him $40mil, you’re betting that he/she can coach the roster you have in place and not have to overhaul it to make him/her a better coach.
If you’re guessing, you bring in someone that will do it for $4mil per year.
This roster is flawed and overachieved last season.
Was it coaching, or just a fortuitous playoff seeding?
Those questions will be answered by Thanksgiving.
Flawed my AAA ….. you don’t beat the Celtics with a flawed team. You got answers after 5 gms. Then you must be a Knicks diehard. Tell us how many gms you watch last yr FOUR.
The Celtics weren’t great lmao!
They caught lightning in a bottle for a month and got a championship.
Why didn’t they repeat?
What did the Cavs do last season – didn’t they win a ton of games?
If you don’t see a flawed Knicks roster, you don’t know what you’re lookin at.
Same as saying I have answers after 5 games when I clearly said we’ll have answers by Thanksgiving.
Is Thanksgiving 5 games?
I know it may be a stretch, but read to comprehend, not to respond.
You can’t be thinking of your response while skimming thru the rest of the comment – you’ll miss something.
I understand many can only comment to the extent that they played the game, and speak from a 24 hr Fitness or high school junior varsity point of view, so I get it.
Why hasn’t literally anyone repeated in the last two decades?
Because the nba is basically adult aau rec ball, that’s why.
Thank you I’ve been saying this. With udoka yes. The new coach is absolutely trash and they played pretty well down the struts and clicked on all cylinders and the Dallas Mavericks was the perfect team for them to play in the NBA finals. Also, the Celtics have the Knicks beat and didn’t execute. I’m not going to make excuses for the Celtics. That’s a part of basketball. If you can’t execute, then you’re not good enough to win a championship. The Knicks beat them fair and square after they went up 2 and 0 with the momentum. Same with Indy. Mix were better than indy and got out coached. Just like the Celtics should have beat the Knicks but they were out. Coach, letting your team shoot 53s when you could have just ran pick and rolls scored easily on Kat is the reason they lost.
Sorry Al, but the Knicks have been exposed again. If you want to talk about what is being shown on tape, I’ll tell you exactly what they’re showing and any team with a strong guard or strong Wing is going to have big games against the Knicks.
Who has repeated .. thats your comeback. Learn the game. Life isn’t all negative takes..
I have plenty of positive takes. The thing is as a Nick fan, it’s championship or bust and so I am just analyzing a team that’s going for a championship. The Lakers are at championship are bused so on a Lakers post they can get scrutinized as well too. Nothing good to say about OKC and a bunch of other teams. Love the jazz young players l, clippers are old. San Antonio who I spoke about before the beginning of the season on a post is playing exactly how I thought they would play. Josh Giddy who I said was way better than kumenga, looks great. What other positive do you want me to say?
Over achieved last season? You do know that the Knicks have won 50+ three seasons in a row now, right?
5 games, everybody just needs to chill for another month or so. I am worried about KAT’s fit, but this is nothing new for him. His inability to buy in/grasp Thib’s defensive schemes last year is well known. His poor start isn’t a Mike Brown thing, it’s a KAT thing.
@greg1
Except that’s false, they’ve only won 50+ games in the weak east the past TWO years (47 the year before that), and 50 and 51 win seasons while finishing 14 games and 13 games behind the 1 seed is not really impressive.
Blame KAT all you want, but last season in the 1st 5 games he produced 22.2 ppg on 55%/65%/92% splits with 11.2 rpg 3 apg and only 1.2 TO pg, +/- of +8.2.
This year the difference is significant, 18.0 ppg on 37%/31%/89% with 12.8 rpg 2.4 apg 3.22 TO pg and +/- of +3.4
Sure, it’s 5 games though, pretty small sample size to point out the numbers on.
Also, my point is that KAT has/makes minimal effort to adjust. Last year it was defence, who knows what this year will bring.
What needed fixing most was our bench. So catch up media. We don’t care about your narratives. All you did was trash Thibs. Now after 5 gns you got more answers ….. NYC media lols …..can’t live with them. Can’t live without them. Worse than a third wife.
After 5 gms yes we can be upset. For real perspective we should probably give it 20-25 gms. But who’s got time for that right !!!!!!!
I just hope Brown has thick skin. This I knew last year under Thibs. Towns has to stop with the drama and play to win. We all have our bad days. And stop depending on Brunson to score. Mikal you need to wake your Ares up. Stop being a good teammate and take over man. Just beat the Bulls tmrw. We have a nice homestretch coming. Makes the world right again.
Yes, the bench is awful… Clarkson looks lost, new team, major market, “deer in head lights now, he’ll come around, Josh Hart is just coming back from being out, has issues he’s going to have to play with.. give him time…Coach Brown, give him credit, long season, he’s playing his bench and playing 10 deep, will develop KOLEK, giving him time, he’s serviceable, feisty, pass first, point guard or combo guard… he needs to play so Brunson is fresh going into playoffs, French kid Gubersele needs to lose some weight, get into better game shape..,Knicks miss DONTE’S feistiness off the bench, he played both ends of the floor… they’ll figure it out because coach Brown values bench , playing 10 deep, work in progress….long season, bench will be developed for playoffs…
He won’t get better he is 33 years old off the bench score. He is old now in NBA terms. Kolek is a 3rd string guard. Gubersele I will reserve judgment for. Mitch going in and out of the lineup.
You and Al keep saying all we need to do is get a better bench. How are you going to get a better bench when Kat is getting super Max money there is no more money for bench. There is a reason why shamit Clarkston and Gubersele are minimum players. Nobody’s going to trade for them and you’re not going to get anything back for them. The best bench pieces are McBride ( salary is too low to bring anything back) Hart. At this point to get any better the Knicks will have to trade Hart. I get it. He’s the heart and soul of the team. But you either need to train Mitch or you got to trade heart. But back up point with size and a wing scorer is needed. If The Knicks don’t get either one of them they will not be winning any championship at all.
We have a better bench. Catch up and speak truths. The bench has been revamped. Players have been out. And they haven’t really made a difference yet. But go ahead and tells us all about Knicks after 5 gms. With players missing games. The reality is to give the team time to heal and come together. Giving on Clarckson after 5 gms is hilarious lol. Go chk his stats last yr. He’s not consistent yet. But finished yeah thats real insight.
Bro he played for the jazz and played terrible. Who did I lie about since I’m not speaking truth? Clarkson doesn’t look good on a team that’s trying to win. Again, we’ve gone over this and posted for there’s a difference between winning basketball and basketball where you can go out there and just shoot and do what you want without an expectation to win. He doesn’t look good and I get it your a Knicks fan. Anytime someone dis agrees you say they don’t know what they are talking about and don’t prove them wrong. I’m a Knicks fan but we have no bench. I even said GY I’ll give more time. So what other bench players. Hulk is a backup big right? So when Mitch doesn’t play That makes heart or McBride a starter. Clarkson and Kolek are 3rd string at this point so what bench. The East is week but losing in the finals 4-1 or 4-0 doesn’t mean you almost won a chip. Watching the game right now. They’re literally picking Bronson and towns apart. We’ve given it a year and I’m just telling you the pieces don’t fit.
5 games & the sky is falling lol this is madness
It’s the NY media. If Thibs were still the head coach, they would be saying the Knicks should’ve moved on from him in the offseason.
Can we acknowledge that Popper is a clown ?