The New York Knicks are sporting a different look and feel this season under new head coach Mike Brown. For one thing, Brown is going to use his bench a lot more than his predecessor, Tom Thibodeau, did, and it will be beneficial for everyone on the team.
Brown is also distancing himself from Thibodeau by employing an up-tempo offense. Many felt Thibodeau, who was the Knicks’ head coach for the previous five seasons, was stuck in the NBA of the 1990s with his slowdown offense and refusal to give bench players more than a perfunctory amount of playing time.
Another change has come in the form of a new starting lineup that has Karl-Anthony Towns moving from center to power forward and seven-footer Mitchell Robinson at the 5. Brown loves the length and size this new lineup is giving his new team.
“The second [part] is just the length, the length on the floor is just unbelievable, when you’re playing KAT at the 4, playing OG [Anunoby] at the 3, Mikal [Bridges] at the 2,” Brown said, per the New York Post. “That’s a big, long team, with a lot of interchangeable parts. And then offensively, not just for KAT, but for the rest of the group, it just gives you a different look. You’d think that group should be able to offensive rebound at a high level, which is one of our staples.”
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Robinson reportedly ran hills during the offseason to get ready for the new season. Brown loves how he can run the floor and throw down dunks off lob passes.
“First of all, he’s a great runner. Not a good runner, a great runner,” Brown said. “And he’s got to — like all of us — play at this pace, especially all the time. We don’t wanna do it most of the time, we wanna do it all the time. Having said that, you know Mitch is a vertical threat. I’m just guessing off the top of my head. He might be the best vertical threat I’ve been around. Antonio McDyess was a tremendous vertical threat.
“But you can just close your eyes and throw it up there and he’d go get it. That’s something you can do with Mitch and some of the passes — I’m like, dang, that’s a bad pass — and he just catches it even with one hand sometimes and throws it down. So with his ability to be a vertical threat, it’s gonna help us in a lot of ways, but it definitely is better than what I thought coming in.”
Robinson, 27, has always been an energetic rebounder and rim protector. He has been injury-prone over the years, but when healthy, he has made a clear and tangible impact on the court.
His presence in the middle should free up Towns, who has never been the inside presence many have felt he could be, to play the offensive role he feels more comfortable in — stretching the floor with his outside shooting. He put up 24.4 points a game and shot 42% from 3-point range last season, and he and Robinson should make New York feared on the boards once again.
But New York also has the personnel to get out and run with just about any team in the NBA. Despite ranking 26th in pace last season, it was a not-too-shabby 14th in fast-break points per game, and that figure should rise at least a little bit this season.
Jalen Brunson is fairly dynamic in the open court, as is workhorse guard Josh Hart, and Anunoby and Bridges are excellent finishers, both at the rim and from 3-point land.
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The Knicks also have adequate depth now, especially in the backcourt, where newcomers Jordan Clarkson and Malcolm Brogdon are expected to give them a lift offensively.
If they figure out how to become a monstrous defensive team again, it shouldn’t be a surprise to see the NBA Finals come to Midtown Manhattan for the first time since 1999.
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