Mike Brown desires the Knicks to play quick. He desires his gamers to sacrifice for each other, to be linked on each ends of the ground, to compete relentlessly each time they step between the strains, and to consider deeply — within the course of and in one another.
What he didn’t wish to do Tuesday was give away an excessive amount of about how he plans to get them there.
The Knicks’ new head coach declined to reply the large query head-on: What, if something, will he change a couple of workforce recent off its first Jap Convention Finals look in 25 years, now tasked with taking the subsequent step towards a championship?
“I thought what the group did this past year in the playoffs, it just shows their potential — and not just defensively, but offensively, too. I’m looking forward to putting in a plan in place and working with those guys on both ends of the floor,” Brown stated. “I really like their size, I really like their versatility, and so implementing one thing…
“My vision is very exciting for me, and hopefully it is for everybody else, because I think the ceiling is high on both ends for the group.”
Brown, a two-time NBA Coach of the Yr, was tight-lipped on the small print of that imaginative and prescient in his introductory press convention. He had little interest in rehashing his tenure in Sacramento — or revisiting Tom Thibodeau’s time in New York.
“I thought Thibodeau did a great job and the guys did a fantastic job last year, but I’m looking forward,” he stated. “We simply added two new additions [former Sixth Man of the Year Jordan Clarkson and Team France’s 2024 Olympic standout Guerschon Yabusele] to the workforce which might be going to carry loads of versatility to how we’re going to play. I simply can’t wait to get on the court docket and begin implementing issues we wish to do offensively to assist us develop and take it one other degree.
“But we still got some time until we do that.”
Earlier than any of that implementation begins, Brown stated his focus is on working with Knicks president Leon Rose to construct out a training workers able to executing his plans.
“I want to be collaborative. I want to form that partnership with Leon. I’m excited to do that with him, and so he and I, we’ve just started sitting down and talking about different ways to formulate a staff,” Brown stated. “So that’s gonna be a process that’s ongoing, and who knows how long it will take?”
What precisely that basis seems like stays to be seen. Requested about his most popular type of play primarily based on earlier teaching stops, Brown once more deferred to the roster he inherits.
“I think you have a philosophy on both ends of the floor, but you have to make sure it fits with your personnel, so it’s ever-evolving, and it will be [ever-evolving] here,” he stated. “Once our roster is final, our staff is final, we’ll lay the groundwork, the foundation for what we’re gonna do going forward as a unit.”
Brown inherits a Knicks workforce boasting two 2025 Jap Convention All-Star starters in Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Cities, plus a flexible supporting forged in OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, and Mitchell Robinson. The entrance workplace additional bolstered the bench with Clarkson and Yabusele becoming a member of Miles McBride as key rotation items.
“There’s a lot of work to be done. We have an outstanding roster. What they did in the playoffs shows their potential,” Brown stated. “I’ve had great conversations with all of our players, and I’m looking forward to growing positive, strong relationships with all of them over time.”
Brown arrives with teaching pedigree, a quiet-kept imaginative and prescient, and a mandate: Increase the ceiling of a workforce that believes it’s championship-ready. His job formally started Tuesday, and with it, his blueprint to carry the Knicks again to the NBA Finals for the primary time since 1999 — even when he’s maintaining the blueprint tucked till it’s showtime.
“I’ve been to six Finals with three different teams and the commonality that they all have is that they all sacrifice for one another, they’re all connected, the connectivity is at the highest and it starts with ownership on down,” Brown stated. “All of them have a aggressive spirit and there’s a excessive degree of perception, not simply within the course of however one another. So these 4 issues are frequent amongst all groups that I’ve been with which have participated within the Finals.
“I’m just excited about the roster. I’m excited about the things that we’re going to put in place here and where we can go with the guys that we have.”
