Knicks head coach Mike Brown says he made a mistake shifting Josh Hart to a bench function to start out the season.
“As time has gone on, we’ve gotten a better feel for how we want to play [Josh], and he’s gotten a better feel too,” Brown stated after the Knicks’ victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday. “Back [in training camp], he obviously could have complained or threw a fit, and he didn’t. He understood what sacrifice is, especially as a leader. As a leader, you got to be the first to do all of those things, and he did it, and he continued to believe in the process even though what I was doing was wrong at the time. So, I take my hat off like I said, not just to him but to everybody else for continuing to uphold our standard while we’re trying to figure this thing out.”
Brown, who changed Tom Thibodeau after the Knicks’ run to the Jap Convention Finals, selected to start out Mitchell Robinson over Hart in coaching camp. However the Knicks sputtered out of the gate, dropping 5 of their first six highway video games, and Brown finally had a realization: the Knicks perform higher with Hart — their connective tissue, defensive irritant, and secondary play-maker — on the ground.
He began Hart in every of the Knicks’ final two video games, each wins, however Wednesday’s victory in Charlotte marked the primary time all season Brown introduced Robinson off the bench when each had been accessible.
“[Josh] makes things easier for everybody,” Brown stated after Hart scored 22 factors on 4-of-6 capturing from three. “You’ve got a new coach, new system, and you look back especially at our first three losses on the road, and I think two of those three losses, Josh was sitting next to me in the fourth. I’ll be the first to say that wasn’t the right thing to do because he just does so many great things for our group and for our coaching staff.”
Brown has repeatedly stated this primary yr is a joint studying curve — gamers adjusting to a wholly new system, and the coach studying the nuances of a roster he didn’t assemble. Hart, greater than most, has compelled him to recalibrate.
Hart entered coaching camp believing his play final season earned him the fitting to stay a starter — a task he views as a degree of satisfaction. So it stung when Brown named Robinson the preseason opener starter in Abu Dhabi. Hart then suffered a lower-back damage that sidelined him for practically the whole preseason, and by the point he returned, Brown had penned him right into a reserve function. Even on nights Robinson sat out because of load administration, Brown saved Hart on the bench.
“I tried to do whatever this team needs. Obviously, starting in this league is something, you know, that’s big. It is something that you want to do,” Hart stated on Wednesday. “And, you know, I’ve been a starter for three years with part of the time dealing with some injuries. But, you know, [starting is] something I’m comfortable with, so if that is the way he wants to do it, then that is perfect.”
Accidents finally compelled Brown’s hand. OG Anunoby stays out with a strained hamstring suffered on Nov. 15, and Landry Shamet went down with a shoulder sprain on Nov. 22 — the identical shoulder he dislocated final yr. Anunoby is ready to be re-evaluated over the weekend; Shamet is out at the least three extra weeks.
With two key wings down, Hart’s worth grew to become plain. Brown might have began the yr attempting to reshape his rotation, however there’s an age-old saying: if it ain’t broke, don’t repair it.
Hart is averaging 10.4 factors, 7.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists per recreation on 38.2% capturing from three-point vary. He began 77 video games for the Knicks final season and led all qualifying NBA gamers in minutes per recreation, and now, it seems Brown has discovered why.
