Mike Brown arrived in New York with a brand new system and a transparent imaginative and prescient — and simply three days into coaching camp, he says the Knicks are already forward of schedule.
“I tell you what, the team is probably a little bit ahead on both sides of the ball than what I expected we’d be at this point,” Brown stated Friday after follow on the group’s Tarrytown facility. “They’ve been working hard. They’ve been trying to pick up stuff on both ends of the floor as quickly as possible.”
Brown is bringing a West Coast identification to Madison Sq. Backyard — the identical up-tempo, ball-moving system he ran in Sacramento. The Knicks are betting on that type — one constructed on pace, spacing and selflessness — to unlock one other stage after final season’s run to the Japanese Convention Finals.
“Their attentiveness has been great,” stated Brown. “Today was the first time where we really had a chance to bump heads and scrimmage. So when you go against a different color jersey instead of just going through it 5-on-0 or against the coaches, it’s a little different. But our guys did a good job. It’ll be even more different when we go against Philly in Abu Dhabi. I like our progress so far — but we’ve still got a long way to go.”
Alongside his offensive rules, Brown has additionally begun laying the groundwork for a brand new defensive construction. Final season, the Knicks struggled to include the purpose of assault and fell quick in transition protection. Brown desires to repair each — and he’s doing it with clearly outlined guidelines. Shield the basket first. Declare the ball. Load the paint. Determine the opposing group’s most harmful participant. And in the event you’re the final one again, cowl the weak facet.
“If we can follow those rules, we know we’ll have a pretty good chance of being a good defensive transition team,” he stated.
It begins with what Brown calls “next play speed” — the flexibility to immediately shift gears after a turnover or a missed shot and dash again into defensive mode.
“If we turn the ball over, or somebody misses a shot that we hoped they wouldn’t take, and the other team is breaking the other way, we go from offense to defense just like that,” Brown stated, snapping his fingers. “Now we’re sprinting back. Having that next play speed ability at a very high level is something, in my opinion, that separates really good teams from great teams.”
The tempo and tempo Brown calls for apply to each ends of the ground. Whereas the schemes could look totally different, OG Anunoby says the essence of the protection stays the identical — simply with extra urgency and communication.
“Mainly defense is all the same,” stated Anunoby. “Just getting into the ball more. Every team wants to get into the ball. But getting into the ball, a lot of talk early and often. It’s communication.”
The Knicks are already adapting to a brand new identification. A group as soon as constructed to grind out possessions and put on opponents down now desires to show stops into sprints. The shift is tangible contained in the follow facility — and gamers are embracing the problem of change.
“Things are different obviously, but certain things are definitely different than what we’ve done in the past couple of years,” stated Jalen Brunson. “But we knew that coming in. It’s all about how we adapt, how we adjust, and how quickly we do so. Making sure we help each other learn.”
The Knicks will quickly journey to Abu Dhabi for his or her two preseason matchups towards the Philadelphia 76ers. Brown’s system sounds promising. Now comes the onerous half — executing it.
“I don’t know how long it’s going to take me [to learn everything], but hopefully relatively fast,” stated Brunson. “I believe even with Thibs the previous couple of years, we have been nonetheless studying learn how to do sure issues. We have been nonetheless getting higher. I don’t wish to say I’m going to grasp it at any level. I simply wish to proceed to get higher and higher and be extra fluent at it.
“It’s going to be a process for sure.”
