Jalen Brunson paused. So did Karl-Anthony Cities, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges. The Knicks are lower than a month away from tipping off a season loaded with championship expectations, however one query nonetheless looms as coaching camp opens in Tarrytown:
What’s going to this all seem like when the video games start to rely?
“I don’t really know honestly,” Hart stated Tuesday on the Knicks’ Media Day. “I think we are going to have to figure it out.”
The Knicks will get their first look on Oct. 2 within the preseason opener. The true factor begins Oct. 22. And in a wide-open Jap Convention devastated by accidents to Jayson Tatum (Boston) and Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana), and additional shaken by Damian Lillard’s departure from Milwaukee, the trail no less than again to the convention finals seems favorable.
However new head coach Mike Brown isn’t banking on assumptions. He’s chasing identification — and as coaching camp opens, that identification stays below building.
“That will emerge as we make the decisions,” Brown stated. “However one factor we need to ensure that we do offensively is we need to play quick, get the ground spaced — not simply within the full court docket however within the half court docket, too — with a sure cadence.
“And then defensively, we want to be physical. We want to get people to feel us. And we want to do so without fouling. So those are two things at the forefront of what I’d like to get accomplished with this team.”
Whereas the identification stays below building, the adjustments looming at Madison Sq. Backyard are clear.
JALEN CURRY?
Brunson will nonetheless have the ball in his palms in crunch time. However Brown needs to dial again the quantity early in video games — each to preserve his All-Star level guard and to contain others extra persistently.
Final season, Brunson led the NBA in time of possession, dribbles per contact and seconds per contact. The outcomes have been plain — 50-plus wins for a second straight 12 months — however the heavy burden confirmed late within the 12 months. The offense, at occasions, stagnated. And teammates typically watched reasonably than performed.
“He seems like he’s a versatile player. The biggest thing I want to do for him is try to get him — as well as everyone else — easy shots,” Brown stated. “And one of the easiest shots in the game of basketball is a spray three. I’m a big proponent of touching the paint and spraying that basketball for a catch-and-shoot three. Within what we do, we are going to try to give [Jalen] a lot of those situations.”
Cities likened the brand new philosophy to the Golden State Warriors — the place Brown served as an assistant on Steve Kerr’s teaching workers for 3 championship runs.
“If Mike has said that, then we’re going to have to do a better job of getting [Jalen] open,” he stated. “And in a method like Steph Curry, we’re going to need to go discover methods to make it simpler for him to get the ball in area and assist him get clear appears to be like on the rim.
“Again, I don’t know too much right now, but what I can say is if he said that, then my idea already goes to thinking of Steph Curry. How do we find ways to get him open with screens and movement that can help make it easier on him getting to the basket or shooting the ball?”
Brown stated he’s seen the buy-in on the observe ground. Brunson, after all, has adjusted earlier than. He went from ball-dominant at Villanova to off-ball alongside Luka Doncic in Dallas. For the great of the crew — for a championship — he’ll do it once more.
“I made it work. I’ve always been in different roles throughout my career, even in college,” Brunson stated. “When I lock in on a role, figure out how I’m going to be best with it I’ve done pretty well with it. So try to keep that same thing going.”
NEED FOR SPEED
One of many largest takeaways from Media Day? Brunson appears to be like leaner. Extra agile. And that’s by design.
The Knicks plan to play quicker — and below Brown, that’s not lip service. His Sacramento Kings groups routinely ranked among the many league’s quickest in tempo. Brunson might function off the ball extra, however that doesn’t imply he’ll be standing nonetheless.
“We want [him] to keep moving,” Brown stated. “The little bit that we’ve seen so far from Jalen during these optional workouts, he seems like he’s embraced it. Because you have to be in great condition to play this way.”
So how do you pace up a crew that’s traditionally gradual?
“That’s the first thing,” Brown stated, laughing. “Tell them to be faster.”
In reality, growing tempo requires construction — and for Brown, it begins with wing urgency, not level guard tempo.
“For us, the biggest thing is get to the corners. We got to have guys who are capable of getting to the corners quickly,” he stated. “If you have guys who commit to the corners — especially guys who can shoot the ball and make plays like we do on this team — then that’s going to flatten the defense. And it’s going to start the dominoes to fall. So we emphasize that.”
Bridges has championed quick, free-flowing offense since arriving in New York. Hart believes the shift can unlock the crew’s full potential.
“I think playing fast is gonna help us get to another level,” Hart stated. “While you acquired guys like Mikal and OG [Anunoby], who can play superb off the catch and getting them into transition and getting them into place the place they will assault the basket and make performs. And then you definitely acquired guys clearly like Deuce, who can assault the rim and knock down pictures, it causes the protection to break down, which supplies Jalen and KAT more room.
“The ball finds energy. We do that, obviously it trickles into all other aspects: making sure defensively we’re there and communicating and those kinds of things. So, I think it’s gonna help a lot.”
A ten-MAN WHAT?
A as soon as unspeakable phrase throughout the Tom Thibodeau period is ready to develop into the brand new norm below Brown.
“If you look at what I’ve done in the past, it’s usually 9-and-a-half to 10 guys. I try to play as many guys as I can,” stated Brown. “Even after I was in Sacramento and we had an harm throughout the season, there was a time limit after I began a two-way man in Keon Ellis. So I’m going to attempt to play who’s going to assist us win — and I’m going to attempt to get guys a possibility.
“Hopefully, with as deep as our roster is, everybody will get an opportunity at some point in the course of the season.”
There’s a good argument to be made that given each Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele, Thibodeau, too, would have expanded his rotation past his core seven. However the distinction might very nicely be on the finish of the bench, with younger gamers who have been usually an afterthought below Thibodeau. Brown will give these gamers their shot. Plus there’s a aggressive coaching camp with Landry Shamet and Malcolm Brogdon headlining the lengthy listing of gamers attempting to go well with up in orange and blue for what is anticipated to be a championship push.
“I’ve played JC [Jordan Clarkson] for years [out West]. He’s a fierce competitor,” Cities stated. “Clearly everyone knows what he can do when he’s scoring the basketball. So he’s going to be a profit for us — an enormous profit. And Guerschon, we’ve all seen what he can do. Greatest phases, he’s confirmed up. And people are two massive additions to our crew.
“I’m excited for this team. We have great depth. That gives us a chance to feel good about any part of the season — whatever the trials and tribulations, the ups and downs — we have a team that’s fully ready to go regardless of the situation.”
