Are you done with this team?
I’m halfway there.
Here’s a bunch of quotes, mostly from before Thursday’s game, because it’s the West Coast, so they still have to flip the calendar page to 2026.
Mike Brown
On the Knicks’ competitiveness against Golden State:
“I thought we played good in stretches. Our level, our competitiveness was there throughout the game. The biggest thing was I thought their level of physicality was there longer than ours was, and you could feel it throughout the course of the game.”
On the Knicks’ response without Jalen Brunson:
“I’d be disappointed in myself and the rest of the team. It was sad, but we didn’t play the way we were capable of playing. When you do that, you’re going to get your behinds kicked, and we got our behinds kicked.”
On Landry Shamet’s work ethic:
“Landry, he’s a worker, man. I wasn’t there the whole time watching him or getting reports on him, but when I did see him, he was getting after it. It means a lot for him to play.”
On patience with Shamet’s return:
“He was in a great rhythm before he got hurt, and he’s been out for a while, so it’s gonna take some time for him to get back and it’s exciting for him to be back. We’re gonna be patient with him while he’s fighting his way back to where he was before the injury.”
On rookie Mohamed Diawara:
“Any opportunity you get, you throw him out there, and sometimes you might throw him out there for 15 minutes and sometimes you might throw him out there for two minutes, and you just kinda watch and see how he responds to it. And there may be stretches where he doesn’t see the floor at all, and you see how present he stays with it, and then the times that you do throw him out there, does he get shook or is he rattled? Mo, for a young guy especially a second-round pick that probably wasn’t expecting to play at all this year, he passed a lot of tests. He’s gonna continue to be thrown into the fire from time to time. But he’s young, he’s growing, he’s learning, there’s no need to rush him, so he’s gotta stay patient while growing with every experience that he gets when he gets on the floor.”
On Draymond Green’s basketball IQ:
“One thing: He’s extremely intelligent. His feel for the game is second to none. I’ve been around a lot of players and he’s gotta be up there Top-3 in terms of basketball IQ because he’s been doing it at a high level, has got a great feel, and has had success at it. He’s won. It wouldn’t surprise me if he transitioned into coaching, front office, whatever, because I think he’d be able to impact the game in a positive way.”
On the Kings loss after Brunson’s injury:
“We didn’t respond. We didn’t respond at all. I got to give the Kings credit because they took it to us. And we didn’t respond in any way shape or form. But even before Jalen got hurt we weren’t following the game plan. And I’m not sure why. But we were kind of just out there just going through the motions. And if you go through the motions in this league, it doesn’t matter. You’re going to get your behind kicked. And we got our behind kicked.”
On isolation-heavy offense:
“I haven’t asked the guys about playing too much hero ball, but I kind of told them what I saw. But we had plenty of opportunities to play off of two feet and spray it. We just didn’t do it.”
Karl-Anthony Towns
On adjusting to the new system:
“It’s a learning process for all of us and we’re just still adjusting and getting used to a new system. Especially me. Just trying to understand our new roles and what we can do to impact the game for winning. Different year, different scheme. So we’re all adjusting to help our team have a chance to win everyday.”
On Brunson’s injury in Sacramento:
“Honestly, we didn’t know what happened until halftime. We didn’t know what was happening. I feel like the first time we saw that it could be a little something was when the second quarter started and he wasn’t starting. So the game was playing itself out, and we didn’t get a chance to emotionally react. But we came in at halftime understanding, seeing him, we understood what needed to transpire and what we needed to do. It was a next man up situation.”
Josh Hart
On the defensive effort without Brunson:
“Our defense was embarrassing. Our effort was embarrassing. It didn’t matter who was out there.”
On challenging the team defensively:
“It’s going to be a good challenge for us in terms of how we respond to it. At some point we have to take responsibility and take the challenge on the defensive end. The last month we’ve been a terrible defensive team. At some point we’ve got to stop making excuses. We’ve got to wake up. We’ve got to make sure we’re locked in on the game plan and put effort in on that side of the ball. When we do that we’re going to flourish offensively, we’re going to get more possessions, we’re going to run faster, we’re going to play our kind of style, everyone’s going to get the ball, everyone’s going to score, everyone’s going to eat. And we need to do that. Guys do what they want individually but it has to be team first, it has to be the defensive side of the ball. And hopefully we take that challenge, so we’ll see what kind of character we have against the Warriors.”
Draymond Green
On competing against Karl-Anthony Towns:
“I don’t want to give my secrets away, but I do like the matchup. But I do like playing against all the perennial all-stars and stars in this league. I enjoy those matchups. Those are the matchups that really get me going. It’s an honor. It’s an honor to play against a guy like Karl Towns. Make no mistake, Karl Towns is one of the better big mans in this league. I cherish that. I know I go out there and talk my junk and I stir the pot a little bit, for sure. But the respect I have for talents like that, for guys who has done it, what, 10, 11 years at a very high level.”
On competition once the game starts:
“But when you step in between those lines there’s no time for that. It’s time to compete. It’s time for me to try to get the better of you because you’re going to try to get the better of me. And that is one guy in the league that brings out the best in me and I’m always grateful for the opportunity.”
