After New York suffered an embarrassing defeat on their home court on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, head coach Mike Brown stepped up to the podium and revealed that he had some ideas on which buttons he needed to press prior to Wednesday night’s matchup against Brooklyn.
And while a win, even if it is by 60-plus points, against a tanking Nets team might not be enough to overwrite the last month of subpar basketball, discouraging efforts, and confusing lack of chemistry, we did get a few glimpses of tangible change that could signal that yesterday was more than just shots going in or a good team playing a bad team.
More ball movement
While the Knicks’ bad defense has been the topic of discussion over the last few weeks, the more troubling aspect might have been the offense. We knew coming into the season that this team was never going to be an elite defensive team. They had the potential to be a solid, maybe even good one, but never elite. But offensively, they were supposed to be among the best in the league.
They roster the best shooting big man of all-time in Karl-Anthony Towns, floor spacers in Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby, and one of the best pure scorers in the game in Jalen Brunson. And add in Josh Hart’s secondary ball handling skills and transition baskets, Mitchell Robinson’s offensive rebounding, Deuce McBride’s elite outside shooting, Jordan Clarkson’s erratic, yet explosive potential, and the genius of Mike Brown, and they should’ve had everything they needed to be an elite, albeit imperfect, offense.
And through the first couple of months of the season, we saw it come to fruition. Even with Towns struggling from outside, the offense thrived with Bridges taking on more of the ball-handling duties, Hart becoming a much improved shooter, and Brunson being, well, Brunson. Brown had them meshing great individual talent, with creative sets, and increased ball and player movement, and we saw this team put up some historic numbers with ease, even when guys had off nights. Yet over the last month, the offense regressed progressively. It started with players struggling to shoot, and it led to less trust, less movement, and ,unfortunately, the same kind of isolation-heavy, heliocentric offense we were forced to watch for much of Tom Thibodeau’s tenure.
But last night, we saw the Knicks get back to some of the roots that helped propel them to one of the best offenses in the league to start the season. We saw more organization in the form of set plays and schematic sets at the beginning of the shot clock, which led to much better continuity and flow offensively. There was noticeably less dribbling, less isolation, and less pick-and-rolls that led to late clock chucks, and it showed in the results.
In the clips above, you can see a much more concerted effort to be decisive with their actions. Whether it’s to shoot, pass, or drive, players were being much more intentional. And for the first time in god knows how long, it looked like everyone was actually on the same page, and playing with some urgency. The Nets, being one of the worst defensive teams in the league, especially in January, help. And shots going in will always prove to be the deciding factor in what is known as a “make or miss” league. But last night’s offensive process was the best one we’ve seen since mid-December, and that’s worth noting.
Energy and physicality
You can plug in whatever other word you want to use there. Off the top of my head, I contemplated using effort, activity, fight, pride, and tenacity. And I’m sure there are dozens more that you can use. Whatever you want to go with, though, the Knicks finally played with it. Again, Brooklyn is a tanking team that has not won many games this season. But they are still an NBA team with NBA players. And over the last couple of weeks, they’ve managed to score 96 points against the Raptors, 107 points against the Timberwolves, 107 points against the Warriors, 96 points against the Rockets, 105 points against the Mavericks, and 117 points against the Suns, all of whom are top 10 in defensive rating this season.
The fact that the Knicks held any NBA team, even if it is the Nets, to just 66 points, is impressive. They came out of the gates with the kind of effort we haven’t seen from them, especially in the first quarter, in a very long time. And they maintained it for much of the game. They fought over screens, were active in the passing lanes, seemed more communicative, had fewer mental lapses, and, like on offense, they just seemed more connected as a team. They will not hold opponents to under 100 points nightly, let alone under 70 points. This is no longer the NBA of the 2000’s. But the Mavericks game might’ve finally given this team a very long overdue wake-up call, and it showed with their best effort defensively, maybe all season long.
Rotation changes
Some of this is due to the Knicks being fully healthy. But one major change we’ve seen take place now over the last two games is the much more limited playing time of Jordan Clarkson and Tyler Kolek. It’s unfortunate because both have been a significant part of some of the most memorable moments of the current rollercoaster season. But the pair have been underwhelming for the majority of the recent skid.
Clarkson was brought in to be a much-needed upgrade in the scoring department off the bench, but he’s been just as, if not more, erratic as advertised, while being the negative defender fans had expected. He’s already gone through a few tough stretches this season, and he’s found ways to bounce back with a few big games. But for much of the season, Clarkson has played more minutes than he’s often deserved, and his leash thus far has been unreasonably long.
Meanwhile, Kolek, despite having some nice moments, is still an inconsistent shooter, and while he tries defensively, his lack of athleticism and discipline often get him burned at the point-of-attack, an area the Knicks already struggle with.
Both have played sparingly over the last two games, with all of their minutes coming in garbage time last night. With McBride being such an integral part of the team, and Shamet healthy and playing well again, it’ll be tough to see either of them earning significant minutes moving forward unless another injury takes place. And while that’s tough for them, that’s the way it should be, and needs to be for now.
