After a recent home win versus the Toronto Raptors, Jordan Clarkson told reporters, during his postgame interview, “1-15, everyone is ready.”
Normally, I wouldn’t take too much stock in this type of sports cliche quote, but I thought not only was the actual quote interesting, but also who it came from.
Remember, it wasn’t too long ago that Clarkson, a 12-year vet, was out of the rotation stacking DNPs. Clarkson has since cemented himself as part of Mike Brown’s nine-man playoff rotation, above Jose Alvarado, who was brought to the Knicks at the trade deadline. Not only has Clarkson regained his scoring efficiency, but he completely reinvented himself as a defender, making himself a mainstay of that second unit.
To me, this highlight’s one of Mike Brown’s greatest skill as a coach: keeping all 15 players on the team engaged and instilling the belief within them that their number could be called at any moment.
Sticking with Brown, as someone who has watched all of his postgame press conferences, the long-time coach often emphasizes three keys to victory. Brown has often commented on how the Knicks impose and deal with physicality, get into the paint and “spray it”, and start games. Throughout this newsletter, I’ll give the Knicks a grade on each of Brown’s categories for success.
Prior to that, let’s review the Knicks final check-in with their advance stats and how they stack up with the rest of the league. After 82 games, the Knicks rank third in offensive rating (same spot from our last check-in), sixth in defensive rating (one spot down), and fifth in net rating (same spot).
And although I hate to beat a dead horse, I do think it’s important to note that the only time the Knicks ranked within the top-10 in both offensive and defensive ratings with Thibs as the coach was during the 2023-2024 season (7th and 9th, respectively).
Dealing with Physicality: B-
Mike Brown made it a point to talk about physicality during most of his press conferences this season. During the Knicks’ slumps, teams treated the orange and blue like an NYC subway turnstile. To Brown’s credit, he was usually very direct with his criticism, but I didn’t always see a great response from the team unless their losing streak started to create outside noise amongst the fanbase and media.
According to NBAstats.com, the Knicks rank 18th in personal fouls, and outside of KAT, there’s never been strong concerns with any of the starters getting themselves into consistent foul trouble. That being said, Towns has really improved defensively and it’s a big part of the reason why fans are more confident in a deep Knicks playoff run.
The clip above shows what Mike Brown has often talked about - leading with your chest and not your hands. KAT does a great job of moving his feet and letting his chest make the majority of the initial contact between him and Barnes for most of the possession. When KAT locks in like this and both OG Anunoby and Mikal are both aggressive defensively to start games, the Knicks are very difficult to beat.
This grade could’ve been higher, but although the Knicks have been better defensively since January, they’ve also have benefitted from some soft pockets in their schedule and need to make focusing on the small details a consistent priority.
Getting into the paint and spraying it: B
At the beginning of the season, Mike Brown told reporters that besides being big on the “possession game”—which puts an emphasis on tracking rebounds per game, free-throw attempts, and turnovers—he also explained that he and his coaching staff track “sprays,” or the amount of times the Knicks get into the paint and pass the ball to open shooters.
After starting out the season in the top ten for both three-pointers made and three-pointers attempted, the Knicks finished the season ranked 10th and 12th in those categories, respectively. And although the orange and blue eclipsed both marks when compared to last season, it still felt like there was some meat left on the bone when it came to assessing the strength and efficiency of this offense.
Of course, a big part of any team’s ability to attack the paint and find open shooters is the pick-and-roll. For much of this season, fans and analysts have wondered why the tandem of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns hasn’t experienced the type of the success the front office probably thought they would after trading for one of the best shooting big-men of all time.
But things have changed. Since the victory over the Atlanta Hawks, the Knicks have been featuring more pick-and-roll possessions with Brunson and KAT, so much so to the point where, during his post game interview, Brunson even acknowledged that he wasn’t sure why those plays weren’t called more frequently, despite their effectiveness.
Starting games the right way: B
Despite having a really good record and being one of the top three teams in the Eastern Conference, the Knicks developed a really bad habit of either playing down to the competition in the first quarter, or just starting the game with a complete lack of focus or intensity.
According to SNY’s Rafael Canton, back in early April, the Knicks’ starting five posted a first quarter net rating of -8.1. This, in addition to other advanced analytics, prompted some fans to call for changes within the starting lineup. But regardless of whether Mike Brown starts Josh Hart or Deuce McBride, starting games with focus, intensity, and attention to detail shouldn’t be a personnel issue.
One really good indicator as to whether the Knicks are locked in and ready to play is their pick-and-roll defense. It’s easy to see when the wings (mainly OG and Mikal) are applying good ball pressure, and their teammates are rotating to stop drives without the fear of losing their man.
But credit Mike Brown and the Knicks, who finished the season on a positive note, with good starts in at least six of their last 10 games.
As the Knicks look toward their first-round matchup with the Atlanta Hawks, it’s fair to say that Mike Brown has been a good problem-solver this season. Throughout the year, opposing teams have tried to cross-match by putting wings on KAT, and bigs on Josh Hart on defense. For the most part, Hart has made them pay by having a career year shooting 41 percent from the three-point line.
Teams have also tried to play zone, drop-coverage, switch pick-and-rolls - and while the adjustments have not always been successful, Brown has had an answer or some type of strategy to solve the problem. In the end, this was why the Knicks changed their coach.
The talent is there, the team is ready, playing some of their best basketball at the right time.
