Why are the Knicks 0-3?
About the head coach Mike BrownIn perspective, this is almost a combination;
1. Absence of quality will prevent shots and attempts
2. Not enough body / ball pace on either side
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3. Lethal composition, careless turnover and poor pass defense.
There are many other reasons why 0-3 should be defended. But those three are the most glaring — and fixable — issues Brown sees at the moment.
During shootaround on Sunday morning, Brown talked to the players about each of the three issues mentioned above. He hit them again before Sunday night’s game against Orlando.
“We’re not good enough yet,” Brown said late Sunday night, shortly after New York’s loss to Orlando.
The good news for the Knicks? They believe that the problems at hand are fixable. (Also, they won the NBA title last year and will have a well-deserved period of appreciation from the fans/media. Imagine if the Knicks started 0-3 last year? It would have been total chaos.)
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Jalen Brunson He says that the lack of rigid cuts / in the offense is the act in it.
“The organization is on my side and we’re definitely in a position to do what we need to do; everything falls on my shoulders,” Brunson said late Sunday. “I just got to be a better leader in making sure our guys are ready to go and in the right places. There are a lot of small things, but this is the main thing. It’s my organization.”
Turnovers (16 against Orlando, 49 over the first three games) and poor pass defense (Orlando, missing Paul Banchero to hurt, 23 point turnovers on Sunday) hurt New York against the Magic. The Knicks, including Brown, also lost five of six 50-50 balls (loose balls where the ball can be rebounded by either team) in the fourth quarter.
“This is a tough one to win,” the coach said.
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Of course, the Knicks aren’t going to go 0-82 this season. There will be plenty of games. But losing to a team missing Banchero’s magic isn’t ideal — no matter what time of year it is.
Brunson has said several times this season that the first two weeks or so of the year will reveal a lot about this Knicks team. Every adversary rises to the games to defend against bits (especially in the garden).
And then the championship is attempted.
“Everybody tells us what a great job we did, how fun it was, what we did for the city, constant praise (for winning the title),” the Knicks captain said. “Now, then, we need the opposite.”
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Fortunately for Brunson and the Knicks, the “opposite” is never hard to find in this town.
The bench is up for grabs
Andrew Drummond He played just seven minutes against the Magic – the same amount as a third-string center James the Wise.
Wise also played two minutes in place of Drummond on Friday against Boston.
Brown says Drummond will be the Knicks’ backup center on Tuesday against Detroit. But the coach also pointed out that all the rotation spots are up from the bench for grabs.
“We have a starting five. Other than that, anybody can play,” Brown said before tipoff on Sunday. “When you’re back in this league, that doesn’t mean you’re always going to be the seventh man or always going to be the eighth man. No, no, no, no, no, no. There’s competition. And it’s less when the starting group if your starting group is established, which is ours, but everyone else after this starting five, before the next guy I can knock on the beat.”
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Brown was answering a question about Wise playing against the Celtics. He then referred to the Knicks standards, which were written on a document signed by all the representatives.
“Let’s make sure we all embrace it, not just accept it,” Brown said.
KNECHT-ING WESTCHESTER
A new two-way player Dal Knecht He will initially spend time with the Knicks’ G League club, the Westchester Knicks. It is expected that Knecht will have ample opportunity to play games in the G League. Knecht certainly wants to play barnstorming games in the NBA with the Knicks. But Brown and the organization want Knecht, an ex-Laker, to get acclimated.
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“We want him to play as much as he can,” Brown said of Knecht, a 2024 first-round pick.
In order to replace Knecht, the Jets’ first round pick in 2014, the Knicks dropped a two-way player. Kevin McCullar Jr. McCullar Jr. begins his third year with the Knicks this season.
“Kevin is first of all a fantastic young man and we’re going to miss him, obviously,” Brown said. “But he’s been here (for two years; three in this season) as a two-way player so we have a pretty good feeling for him. He feels good for us and you know you can try to get to know a guy like Dalton Knecht at this point of the year, that’s what we need to look at.
“Yes (letting go) wasn’t something that Kevin didn’t do. He was great and he’s an NBA player and I think he’s going to have a shot at some point; and he could be with us – who knows – down. But (it was decided to stop McCullar Jr.) all the more to have the opportunity to have a guy like Dalton in just to get to know him a little better.