The New York Knicks reached the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years, then quickly fired head coach Tom Thibodeau. After an extensive coaching search, the team chose Mike Brown and has been receiving praise for the entire approach.
In an interview with Sportsnaut, NBA reporter Ben Golliver of The Washington Post praised the Knicks’ hiring of Brown. He highlighted how New York’s head coach will help the team both offensively and defensively.
“New York needs more offensive creativity, and they need a little bit more depth in second-unit contributions. When Mike Brown took over at Sacramento, nobody thought that was a good job, he immediately led them to the No. 1 offense in the league…I think from that standpoint, Mike Brown’s gonna be able to pitch the Knicks ownership on hey, I’ve done more with less right, like you’re giving me this roster that’s ready to go, I can turn this into a much more interesting and diverse offense.”
Washington Post’s Ben Golliver to Sportsnaut on New York Knicks coach Mike Brown
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Brown took over a Sacramento Kings team in 2022 that had gone 30-52 the previous season. He helped lead an 18-win improvement, snapping one of the longest playoff droughts in NBA history. During that season, Sacramento averaged 120.7 PPG despite ranking league average in field-goal attempts per game (88.2).
After being fired by Sacramento in December this past season following a 13-18 start, Brown emerged as a candidate in the Knicks’ coaching search. In a field of interviewed candidates that included Taylor Jenkins, James Borrego, and Micah Nori, Brown came out on top.
Golliver also credited the Knicks’ front office for how it has handled this offseason. Instead of being complacent with just reaching the Eastern Conference Finals, they made moves to improve ahead of next season and put themselves right there with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“New York, this conference is theirs for the taking, that’s the exciting part…You gotta put them with Cleveland, at the top of the heap in the Eastern Conference…like this is their shot, and I like the fact that they were proactive and aggressive, it didn’t feel like the momentum was still in a good place with Thibodeau, I like the idea that they changed coaches.”
Ben Golliver on the New York Knicks offseason moves
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With Brown poised to run deeper rotations than Thibodeau did in New York, the Knicks added guard Jordan Clarkson and power forward Guerschon Yabusele this summer. Both veterans are expected to provide the team with the back-end depth it lacked in previous years under Thibodeau.
NFL, MLB & college football writer for Sportsnaut. Graduated from San Diego State University with BA in Journalism, 2019. ... More about Matt Johnson