Just a month ago, the Knicks were 18-7 and celebrating winning the NBA Cup (but not by putting up a banner). A couple of weeks ago, Knicks owner James Dolan was proclaiming, “We want to get to the Finals. And we should win the Finals” on New York radio. The team improved to 23-9 at one point.
That seems like a lifetime ago.
New York has gone 2-9 since that high-water mark, having lost four straight and getting booed by its own fans on Monday when shorthanded Dallas blew them out at home. The Knicks have looked like a team searching for an identity.
That led newly-minted All-Star starter and team captain Jalen Brunson to call a team-only meeting, reports Ramona Shelburn at ESPN. Brunson’s message was “that the Knicks needed to find answers for their poor play in January among themselves, rather than look to the coaching staff for solutions.”
Which ties into the bigger concern — this team has yet to fully buy into what new coach Mike Brown is selling, reports the well-connected Ian Begley at SNY.TV.
Players haven’t fully bought into their roles under head coach Mike Brown. Those reasons are cited often when you talk to people about the Knicks’ flaws. Now, these issues aren’t unique to this year’s team. They existed to a degree in the locker room last season. But the Knicks coaching change hasn’t rooted them out.
The firing of Tom Thibodeau and hiring of Brown was never going to cure all that ailed the Knicks. But the move definitely raised the stakes for New York.
Brown has opened up the offense, and it’s a little better this season, but the defense has been a little worse, and with that, these Knicks are worse than a year ago. Not connecting with his players is partially on Brown, but there is plenty of blame to go around for how this team looks lost, both for the players and the front office.
For example, Karl-Anthony Towns isn’t playing poorly — 21 points and 11.6 rebounds a game, he should still be an All-Star reserve — but his counting stats and, more importantly, his efficiency are well off from last season. His true shooting percentage fell from 63 a season ago to 59.9 this season, and his efficiency across the board is down. Is that on Towns, Brown for pushing Towns out of his comfort zone, or both?
The front office went out looking for depth this summer and added Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele, neither of whom has added all that much to the team.
Brown, however, is the key variable. ESPN’s Shelburne was on NBA Today and discussed how Brown’s recent postgame hug of Draymond Green, who had picked up a technical foul for tripping Towns that night, did not sit well with players.
“From what I understand, that did not land well with a lot of folks there in New York, in that locker room or even in the organization. While you can understand why he might have a bond with Draymond Green, I don’t think that landed well, especially in the middle of a losing streak.”
Brown spent six seasons as Steve Kerr’s right-hand man in Golden State, so he has a relationship with Green forged over multiple title runs. Still, life can be about timing and perception, and Brown missed on both in this case.
While Knicks fans will point to the upcoming NBA trade deadline as a chance to shake things up, the team is hard-capped at the second apron and just $148,353 below that number — they have limited flexibility to really shake things up. Unless the Knicks want to shake up their core, the moves will be on the fringes.
Which means Brunson is right — the answers need to come from inside the locker room. And the Knicks need to come up with that answer fast, as New York has slipped to fourth in the East and is just 1.5 games above the play-in. This is a team that reached the Easter Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years last season, but they fired coach Tom Thibodeau, believing a new voice (and someone who would trust and develop the bench) could deliver more. There were logical reasons to make the move. That said, whatever you think of Thibodeau, his teams had a clear identity.
New York needs to find its identity, and fast.