We’re not even one day into the regular season, and the New York Knicks are already load-managing Mitchell Robinson. Yikes!
Mitch might or might not play on Wednesday, Karl-Anthony Towns doesn’t have a clue what his role is, and Jalen Brunson doesn’t give a damn about title-or-bust.
Here’s everything said by the Knickerbockers and other voices in the past few hours.
Mike Brown
On pacing the season:
“Whether we had everyone or not, this is a marathon, not a sprint. You hope to be sharp by opening night, but the goal is to keep moving forward.”
On Robinson’s health and load management:
“It’s workload management. We’re just managing him right now. I’ve been in different situations where you sit a guy, you manage his workload and he does certain things — whether it’s sometimes shooting free throws, sometimes it’s watching, sometimes it’s walking through this, walking through that. I’ve been with a lot of guys that have done that throughout my career, starting back in the early 2000s with the [San Antonio] Spurs. We had a couple of older guys on the team, so to me it’s not odd — but I’m not saying it’s a bad question.”
On the man behind Mitchell Robinson’s load management:
“Uh, Casey. And it’s above my head in terms of getting into the specifics with it.”
On attacking defenses and shot selection:
“If the defense doesn’t collapse, then we need to finish it [at the rim]. If it does collapse, we need to spray it. And in my opinion, those spray threes off dribble-drives and just someone making a basket cut: Those types of threes are great threes. And I don’t care who’s open, when it hits your hands, let that thang fly.”
On offensive philosophy and spacing:
“If you think about it, most guys, when they’re getting their work in, it’s a coach standing there, the player standing there, another coach rebounding and just passing the ball. Catch-and-shoot threes — it’s the easiest threes. So we promote spacing. And if the floor is spaced the right way, we promote quick decisions — whether it’s a cut, a snap drive, or a roll. We want to touch the paint to collapse the defense.”
On Yabusele’s listed weight:
“You know, the game notes are done by a cat I don’t really trust. A lot of [BS] in there. I ain’t gonna lie — I don’t even read the game notes. I didn’t ask him to put on weight or take off weight. That’s between him and our performance people.”
On Towns’ positional learning curve:
“First thing is, it’s going to be a process, especially with him missing the last couple of games [with a sore quadriceps]. His learning curve is the steepest because he has to learn all five positions. But the one thing it’s going to do for him is it’s going to move him around. He’s not always going to be at the top of the floor. He’ll be in the strong corner, he’ll be in the weak corner, he can be the push man or he can be the weak wing. And also he can be at the top of the key and in the dunker [position]. This will help him, the movement.”
On managing expectations:
“The one thing you’re always worried about, especially with [Towns] being out these few games, when the lights come on Wednesday, everybody wants it right now, right now. And so I have to manage not just his frustration if it doesn’t work out the way he wants [it] to in this time but everybody’s frustration. It’s OK. We’re going to get there. This is a marathon. It’s not a sprint.”
On practice limitations for injured players:
“Everything we’re doing with him is about managing his workload, which we’ll do the whole year. Usually if a guy is out for an extended period of time, I’d like him to practice. But a lot depends — sometimes we don’t have a practice, and if we don’t, we’ll get coaches and have him go against them. It’s situational.”
On KAT’s cooperation and adaptation to the new scheme:
“It’s pretty easy because he’s open and willing to do everything. If he was stubborn, it’d be a little tougher, but he’s not.
“He’s open and willing to do anything. Now, if he [was] stubborn or something like that, it’d be a little tough, but he’s not. Everybody that we’ve coached, even the guys that we let go of, they embraced whatever we tried to do, and that made our job easier.”
Jalen Brunson
On long-term improvement:
“We weren’t gonna be a finished product by the end of preseason anyway. We’re gonna continue to get better. We’re not gonna be who we want to be yet — hopefully this is a long season. We’ve got a lot to do to be where we want to be. It’s gonna be a work in progress, but I like how we’re competing and how we’re playing.”
On blocking out hype:
“I disregard it — because it doesn’t mean s–t. It’s not for me to worry about. My worry is practice, film, getting better every single day. I don’t have time to think about what people say about us.”
On expectations for the new season:
“It’s the first step to hopefully a long way to go.”
On adjusting to Brown’s coaching voice:
“A lot of things are the same, but some things are different. Yes, we have the same core, but we have some different pieces. The voice is different and everything is different from the coaching aspect of it. But the mentality and the approach has to stay the same. It’s wanting to win games and wanting to get better, it’s wanting to learn and doing whatever it takes. Those other things are different, but that has to be the same.”
On system adjustments for big men:
“It’s all in the flow of the offense. For them to go back and forth between the four and the five can be a little mind boggling sometimes, especially when it’s possession after possession. Maybe in a game where you are running the five for three or four minutes, and you are in a rhythm, and you are in the four for a certain stretch of time, you can get in a rhythm. But we’re going to continue to get better at it. It’s not just on them, it’s on us to put them in the right positions.”
Karl-Anthony Towns
On fitting into the new offense:
“Honestly, I don’t know, but we’re figuring it out. It’s just different. We’re still figuring it out.”
On embracing the process:
“Just buy-in, just doing our best to make the system work for us. And that’s really all we should be focused on every day.”
On preseason tests:
“It’s a good test. It makes us better. You get to see where you stand and what to work on when you play teams that are highly looked upon this year. So we just go out there and play our best.”
On early projections:
“All that is looking at a crystal ball, hoping things work out the way the crystal ball says. We’ve gotta take care of our team. Don’t worry about the chatter. Just focus on what’s in the locker room and what we’ve got to accomplish.”
On fan energy and expectations:
“There’s no better fans in the world. They bring energy every single night — at MSG and on the road. It’s great that we have excitement and optimism this year, but at the end of the day it’s about us doing our part and keeping that excitement going. The fans can see the potential of what we can be by the end of the year. It’s our job to actually reach it — and exceed it.”
On being physically ready:
“[I’m] just getting right for the season. That’s really all I’m thinking. [I feel] stronger, more experienced, and my body’s done a great job of staying young. It’s a testament to my team and my trainers.”
Landry Shamet
On Brown’s offensive structure:
“I think having a structure where everybody is clear and understands our triggers and what we’re trying to do. Obviously, we have great playmakers — guys who are eventually going to be able to shine and do their thing. But the reality is, if one or a few of those guys aren’t on the floor, how do we collectively still be effective and even give other teams a different look? That’s what this kind of structure gives you — the opportunity to play with two different flavors. If we’re playing one way with the first unit, and the second unit comes in running strictly out of structure, that’s something opponents have to adjust to in a short amount of time. I think that’s beneficial.”
Richard Jefferson
On Mitchell Robinson’s importance:
“Assuming health for most of their roster when you look at Mitchell Robinson, how healthy is he going to be? Mitchell Robinson has to be healthy. If he’s not healthy and Karl-Anthony Towns is your primary big and you’re going to go through all — and you’re going to try and win a championship against all of those bigs that are floating around, if he’s not healthy during the season, they’re going to have trouble during the season, in my opinion, with Karl-Anthony Towns being the primary big.”
Jaylen Brown
On learning from Thibodeau’s visit:
“It stung losing to the Knicks. So to have Thibs here at our practice explaining some of the things he saw to help them beat us, only helps us get better. He was breaking down some film.”
On appreciating Thibodeau’s insight:
“That was awesome having Thibs. Obviously, they eliminated us last year. So him being able to kind of give us some of the thoughts that he saw in that series and some of the stuff that they broke down in our personnel, or even our team, helps us grow and learn from that. To have Thibs here at our practice explaining some of the things that he saw that helped them beat us only helps me get better, only helps us get better. So I value that.”
Mitchell Robinson
On Thibodeau helping the Celtics:
“😂😂😂😂😂😂 bruhhh I’m fkin crying this is the best thing I saw all day.”
Stephen A. Smith
On the Knicks’ ceiling:
“They’re going to the finals. They are going to the finals. … How many years are you gonna have three potential roadblocks removed due to injury?”
On Mikal Bridges’ responsibility to level up:
“The key to all of this is Mikal Bridges. I like the brother, he deserves it, Mikal Bridges deserves $150m. Having said that, you gave up five picks for that. If the Knicks had those picks, chances are Giannis is already here. You the reason, Mikal Bridges. He’s not a scrub, he can play. I got mad respect for him, but you gotta get it done. You got to make sure we looking at you, be at least an All-Star calibre player. At least do that.”
On the Knicks’ Finals expectations:
“You gave up five picks for that. If the Knicks had those picks, chances are, Giannis already here. I’m like, ‘You’re the reason, Mikal Bridges! You the reason!’”
On the Knicks’ title chances:
“No. You ain’t beating Oklahoma City. … Oklahoma City, the way they play defense, you gotta give it up where it’s due.”
