Will the Knicks ever win again?
They’d better do, if only to please MSG overlord James Dolan.
Here’s the latest from your current, former, and ancillary Knickerbockers.
Mike Brown
On the fan boos and concerns about
the Knicks:
“As a fan, you have the right to panic. You have a right to boo, you have the right to cheer. That’s what this is, this is a sport. Knicks fans are passionate. They’re pretty knowledgeable too, from the little bit of time that I’ve been here. I’m good with whatever they do. It’s up to us to make sure that we take care of us and we handle the process the right way. That’s what I’m more concerned about than anything else. I love Knicks fans, whether they panic or they don’t, or they boo or they cheer, I’ll still love them.”
On the reduced ball movement and passing volume without Josh Hart:
“Our last game, we had our lowest pass total. I think we had 229 passes for the game, and we’re averaging a little over 290. That’s a big difference. When you talk about 70 less passes in one game, that’s a big difference. I showed our guys, we had opportunities where we could’ve gotten off the ball sooner. And that’s across the board.”
On navigating the dog days of the season:
“It’s difficult. But it’s a process. I’ve said before that it’s not always going to be smooth sailing, especially this part of the year. These are the dog days of the year. Trying to find the right focus and energy and time to work on the different things so you don’t have slippage in a lot of different areas is a challenge. But, it’s something we embrace. And we are going to constantly try to find ways to get better so we don’t slip too much.”
On the struggles affecting the entire team:
“It’s not always smooth sailing. Especially this part of the year. These are the dog days … it’s impacting the whole team, not just KAT.”
On dealing with adversity and setbacks:
“I do know, at the end of the day, anytime you go through a process, you’re gonna have your highs, you’re gonna have your lows, you’re gonna have your setbacks. It’s about how do you deal with it? Do you embrace them and attack them head on? Or do you kind of let what’s going on impact how you’re playing? That, for us, is what the next challenge is.”
On the process of correcting course:
“Spending time doing what we did today. Whether you’re watching film, just as importantly going over it on the floor, talking about it and not just preparing for the next game is one of the ways. Starting with me, keeping everybody uplifted and reminding everybody what our standard is for sacrifice and competitive spirit to connectivity, staying connected, to a belief in each other and the process, knowing it’s gonna be a process — while telling the truth. Holding myself accountable, holding everybody else accountable. So those are things you continue to do. You lean on your standard, you lean on your foundation offensively and defensively to get through times like this.”
Jalen Brunson
On changing roles without Josh Hart:
“I think having guys change roles may not be the best thing. It could happen, but for us it’s all about stepping up. Controlling what you can control, doing what you have to do, play to your strengths, just help your team and do whatever it takes. I think that’s what Josh brings to the table — he does whatever it takes to win. So when it comes to changing your role, I just feel like everyone has to step up in a certain way. It’s not just gonna be one person. We all just have to be better as a team. It’s plain and simple.”
On the Knicks’ mindset during the current skid:
“Our mindset is having short-term memory. I’ve said in the past, even if we’re playing well, we’ve got to move on to the next one. Obviously, it’s the opposite. We haven’t been playing our best. We always have room for improvement. It’s on to the next one, got to figure out things, how we can be the best team we can be.”
On panic and perspective:
“The sky isn’t falling. We’ve lost four in a row. Obviously, we don’t want to be in a position like that. We’ve got to be better, be positive. We’ve got to understand, we didn’t start the season great and then we played well after that. It’s just a stint we need to get out of.”
On rejecting the idea of an NBA Cup hangover:
“I’m not calling it a hangover, I’m not calling it anything. It’s us not being where we need to be, so where do we go from here? We just have to be better as a team. I could say it the same way a thousand different times. It’s that plain and simple.”
On Brown’s demeanor during adversity:
“He’s been upbeat, he’s been great. The sky isn’t falling. Yeah, we lost four in a row. Obviously, we don’t want to be in a position like that. We gotta be better, we gotta be positive, we gotta understand that we didn’t start the season great and then we played well after that. It’s just a stint that we just need to get out of.”
Karl-Anthony Towns
On adjusting to his “new” role in New York:
“I lean on my experience. I’ve unfortunately had to adjust to a lot of head coaches and a lot of new teammates and situations. We’ve got to do what I’ve got to do to move forward.
“Whenever I get my opportunities, I’m going to try to maximize them.”
On the lack of defensive responsibility during the skid:
“You’ve got to play defense to win games. We can’t give up the amount of points we do and not score as much as them.”
Carmelo Anthony
On the Knicks’ offensive dependence on Jalen Brunson:
“I’m watching the game, the late-game offense becomes so predictable. The shot creation, the burden on Jalen Brunson is too heavy on a night to night basis. The margins are very thin, the Knicks miss shots that turn to outlets the other way. When you just focus on Jalen Brunson, there is no movement, there is no offense, there is stagnation. I don’t want to say punked, but they’re getting punked.”
On Kiyan Anthony handling pressure:
“You gotta remember, this is a kid who’s been dealing with pressure since he’s been born, with my career and his mom’s career. Now it’s about basketball, and believing in yourself and the work you put in. At the end of the day, he knows how to play. He’s a very intelligent player, he’s young and this is a process — he understands that and we understand that.”
James Dolan
On championship expectations this season:
“Yeah, we want to get to the finals and we should win the finals. This is sports, this is business and anything can happen, but getting to the finals, we absolutely got to do. Winning the finals, we should win.”
On confidence in the current roster and trade deadline plans:
“This is the team. That’s what I think our plan is. I talk to Leon every day, and nothing’s impossible. I won’t rule anything out. But who do you want to lose? You don’t get something without giving something.”
On rejecting an NBA Cup banner and prioritizing an NBA title:
“I never had that thought. I would’ve thrown it away. We want an NBA championship, we don’t want the consolation. We felt good about the NBA Cup. To get a chance at midseason to try out what you’re going to be like at the end of the season, it was exciting. I was very proud of the guys that did a great job. We’re proud to have the Emirates Cup, but we’re going to hang a championship banner, a real banner.”
On the Tom Thibodeau firing and leadership philosophy:
“I won’t say you can’t win a title with Tom Thibodeau. I don’t necessarily know if that’s true. It’s just that if you want to build a long-term, competitive … you need somebody who’s much more of a collaborator than Tom was. He’s a great coach, so he had a reason to be surprised.”
On player availability, load management, and Mike Brown’s approach:
“I know all the players and they want to play. Whether we play 65 or 82 games, they want to play every game. One of the issues that Mike has to deal with is that he has to bring guys up. I expect that we’re going to see more of the bench.”
On Leon Rose’s long-term status:
“As far as I know, Leon is with us long term. We don’t talk about the end to this. We have a five-year plan. Right now we’re more like on a two- to three-year plan.”
On Tom Thibodeau’s legacy and the coaching change:
“The team is really built on the shoulders of Tom Thibodeau. He built that core. We went as far as we did last year. So you really got to take your hat off to Tom. And the job that he did. But we did come to the conclusion that we had an idea how we wanted to organize the team. And that meant we needed to evolve. Actually beyond the old traditional coaching formulas. And we tried to work that with Tom. It really wasn’t his thing.”
On player development and roster-building philosophy these days:
“It’s not like the old days, the old Yankees where you get Reggie Jackson and this guy and this guy. And put together a team. It’s almost impossible to do that in the NBA. You have to home-grow your talent, and that also builds up trade currency, and that’s a team of people. There’s literally 20 people who are specifically dedicated to developing the players to getting the strategy on the court. And that’s important for the development of a franchise.”
On whether or not a trade for Giannis was discussed last summer:
“Not that I’m aware of. We love our team right now. They have chemistry, they all like each other. I’ve never seen a locker room more copacetic. There’s a lot of energy there. Leon can always overrule me. But I don’t see us making a big change. Because we got to keep building up this group. This group can win a championship. I believe that.”
