Star Knicks forward Mikal Bridges believes the team's defense is one step ahead of its offense as the preseason winds down with two games remaining before the Oct. 22 opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden.
New York struggled to knock down shots but held off Minnesota. Timberwolves shooting less than 38 percent in Thursday's 100-95 overtime win at the Garden.
Although the shots weren't successful, the Knicks leaned on their defense to maintain control.
“Defensively, I think we're a little bit ahead of the offense. At this point, I think it's also more of a pride thing to trust your guys and [you] I don't want us to get scored on offense,” Bridges said after scoring 15 points on 50 percent shooting in 25 minutes. “And still trying to figure out our positions and guys on offense a little bit, but defense comes down to more determination and playing harder.”
“I think it's true [the defense is ahead of the offense]. But I think we're still moving in the right direction in both cases. Just keep adding up the days.”
TRANSITION CHECK
Head coach Mike Brown is introducing a new standard for transition defense that goes beyond what is displayed in the box.
The NBA credited the Timberwolves with 13 fast breaks to the Knicks' 18. Brown's internal calculations told a different story.
“By our count,” he said, “there were 27 of them.”
“Fast break, yeah, there's different things we look at. I can't remember what the NBA rules are in terms of – I think they just use the shot clock, whether you score in the first six seconds, four seconds or whatever,” Brown said. “There are other things we look at in terms of fast breaks, which is why I said they had about 25 points against us tonight because we weren't always able to come back with our speed in the next game.”
Next play speed, as Brown defines it, is the mental and physical switch from offense to defense the second the ball is in possession.
“Whether we made a big shot and now the ball is going the other way, or we turned it over and the ball is going the other way, we have to change, like this,” he said. “We are now moving from attack to defense. If we take two more [seconds] in the opposite direction, they are now running towards us and they have an advantage in the transition. They might not score right away, but eventually they'll go wide because we didn't always play with the speed of the next play or hit a hard shot.”
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Bridges' first impressions of Brown are strong. Brown took over as head coach of the Knicks after the front office fired Tom Thibodeau following a trip to the conference finals last season.
“Just being on the guys' side, holding them accountable, preaching everything every single day. He and his coaches, they all run a tight ship,” Bridges said. “You can tell that no matter what we do, they're all on the same page, no matter the situation. And a lot of credit goes to him for that because I think he's the main leader, the leader of his team, and for everyone to be on the same page, it makes it easier for us players when they talk to us, because any coach I talk to, you'll hear the same thing.”
“So it's been great, man. I like the way he pushes us. Accountability. A couple of games, if he feels like you're doing something wrong, he'll let you know, and why don't you want it? At the moment, some guys might be a little upset about it. But we'll get to where we're going to get. He's not going to be Mr. Nice Guy. He's got to hold people accountable. He doesn't do that in. He wants greatness from us. That's it.” And just being responsible is great.”
SECOND PLACE
In NBA.com's annual general manager poll, the Knicks were voted the second team most likely to win the Eastern Conference, behind only the defending conference champion Cavaliers, who finished last season with a 64-18 record.
“I know they do it. I didn't know they did it yet,” Brown said. “Great respect to you, grandmasters.”
New York received at least one vote for the NBA title, but was not among the top three most popular teams overall. In the East, 53% of general managers chose the second-place Knicks.
“Everybody's going to have their own opinion. Just take care of yourself because if you start worrying about what the GMs think or what the owner thinks or what the ref thinks, man, we're going to have problems,” Brown said. “It would drive us crazy. I know it would drive me crazy. So we just focus on ourselves and try to do the best we can for who we are.”
