The first level was about understanding the basics.
Second level? It's about developing an offense that has quickly become a well-oiled machine under Mike Brown.
KnicksWednesday's 137 point onslaught win over Minnesota Timberwolves propelled them to the top of the league in offensive rating entering Friday's list. They are averaging 128 points during their three-game winning streak, which also includes back-to-back wins over Chicago. Bulls and Washington Wizards.
And while the defense is still a work in progress and the team is still working out its rotations, the offensive structure is firmly established. Brown wants his Knicks to run, spread space on the floor, touch the paint and let threes fly with the rhythm of the offense.
So far, so good.
“They're a little bit above Level 1 because you can see that when we go down every now and then, we get into the right space and we can keep the ball moving or keep it moving,” Brown said after practice at the team's Tarrytown facility on Friday. “We're getting better, I think we're past the early stages.”
The question arises: what does the second level look like?
The Knicks are already making 43.6 threes per game, nearly 10 more than they made last season under Tom Thibodeau. Jalen Brunson's assist numbers are on the rise, too, with seven or more assists in four of his last six games, including a near-triple-double (23 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds) against Minnesota.
New York ranks fourth in offensive rating (119.3), second in threes, and both And Anunoby And Mikal Bridges tend to have a career season. All this despite early injuries to Mitchell Robinson and Josh Hart that kept the rotation constant.
“We're building a good foundation, a foundation of guys who can have freedom, be able to read and react off the ball and use screens. That's good,” Hart said Friday. “Obviously, the more and more games we have under our belts, the more we understand the system, the more these things can really benefit.”
Brown said the next phase of growth will be easy to spot, although not to the untrained eye: more tempo in half-court sets, “so the ball never sits still and we play on our heels.” The floor is so wide that “you could drive a semi-bus through.” [truck] all the time.” More ball turnovers because ball turnovers move the defense.
And faster solutions.
“When we catch [the ball]”We don't hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it so the defense can load up and get us out of our stuff,” Brown said. “So when quick decisions are being made all the time, and when we're constantly touching the paint and spacing it right… when we're doing those things at a pretty high level, but pretty quickly, then we start to feel pretty good about ourselves.”
Getting here required early growing pains, including a three-game losing streak on the road. But the Knicks offense now looks like a living, breathing system that the players clearly understand and trust.
“I think understanding the first level is good, it's really good. I think we understand that and then we need to get to the point where we just react,” Brunson said after Friday's practice. “We falter a little bit. If something we do isn't right, but we give it our best effort and we do it with confidence, it doesn't feel like it's wrong. It's another thing in the offense that's random. And all of a sudden we're on top. We're getting better at it. We look at it every single day. We just have to continue to be on the same page together.”
It's still early, but the results are good for a Knicks team that is slowly rising under its new coach, although Hart made it clear that the offense could look stagnant – as it did in parts of their three-game skid – if the Knicks fall into another period of cold from deep.
“I think we understand [the offense]. I think we have smart guys. I don't think there's a set number – like we hit 137, I don't think it's like 'okay, we get it,' he said. “There's going to be another game, hopefully not soon, where we're at about 98 and we're still figuring it out, but we're just not making shots. We're where we want to be.”
