Mike Brown’s look at the regular season shows why the Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau

The New York Knicks are winners of four in a row after a decisive victory for the hosts on Sunday night. Each Knick played less than 29 minutes in the 134-98 victory. New head coach Mike Brown did not play any player for longer than 36 minutes during their winning streak.

Sunday’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets was a masterpiece by Brown, who continues to improve his preseason estimates at 34 minutes per game for Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges. Brunson played 28:47 and Bridges played 27:41 against the latter’s previous team, bringing their previous averages to 33.3 and 34.2 minutes through nine.

The Knicks were expected to beat the Nets, who went 1-9 in Sunday’s loss. However, how they win or lose is more important to Brown than the results. New York moved on from former head coach Tom Thibodeau in part because they seem to buy into that logic.

Brown talked about prioritizing his team’s processes over outcomes after Sunday’s win. When asked if the emphasis is on the quality of the shot, the coach revealed his calculated obsession with it. The coaching staff internally evaluates the quality of each attempt from 3 points per color: green, yellow or red. The process behind achieving a “green” open look is at the heart of Brown’s system. The 55-year-old explained how this is directly related to his continued focus on the postseason, even this early in the regular season.

“No matter what we do on the floor, we’re going to have an opportunity to score. But, you know, you take the regular season and prepare for the postseason,” Brown explained. “And if you just go out there and play the wrong way and win, you know — we’re still probably going to score, because we’re talented. We’ve got a lot of guys who can score. But that’s not going to help us later,” the coach told reporters on Sunday.

An early return shows how Mike Brown changed the Knicks’ approach

Brown’s focus as a playoff power forward extends to his willingness to experiment, even when it may take the team away from its best chance to win a game. Along with his seemingly detailed management of minutes, these are big changes from the last coaching staff. The Knicks ranked 30th in both bench minutes (12.7) and points (21.7) per game in 2024-25. This caused a rift between Thibodeau and Bridges, who expressed his displeasure media. Brown played his bench 17.3 minutes per game through the first nine games, 24th in the NBA through Monday.

The shooting diet has also changed. Thibodeau has often talked about his priority on tempo and corner 3-point attempts. The Knicks averaged 34.1 3-pointers last season, 27th in the NBA. Their 26th-ranked pace didn’t set them up to take as many shots as other teams in general, but they weren’t out of proportion either.

Those 34.1 attempts on the night represented 38.2% of the team’s total feed, below league average of 42.1% of recordings from the city center. 10.2 of New York’s 3-point attempts on average came from the corner. The team shot 11th corner threes per game in the league.

The Knicks’ three-point shooting increased at the start of the 2025/26 season. The team made 42.9 shots per game from distance, third behind only the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics through Monday. Further evidence of New York’s newfound hunger for 3-point looks lies in the proportion of their shots that have come from deep: 46.3% so far.

Brown’s team averaged 13.6 3-point corner attempts per game heading into Tuesday’s home game against the Memphis Grizzlies. That sum averaged at least two more than whole the rest of the NBA to that point.

The results for the individual players are here, specifically for the first team winger duo. And the Anunobi led the league, averaging 1.9 points from the corner through Monday. Mikal Bridges was tied for second with 1.7 per game.

New York has barely played a tenth of its regular season schedule. It’s still too early to make any firm judgments about Brown, the roster or his usage. These seemingly already made changes in their approach, however, were intentional. They are consistent with what Brown has said since media day about Jalen Brunson getting lighter shots.

Only the results of the playoffs can confirm the coaching change of the Knicks

The Knicks haven’t played much faster, with their 99.28 possessions per game through nine games, not necessarily above last year’s pace of 97.64. This is subject to change, as are all other statistics listed. Brown hinted that it could happen after the win over Brooklyn. His discussion of points of improvement was taken over by his methodical approach to optimal offensive output.

“There are things that we have to continue to try to get better at, in terms of our recognition and things like that on the floor – and our pace, getting the ball in play, not walking the ball, getting right to our stuff. If they take this away from us? Bam! We got counters,” Brown asserted with his signature enthusiasm on the counter! “

The Knicks and their coach have plenty of time to improve during the regular season. Brown shared why he deserved the criticism for the team’s three-game losing streak in the same press conference. The team’s 112.5 defensive rating was ninth in the league through Monday, up from last year’s 13th-ranked team at 113.3. They are reaping the rewards of his offensive adjustments.

Ultimately, Brown’s system will be judged by the playoff results it either produces or fails to produce. Early indications are that he has correctly identified some areas for improvement and put in place a plan to achieve that change. It remains to be seen in the right crunch time if the players are fully on board with the new system or if the perpetual motion behind their open 3-point look will wear them down as the year goes on.

The Knicks have three games remaining in their seven-game homestand, including a matchup against Memphis on Tuesday night. They will have time before they have to get their show back on the road to continue adjusting to Brown’s principles. Their coach certainly sees them as capable of it.

“I think we can get better. That’s what we should all strive for, which is to get better. And there’s still a lot of room for growth,” Brown concluded.