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When I first wrote about Mike Brown’s influence on the New York Knicks’ offense this season, I focused on the new offensive sets he introduced to the team. That was just five days after the season started. I wrote then:
When it works, it looks good - clean, aesthetic, even elegant.
The real test, though, will be running these actions in crunch time, not just at the start of quarters. And more importantly, late in the season, not just in late October.
Well, we haven’t had many close games yet to see how the Knicks handle crunch time - mainly because they’ve been blowing out opponents lately - but after ten games, it’s clear that good things are happening in their offense. And no, it’s not just about the new play designs.
The Knicks’ offense is ranked 3rd in the NBA with a 121.6 offensive rating. How? The Knicks are moving the ball. New York is ranked fifth in total passes per game - 310.9, up from just 281.2 last season. They’ve embraced a “one more”, an extra pass mentality, passing up good shots for great ones. They now lead the league in catch-and-shoot points, at 41.3 points per game, up from 28.5 points per game last season.
Catch-and-shoots, of course, are the natural result of the increase in passing volume. The Knicks drive, kick, and swing to the open man, who’s set and ready to shoot from a comfortable spot.
Check out the following video clip. You can spot the fundamentals of a healthy offense - paint touches, mostly by Jalen Brunson but not only; drive-and-kick sequences; maintaining the “penetrate, pass, skip” principle; proper spacing; and patience.
But the Knicks can do more than drive, kick, and swing. Their offense is much more versatile. First, they’ve integrated an element we saw last season with the Memphis Grizzlies and Cleveland Cavaliers - and this year continues with Cleveland and the Miami Heat - wheel motion during penetration. Players continuously rotate and adjust their spacing in circular movement every time someone attacks the paint, moving behind the defense.
Here’s an example: OG Anunoby chooses to reject the pick and roll, Brunson drifts from the wing to the corner, and Hart makes a backdoor cut. Anunoby finds him for an easy layup.
The more impressive component - the one that makes the Knicks’ offense multi-layered - comes from the Princeton offense. A few days ago, we discussed David Adelman’s Denver Nuggets offense, influenced by the corner offense of his father, Rick Adelman. Rick had brought in former Princeton coach Pete Carril as an assistant in Sacramento, where Carril’s famous offense was adapted to the pro game.
In a related story, Mike Brown was fired from the Lakers just five games into the 2012-13 season after trying to implement the same Princeton offense. In Sacramento, however, he succeeded, adding elements where Domantas Sabonis orchestrated the offense from the elbow or top of the key, finding teammates off screens and handoffs (also known as Zoom action) or cutters to the rim.
Granted, Karl-Anthony Towns prefers to shoot from the top of the key or the elbow, but Brown is trying to turn him into an offensive hub who also creates for others - not yet at Nikola Jokic’s or even Sbobis’ level, of course. So far, Towns’ dominance isn’t just as a scorer: The Knicks lead the league in points generated from handoff points with 9.4 per game, and most handoffs involve Towns.
But there are also early signs of playmaking for cutters. Here’s one example - a play Brown also used in Sacramento - designed to continue with a handoff between Anunoby and Towns. But Anunoby recognizes that his defender, Santi Aldama, is positioned between him and the ball, so he cuts backdoor. Towns finds him, Anunoby kicks out to Brunson, and Brunson drains the corner three. A perfect possession - off-ball movement, a paint touch, and a corner three by the team’s top scorer.
The next play, also against the Memphis Grizzlies, is even more impressive. The Knicks open from their Pitch Series, which we covered in the previous column about them. Ja Morant denies the ball from Clarkson, and Josh Hart gets stuck on the wing without a dribble. Towns flashes to the strong-side elbow as a pressure reliever, and Brunson signals Hart to pass the ball to the big man. From there, Towns dribbles toward a second side action, supposed to end with a handoff to Jordan Clarkson.
Like Anunoby, Clarkson recognizes that his defender (again, Morant. He actually made an effort this time!) is denying the pass, so he cuts to the rim. Towns finds Clarkson in the paint, the ball swings once more to Brunson in the corner, and this time he finishes with a drive and a layup.
Sure, it’s a small sample size. The Knicks have played seven home games and only three on the road, with three of their last four games coming against the struggling Grizzlies, Nets, and Wizards. Are these numbers sustainable over a full season?
One thing is sure: the Knicks will reach more brutal battles with an offense built on solid fundamentals - and with the ability to adapt to a wide range of defensive challenges.