GustavBahler wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:From the beginning of last season until January, Knicks got off to a hot start, but the starting unit was a statistical negative from that point on. We rode the starters to a hot start, and things started to peter out by the new year.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Knicks have some early losses due to developing players, and incorporating the recent FAs into the rotation. It also wouldn’t be surprising if the Knicks drew a lower seed because of the growing pains of the bench. But I think we will be in a better position in the playoffs. A less taxed starting unit, and a deeper and better prepared bench.

I don't see the young players getting burn like that unless its due to inj. Huk has the best shot at some mins if they go twin towers for the starting lineup. But Dadiet & Kolek have an uphill battle to climb to see mins based on whats ahead of them.

There could be scenarios where Brown offers rest days maybe that allows young players to get PT. Outside of that injuries seem like the best bet.

Imo what they are hoping for though is that by the season after this coming one. When Mikal & Mitch needs to be extended, and Clarkson is looking to get an increase for his final contract. They will also need to make decisions on Mikal, Hart, OG, Kat depending on how the season goes. Going into year 3 hopefully some of these young guys would be able to get plugged in to the rotation offering Knicks the flexibility to make these decisions easier.

So hopefully Kolek at $2.3mil would be ready to step up an replace Clarkson who will probably demand a lot more than that Rose that flexibility and optionality. Same for Huk who say gets resigned for a Deuce deal at like $4mil giving Rose flexibility and optionality on extending Mitch.

Bench played the fewest minutes in the league last season. Only one way to go from there. I don’t see our starters playing the most minutes of any starting unit in decades either. These things weren’t normal for a starting unit or bench. So a new coach should change that dynamic, and give our bench, (and our yoots) a better shot to earn more PT. I don’t believe Brown will be so unforgiving about a young player making mistakes. They may get more of an earful from Brown, but I don’t believe they will be buried on the bench because of one blown assignment.

Bench will get plenty of burn. Speaking more about the yoots. Brunson, Mikal, OG, Towns, Hart, Mitch, Deuce, Clarkson, Yabu will obtain a majority of the mins. That's a 9 man rotation right there, splitting 20-30mins per game among them. Very difficult to project Kolek for example getting more than 7mins a game with JB and Clarkson ahead of him? They will generate probably low 30s and low 20s in mins between them to be conservative. Only 48 available mins per position. If Brunson only got 30mins, that would only leave 18mins left at backup PG. In order for Clarkson to be able to generate 20mins he will need to take all the backup PG mins and some SG mins.

Foul trouble &/or injuries will be the available options though. As well as blow outs. Thibs for the most part would extend the mins of the shorter rotation with injuries and or play starters deep into blow outs. Brown will probably be quicker to give others mins in these scenarios.

GustavBahler wrote:

Nalod wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:From the beginning of last season until January, Knicks got off to a hot start, but the starting unit was a statistical negative from that point on. We rode the starters to a hot start, and things started to peter out by the new year.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Knicks have some early losses due to developing players, and incorporating the recent FAs into the rotation. It also wouldn’t be surprising if the Knicks drew a lower seed because of the growing pains of the bench. But I think we will be in a better position in the playoffs. A less taxed starting unit, and a deeper and better prepared bench.

I don't see the young players getting burn like that unless its due to inj. Huk has the best shot at some mins if they go twin towers for the starting lineup. But Dadiet & Kolek have an uphill battle to climb to see mins based on whats ahead of them.

There could be scenarios where Brown offers rest days maybe that allows young players to get PT. Outside of that injuries seem like the best bet.

Imo what they are hoping for though is that by next season when Mikal & Mitch needs to be extended, and Clarkson is looking to get an increase for his final contract. They will also need to make decisions on Mikal, Hart, OG, Kat depending on how the season goes. Going into year 3 hopefully some of these young guys would be able to get plugged in to the rotation offering Knicks the flexibility to make these decisions easier.

So hopefully Kolek at $2.3mil would be ready to step up an replace Clarkson who will probably demand a lot more than that Rose that flexibility and optionality. Same for Huk who say gets resigned for a Deuce deal at like $4mil giving Rose flexibility and optionality on extending Mitch.

I see the view on Kolek wide open. He could very well be in the rotation or be cast into the Gleague never to be seen again with everything in between. This is not a "See, I called it" kind of view. With Knicks in win now mode and him 25 by March his two year window as a second round pick is limited. The kid has the game but the NBA speed and size is unforgiving. That he NOT 20 years old limits his knick window. Maybe he finds a future but not with Knicks.

Kolek averaged seven minutes a game as a rook. Frank was a FRP, played professionally since he was a teenager in France, and got 20 minutes a game as a rook. Hard to give a definitive answer on Kolek with such a small sample size, but I believe we saw enough to be hopeful.

Frank was 18 and a 1st round pick thus as a project knicks committed to. Kolek was 5 years older when drafted!
But we not talking about frank on this roster, we talking about a win now team and kid who was hoped to be able to step in on an inexpensive contract.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/k/kolekty01/gamelog/2025

Nobody is giving a definitive answer but you if you want to look at his 7min per game 41 games, then look at the final scores that were perhaps indicative of garbage time, etc etc. He played 13 games of the 41 that amounted to over 10 minutes. Im sure if you have an agenda you can paint what ever picture you want. Does anything jump out that give you hope? Had a few nice assist games. That hot shooting in garbage time by teammates? Vs. other scrubs on opponent?
Any shooting stats that stand out? Not really.
Im not saying one way or the other but there is a contingency of fans that seem to talk as if Thibs kept yet another young player down! I hear "steve Nash light"....
Or "Jalen like"! Hey, I hope thats the case. My eye test saw a kid struggle a bit and looked slow. I hope he makes Jalen obsolete!
But All im saying is I don't expect much.

Also the starting lineup can’t be the same as last year

Mike has some work to do.

GustavBahler wrote:

Nalod wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

Nalod wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:From the beginning of last season until January, Knicks got off to a hot start, but the starting unit was a statistical negative from that point on. We rode the starters to a hot start, and things started to peter out by the new year.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Knicks have some early losses due to developing players, and incorporating the recent FAs into the rotation. It also wouldn’t be surprising if the Knicks drew a lower seed because of the growing pains of the bench. But I think we will be in a better position in the playoffs. A less taxed starting unit, and a deeper and better prepared bench.

I don't see the young players getting burn like that unless its due to inj. Huk has the best shot at some mins if they go twin towers for the starting lineup. But Dadiet & Kolek have an uphill battle to climb to see mins based on whats ahead of them.

There could be scenarios where Brown offers rest days maybe that allows young players to get PT. Outside of that injuries seem like the best bet.

Imo what they are hoping for though is that by next season when Mikal & Mitch needs to be extended, and Clarkson is looking to get an increase for his final contract. They will also need to make decisions on Mikal, Hart, OG, Kat depending on how the season goes. Going into year 3 hopefully some of these young guys would be able to get plugged in to the rotation offering Knicks the flexibility to make these decisions easier.

So hopefully Kolek at $2.3mil would be ready to step up an replace Clarkson who will probably demand a lot more than that Rose that flexibility and optionality. Same for Huk who say gets resigned for a Deuce deal at like $4mil giving Rose flexibility and optionality on extending Mitch.

I see the view on Kolek wide open. He could very well be in the rotation or be cast into the Gleague never to be seen again with everything in between. This is not a "See, I called it" kind of view. With Knicks in win now mode and him 25 by March his two year window as a second round pick is limited. The kid has the game but the NBA speed and size is unforgiving. That he NOT 20 years old limits his knick window. Maybe he finds a future but not with Knicks.

Kolek averaged seven minutes a game as a rook. Frank was a FRP, played professionally since he was a teenager in France, and got 20 minutes a game as a rook. Hard to give a definitive answer on Kolek with such a small sample size, but I believe we saw enough to be hopeful.

Frank was 18 and a 1st round pick thus as a project knicks committed to. Kolek was 5 years older when drafted!
But we not talking about frank on this roster, we talking about a win now team and kid who was hoped to be able to step in on an inexpensive contract.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/k/kolekty01/gamelog/2025

Nobody is giving a definitive answer but you if you want to look at his 7min per game 41 games, then look at the final scores that were perhaps indicative of garbage time, etc etc. He played 13 games of the 41 that amounted to over 10 minutes. Im sure if you have an agenda you can paint what ever picture you want. Does anything jump out that give you hope? Had a few nice assist games. That hot shooting in garbage time by teammates? Vs. other scrubs on opponent?
Any shooting stats that stand out? Not really.
Im not saying one way or the other but there is a contingency of fans that seem to talk as if Thibs kept yet another young player down! I hear "steve Nash light"....
Or "Jalen like"! Hey, I hope thats the case. My eye test saw a kid struggle a bit and looked slow. I hope he makes Jalen obsolete!
But All im saying is I don't expect much.

Already pointed those things out about Frank. He got 20 minutes a game, and that wasnt considered enough by some in spite of his improvement being barely measurable.. Kolek has shown he has elite court vision in his rookie season. Its surprising that some posters believe 7 minutes a game is enough to call it on the negatives.

One thing that the best teams had in common in the playoffs, and that includes SGA heavy OKC is first rate ball movement, Hard to keep up over a seven game series. Kolek moves the ball as well as almost anyone. Thats one place where we need work.

What gives me hope is his court vision. It would be considered first rate at any stage in an NBA player's career. Players who can get buckets are easier to find than players like Kolek who can dissect a defense with his passing ability.

Im hoping Kolek and Mitch get a lot of PT together. Knicks got away from Mitch as a lob threat during the Thibs years. Would be great if Kolek helped bring back that part of his game more often.

.

Knicks were a lottery team during Frank's time. Fans will put more emphasis on prospects, potential and hope in that setting. Knicks are a championship contender during Kolek's time so the attitude naturally shifts to how can he help us win the chip this season.

That said there is no reason to hold any type of strong opinion on Kolek as a rookie drafted in the 2nd round non the less. Players on average take around 3 years to break out. Jimmy Butler his rookie year averaged 8.5mins per game, 2.6pts on 40% shooting, 18% from 3 at 22 years old/4 years of college. Payton Prichard who is smaller and as athletic as Kolek won 6moy in his 5th.

Deuce Mcbride got 9.3mins in 40 games as a rookie shooting 29% & 25% from 3. Then 12mins per shooting 35% & 29% from 3 his 2nd season.

When Knicks drafted Dadiet, Kolek, Huk, McCullar. The expectations was always how can they become rotational pieces by year 3-4. Unless one of them forces the hand because he's too good early on.

joec32033 wrote:

OffDaMeterzzzz wrote:

Rookie wrote:I give Mike Brown 2 years before he is fired

It's still crazy to me that we extended Thibs contract for 3 more years and he didn't even play one single day of his extension.

Firing Thibs and downgrading our coach with the most talented roster this century is extremely frustrating and disappointing.

Mike is an experienced average coach and will absolutely be replaced within 2 years. I would be surprised if he is here beyond that. Thibs is a terrific coach and did not deserve to be fired. I understand his shortcomings, but it did not warrant his dismissal. He wanted be here.

Expecting to reach the finals in Mike’s first season as head coach is ridiculous and breeds a losing culture. Of course we want to reach the finals, however the pressure and expectation during his first season sounds like a money grab via gift of gab.

. Thibodeau has a career regular season record of 578-420 (.579), while Brown is 454-304 (.599). In the playoffs, Brown has a 50-40 (.556) record, whereas Thibodeau is 48-55 (.466). Overall, Brown has a better winning percentage (.594) than Thibodeau (.569).
Here's a more detailed breakdown:
Tom Thibodeau:
Regular Season: 578-420 (.579)
Playoffs: 48-55 (.466)
Total: 626-475 (.569)
Mike Brown:
Regular Season: 454-304 (.599)
Playoffs: 50-40 (.556)
Total: 504-344 (.594)

Tom vs Mike

Respect your right to your opinion but, it may not be factually accurate, and I loved Thibs.

Numbers and statistics are important. They provide evidence to substantiate performance. Brown has a superior regular season and playoff record. I get it.

However, I don’t ever recall him rallying the troops to victory, and rising to the occasion during war.

This, in my opinion, is what separates Thibs from Brown.

Hope my opinion is wrong, and Brown leads the team to new heights.