All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson is still adjusting to Mike Brown’s new up-tempo system — but the Knicks’ floor general says he’s growing more comfortable with each rep.
“I’m comfortable,” Brunson said after the Knicks completed a 2-0 preseason sweep over the Philadelphia 76ers in the Abu Dhabi Games on Saturday. “We’re still adjusting, and that’s the process of this entire season. You’re not just gonna be who you are at the end of training camp. You’re gonna continue to get better throughout the season. So I think the longer that we go through this and understand what’s needed and asked of us, the better we’re gonna be.”
Brunson, who shot just 2-of-8 in the preseason opener, bounced back with 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting in Saturday’s 113-104 victory. And while the offensive philosophy looks different under Brown than it did under Tom Thibodeau, the early signs of buy-in are starting to show.
“Jalen, he’s starting to adjust. You can see it,” Brown said. “I think this is gonna be good for him. You can see how much space he has when he brings the ball, and again, if you want to pressure a guy like Jalen with that much space, there’s a pretty good chance that he can make you pay for it.”
Brown has emphasized pace, space, and reaction-based reads — a dramatic shift from the methodical grind of Thibodeau’s offense. The new head coach, hired after the Knicks’ run to the Eastern Conference Finals, wants his team to play with speed and freedom, pulling principles from both his Sacramento Kings tenure and his time as an assistant with Steve Kerr’s championship Golden State Warriors.
“I like that aspect of [Brunson’s performance], and then him just getting used to ‘run-run-run-run-run,’ and still be effective, whether you’re on the ball or off the ball, it was great to see,” Brown said. “You could see him getting his feet underneath him a little bit and understand how to play at that frantic pace and still be effective and know where his shots are gonna come from.”
In Brown’s system, Brunson is expected to play more possessions off the ball to preserve his legs for isolation-heavy moments down the stretch. And while the system values pace, the captain is ensuring it isn’t reckless.
“Pace doesn’t necessarily mean fast,” Brunson said. “Obviously we want to get the ball across halfcourt in a certain time frame, but it’s about playing fast, seeing what the defense does and reading that. We weren’t trying to leak out, but we were just trying to sprint corners, and we were getting behind the defense and able to get layups. So as long as we come away with a stop, that allows us to run.”
Despite the win, Brown wasn’t shy in critiquing the performance. The Knicks’ starters only played the first half. Josh Hart sat with a lower back injury, while OG Anunoby made his debut, finishing with 13 points and a plus-20 net rating in limited minutes. The offense, Brown said, still has plenty of growing to do.
“I thought our pace was better. We didn’t take care of the ball like we should have in transition because our floor wasn’t always spaced and sometimes we got too deep and tried to finish in a crowd,” he said. “So the pace was better overall — we’ve just gotta do a better job taking care of the ball.”
Brown pointed out that even after made shots, he wants the Knicks to push tempo and execute spacing fundamentals regardless of score or game flow.
“I thought our pace was pretty good even after makes, and we want to play fast all the time — whether it’s make or miss, we want to space the floor the right way all the time,” he said. “Philly, they like to pressure you the full court, and they’re athletic and they’re really quick, especially their guards. So we told the guys if you get pressured, go by them if you can and touch the paint, and if you can finish, finish, but if you draw a second guy, spray it.”
“I thought our guys did a pretty good job of knowing when to get out, they busted their behinds really hard especially to the corners, and they did a pretty good job as the game went along of touching the paint and trying to spray it.”
The next step? More threes — the right kinds. The Knicks attempted just 34.1 threes per game last season, a bottom-five mark league-wide. Brown wants that number north of 40 — but only if they’re the right looks, generated through paint touches and drive-and-kicks.
“The first half we weren’t good with it. I think we had one spray, and we want to average 17-18 sprays a game,” he said. “And so we have to do a better job there. We took some tough shots, and Philly made us take some tough shots, but we have to be more disciplined and get what we want instead of forcing shots like I thought we did.”
