Steve Popper: Knicks' Mike Brown finds his way through the noise of playoffs in New York
Knicks head coach Mike Brown at Madison Square Garden. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
None of this is new to Mike Brown, who has been hired and fired and coached in the NBA for nearly 30 years. But in the last week, he got the full effect of manning the head coaching hot seat at Madison Square Garden.
If he turned on the television and let it spin to any of the sports networks he would have found, same as in the pages of the local newspapers, questions about his decision-making and lineup choices. And even one story surfaced noting that nothing short of reaching the NBA Finals would assure him of being back for a second season at the helm, and even that might not be enough.
Whether that’s right or not, it’s not an unreasonable assumption, as the previous coach, Tom Thibodeau, could tell him since the job only opened up when Thibodeau was fired days after bringing the Knicks to the Eastern Conference finals last season for the first time in a quarter century. And Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan went on the radio during the season and set reaching the NBA Finals as the floor for this team.
But Brown, now with the chance to take that first step forward Thursday night when the Knicks try to close out the Atlanta Hawks in six games, insisted that while we all debated these issues, he turned off all the noise.
“If you were to walk down to my office right now, I carry a little iPad,” Brown said before Tuesday’s convincing 126-97 win. “When I watch TV, I watch HGTV. I like 'House Hunters,' the 'Beach House Renovation.' And I like 'House Hunters International.' I like 'House Hunters International' more than 'House Hunters.' It’s just, for me, it takes me away from what I’m doing.
"For me, the best way is to ignore the noise, even if we’re doing good, because I’m human . . . It won’t do me any good to read or listen to any of it.”
Again, Thibodeau might tell him that watching "House Hunters" and searching for homes outside of New York always is an option for the Knicks' coaches. Coach of the Year honors are one step in one direction and collecting checks while on the beach one step in the other.
Brown’s biggest move in this series has been a complex one — not joining the chorus to pull Mikal Bridges from the starting lineup but also giving him a quick hook when he has struggled. While Brown got the job with the stories about collaboration with the front office, his coaching staff and maybe even the veteran players on the team, he asserted Saturday before Game 4 that the decision was his to keep Bridges in the lineup.
The move kept Bridges in place for a potential meeting with Boston in the next round. He was a key contributor to the Knicks' upset of the defending champions last season. But Brown also has been quick with making adjustments, whether it was inserting Jose Alvarado back into the rotation in Game 2 or riding with Deuce McBride and Jordan Clarkson over Bridges in Game 4. And he adjusted his schemes, too, putting the ball in Karl-Anthony Towns’ hands more in Game 4 with Atlanta smothering Jalen Brunson.
Brown has conceded some of the decisions to the veteran group of players, allowed his assistants Rick Brunson, Brendan O’Connor, Chris Jent and Darren Erman to make decisions. Such things as early in the season when he was told to get Josh Hart back in the starting lineup, and maybe more important, closing lineups or strategic changes to find comfort in roles for the likes of Towns and OG Anunoby.
“It’s a veteran group,” he said. “They’ve been through some things together. I, for sure, haven’t dictated what we’re going to do all year. It’s been by committee. At the end of the day, I have to say yes or no on all the decisions, because there’s a lot of people involved, but I’m a firm believer in giving people ownership . . . So, I give everybody ownership because what I’ve experienced is when that happens, it takes the buy-in to a different level, because everybody all has an idea . . . It comes from what they’ve earned. They’ve earned the right to be able to do that, because they’ve been together for a while, and they’ve responded whenever they’ve made suggestions.”
The one thing you haven’t seen is panic. When the Knicks were down two games to one and the critics were loud, Brown had the same demeanor as he did after Tuesday’s win put the Knicks on the verge of advancing with the path through the East suddenly looking less challenging. He credited the coaches he’s worked for, namely Gregg Popovich in San Antonio and Steve Kerr in Golden State.
“You draw a lot from people that you worked for in the past that you respect,” Brown said. “For me, working for Pop, I feel like I've grown a lot with a lot of guys that I worked with. But he always used to say during the regular season is the time you beat them up and you go crazy on the sidelines and all that stuff. Because it's just one game at a time, you got practice and you move on to the next game.
“But in the playoffs you have to have laser focus and if I'm going too crazy on the sidelines it's a different type of pressure, the anxiety level for everybody else can increase. So I've got to make sure, at this time of year, I’ve got to keep giving them confidence more than anything else because for the most part, the regular season and the preseason prepare you for this moment. So you have a pretty good feel of what you should be doing with your group."
Hart questionable for Game 6
Josh Hart, who has been a key defensive presence for the Knicks in the series, is listed as questionable for Game 6 after suffering a lower back contusion Tuesday.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
