The Knicks, fresh off a title-defense season, are already stumbling out of the gate with a losing record, and coach Mike Brown isn’t holding back on what needs to change. Right now, it looks like a big piece of that puzzle is Karl-Anthony Towns cutting out the foul-baiting antics and just playing like the “freaking perennial All-Star” he is.
KAT Needs To Keep His Eye On The Bucket, Not The Foul
Brown is super clear about his star big man: Towns needs to ditch the stuff where he’s trying too hard to draw a whistle. “You’re a freaking perennial All-Star,” Brown laid it out, “So just make the bucket, and if he happens to foul you, then great.” It’s a no-brainer, right? When Towns tries to game the system for a foul, it actually messes up his chances for legitimate calls when he’s doing the dirty work like boxing out or grabbing a rebound. That’s the kind of stuff you expect from a top-tier player, not trying to trick the refs. This team is trying to defend a title, and every possession counts.
The Search For Foundation Continues Against an Old Friend
It’s not just Towns getting the straight talk. The team’s trying to find its rhythm, and Brown’s still figuring out minutes for guys like Andre Drummond. Drummond came out firing in the season opener against the 76ers, playing with “a lot of bounce, energy, in the first half on both ends of the floor.” But Brown admits he “probably ran him too long” because Drummond, and the five starters especially, looked like they “ran out of a little bit of gas” in the second half. Brown’s still getting to know how to use him effectively, but the talent is clearly there.
Now, the schedule isn’t letting up. The Knicks head to Boston on Friday to face the Celtics, who are also winless, but they’ll be up against an old pal: Mitchell Robinson. Brown’s got mixed feelings about facing their former big man. He’s genuinely “excited for anybody that’s able to help their situation or family” and acknowledged that “Boston gave him a nice deal.” Brown called Robinson a “great, great, great dude” and said he wants “nothing but the best for him.” But let’s be real, you know what’s coming: “But you wanna beat him at the end of the day.” Brown went on, “we want to kick his [butt] like he probably wants to kick ours.” Sounds like Friday is gonna be personal.
Brown isn’t planning any “Hack-a-Mitch” strategies just yet. He said he prefers to save that for “playoff time or later in the season” when games are really tight. Right now, his focus is on building a solid defensive foundation: “communice, be physical without foul, no blow-bys, contest and finish every shot, ball pressure.”
The Knicks are winless, and so are the Celtics. Friday’s game isn’t just a chance to get a “W”, it’s a statement game against a familiar face and a real test of whether this team can start to gel and play the way Coach Brown needs them to. Can they establish that foundation and get KAT to just make those buckets? We’ll find out Friday.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Posting and Toasting.
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