Rick Pitino sees the difference in ‘championship driven’ Knicks

You can add Rick Pitino to the rapidly expanding Knicks bandwagon.

The St. John’s coach sees the possibility of the orange and blue going deep — deeper than the franchise has gone in more than 50 years.

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Yes, that includes a championship. The Hall of Famer believes this surging group has that kind of potential.

Head coach Rick Pitino celebrates after St. John’s second-round win over Kansas in the 2026 NCAA Tournament. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

“I think they have the best nine or 10 players. They may not have the best three, they have the best nine or 10,” Pitino told The Post. “Their bench is excellent, [coach Mike Brown] uses them great. The improvement offensively and defensively in OG [Anunoby], the improvement in Karl-Anthony Towns away from the basket with his passing, [Jalen] Brunson is the most unique player I’ve ever watched in my lifetime.

“I love it. I root for the Knicks like they’re my team. I do think they are championship driven.”

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The Knicks are on a stunning run, coming off a conference semifinal sweep of the 76ers — the first time they have swept Philadelphia in the playoffs since Pitino was the coach in 1989.

They have won seven straight playoff games by an average of 26.4 points and are currently the betting favorites to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.

Though most experts still see the defending champion Thunder as the favorite, the Knicks are playing just as well.

Since the team tweaked its offensive game plan to run more offense through center Towns — the change happened during the opening-round series against the Hawks — the Knicks have found a higher level. In the postseason, Towns has 66 assists — 40 more than he amassed in the playoffs a year ago.

“They look for each other much better than before,” Pitino said. “If you watch Cleveland and Detroit, you know the ball is going to [Cade] Cunningham or [James] Harden is going to create or the ball is going to be in Donovan [Mitchell’s] hands. Although Brunson is a great scorer, they are sharing the basketball so well that keying on Brunson is not enough to stop…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/rick-pitino-sees-difference-championship-014612436.html

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Publish date : 2026-05-13 01:46:00

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