Mike Brown came in with mandate to develop Knicks bench, it has paid off in run to NBA Finals

SAN ANTONIO — A season ago, Mikal Bridges led the league in total minutes played. Josh Hart was second. OG Anunoby was in the top 10. The three of them, as well as Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, all averaged at least 35 minutes a game.

When the Knicks lost to the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, part of the reason was that then-coach Tom Thibodeau had worn out their legs getting to that point, and he was slow to trust Landry Shamet and other players off the bench with serious minutes.

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This season, Thibodeau was out, and Mike Brown was in and among his mandates was the need to grow and develop the Knicks’ bench.

“It’s a philosophy I had. One of the many things I learned from Pop [Gregg Popovich] and Steve [Kerr],” Brown said, referring to legends he was an assistant coach under. “Steve was really good at trying to play a lot of different guys…

“Then at the end of the day, I’m not a medical person, but just from what medical people say, if you can kind of control the minutes during the regular season, it helps them during the postseason. From people telling me that, I believe it. That’s what I tried to do.”

It worked. The Knicks bench — primarily Shamet, Miles McBride and Mitchell Robinson, but others in spots — have been a key part of why New York is not only back in the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 years. If there is a parade in Manhattan celebrating the team’s first title in 53 years, that bench will play a huge role.

Not easy getting there

It does not mean it was all smooth sailing to get to this point.

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Did Josh Hart see that bigger picture Brown was looking at when Hart sat glued to the bench for some clutch fourth quarters during the regular season?

“No, I definitely didn’t see the bigger picture in those moments,” Hart said. “There was moments I went home and I’m like, damn, am I ass? Do I suck as a basketball player? There was a lot of those moments. Whenever your minutes go down or you get benched, you have that thought process. But for me, it was, okay, how can I build off of it?”

Hart eventually came around.

“Now I’m cool with it, sometimes,” he said….

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mike-brown-came-mandate-develop-012200119.html

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Publish date : 2026-06-03 01:22:00

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