can the new york knicks settle into the changes?

By Elliot Allen 
    Four games into the season, the New York Knicks sit at 2 wins and 2 losses. Their record of .500 is ironic and indicative of how the early season has gone so far. The Knicks won the first 2 games beating the Clevland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics. Then dropped the last 2 on the road against the Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks.  In all 4 games the Knicks have played with flashes of brilliance and bouts of stagnation. 

    This is a product of foundational change in the head coach. Coach Mike Brown vowed to create more of an equal opportunity offense by increasing ball movement and minimizing isolation basketball.  On the other end of the ball, Coach Brown has also looked to tighten up the defense and create more turnovers to get easy opportunities on the offense. Just like their record, half of the time the Knicks make good strides toward these changes. Other times they fall back into the same habits that ultimately caused their exit in last year's playoffs against the Pacers. Those moments of good ball movement that we have seen this year have made the Knicks very tough to defend. In their game against the Bucks, in the 2nd quarter particularly, the Knicks moved the ball very well.  Getting good penetration and kicking the ball around the perimeter for open shots, which they knocked down. However, as the 3rd quarter started the Knicks settled into isolation play and the ball movement stopped, causing their shooting percentage to drop and giving the Bucks the opening they needed to take control of the game for the win.  Coach Brown talked about the inconsistent play but also understands it is a process to get the team to become fully comfortable with the foundational changes. How quickly the Knicks can become comfortable with Coach Browns system will weigh heavily on the outcome of this season.  With only four games under their belt, it appears the Knicks are on the right track with their progress. It will be interesting to see their progress at the 20-game mark of the season. Ultimately, the key to success will be determined by whether Brown can get the players to buy into the system. Of course, with change there will always be push back and not everyone will be happy. There is some talk of Karl Anthony Towns being uncomfortable with his role so far. That does go with the territory of a new system. The equalizer to all of that is winning! Time will tell us a lot about the direction of the New York Knicks in the 2025-2026 season.