30 Days, 30 Teams·Knicks: How will Brown and Thibodeau differ?

In the summer of 2025, the New York Knicks lost to the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years.

Coach Thibodeau steps down.

But don’t you think it’s strange that New York fans even cheer?

Probably because we all know: Thibodeau’s punch-to-meat-juicing-machine style has come to an end—it’s a miracle that Hart hasn’t been squeezed dry by him yet.

The style of the Pacers and the Knicks was condensed in Haliburton vs. Brunson in last year's Eastern Conference Finals.

A slender boy with 196 cm and 83 kg vs. a stocky hunk with 188 cm and 90 kg.

Last season's NBA annual lineup, Brunson's second team and Haliburton's third team: These two, plus Cunningham of the Pistons and Mitchell of the Cavaliers, are the top four guards in the Eastern Conference. Along the way in the playoffs, Haliburton eliminated Mitchell and Brunson eliminated Cunningham.

Before the two played against each other, Brunson held the ball for nearly 10 minutes per game, passed the ball 55 times, made 22 baskets and made 8 free throws, scoring 29 points. He was solid and tough on the floor, took the ball to attack, and attracted double attacks to score the ball.

Haliburton only held the ball for 6 minutes per game, passed the second most passes in the playoffs with 73 times, and made 14 baskets and 4 free throws. Compared with Brunson's strong attack in every round, Haliburton played lightly and quickly: a winning layup eliminated the Bucks, and a winning long shot led the Cavaliers to a 2-0 lead.

When Brunson dribbles the ball across half court, we can almost guess that he is going to call a screen or one-on-one; Haliburton? Coach Carlisle's original words in 2023: "When we don't know what we should do in the next round, the opponent doesn't know even more."

Haliburton is a loser. Brunson is the rock. Finally, Liu Shui made the cut.

Thibodeau and his rock-solid style left the Knicks together. It wasn’t because Brunson played poorly, but because Thibodeau squeezed him to the limit without leaving any room. Then, let’s go back and transform?

Coach Mike Brown will be with the Kings at least in 2023. His style of play is like running water: Sarri supports, and Fox and Monk attack. His basketball mind is flexible enough—at least more flexible than Thibodeau's.

One of the reasons why he is not popular in Sacramento is said to be his old-school style: if a player does something wrong, he will point it out immediately; young people can't stand it, "Are you a coach or a dad?" But Brunson's character can probably accept Brown's occasional nagging?

There is a bit of a curse here: Mike Brown stepped down for the first time in his coaching career. He stopped in the Eastern Conference Finals one year ago (2009) and stopped in the Eastern Conference Semifinals the next year (2010)...

In the preseason, the Knicks made it very clear: a large number of two guards were put on the line to start, and a large number of passes and cuts were made.

McBride has already mentioned: The Knicks are playing smoothly, passing more and running more; Thibodeau is no longer there, and people are leaving. There are many things that Maib also dared to say: "There were too many one-on-one shots last season, and it was very difficult to play."

The Knicks will probably play more smoothly next season, right? Will Clarkson, Brogdon, and Shamet find time to play every now and then? Will Towns provide more high-post support and face the basket? Will Hart and Bridge get comfortable inside?

What I’m curious about is:

Besides Brunson + Towns + Anunoby + Bridge, who is the last finisher?

——Mitchell Robinson? Reasons: He started consecutively in the preseason, and formed the twin towers of Gobert + Towns with Towns; the opening set the tone of "no entry and exit into the penalty area is free"; protecting the basket and rebounding, allowing opponents to break their teeth when chewing Towns like jellybeans; New York City's Sakuragi Hanamichi; and:

In the playoffs last season, Towns scored 42 points on 31 shots from Tatum; Cunningham scored 29 points on 23 shots; White scored 23 points on 17 shots.

Miro scored 10 points on 12 shots from Tatum, Cunningham scored 0 points on 6 shots, and White scored 3 points on 6 shots. The Knicks won the first game against the Celtics because of Milo's defense.

Disadvantages: You don’t know how many starts Milo can be healthy, so Coach Brown has recently been talking about Jamison’s defensive presence; the closing lineup needs space.

——McBride? Reason: It expands space and is suitable for the five external defenses. It can reduce the single defense task of the bridge.

Disadvantages: He ends up standing side by side with Brunson in the backcourt, which is almost the same height as the Cavaliers' two guards.

——Absele? Reason: Size and role between Milo and McBride. He is big enough to carry forwards, can shoot, support, rebound, and make fast breaks. After all, in the French team, he is often the first attacker above the liberal class.

Disadvantages: Yabusele is a typical second center that is easier to use in FIBA ​​than in the NBA. Under high-intensity confrontation at the NBA level, his defense... So he has recently played a role in the Knicks similar to Reid's role in the Timberwolves in 2024: paired with Towns in the second team.

——Hart? Reason: The most active, versatile and energetic Tiger Balm on the team. 9 triple-doubles in the regular season (10 in total for the team), and another triple-double in the playoff elimination of the Celtics. Efficient air cuts, spot-up three-pointers, offensive rebounds, weak-side creation, passing, cutting, backcourt rebounds, basket protection, switching defenses, everything.

Disadvantages: There seems to be no shortcomings, but in that case, Towns will have to sit at the basket?

Who is the fifth closer? You can basically see the direction of coach Mike Brown:

Defense? dexterity? thickness? space?

Okay, these problems are left to Coach Brown to have a headache, now back to the Four Tigers.

After Leonard left the Raptors in 2019, there were voices in Toronto hoping that OG Anunoby would become Leonard's successor: They are both 201 centimeters tall, both have broad shoulders and heavy backs, and they can start in 3D, yes!

When he became the steal leader in 2023 and was selected for the second team of the year, it was even more exciting.

He had the best season of his career in 2025. He defended five positions, hit open baskets, took advantage of chaos to score, and could affect the game without holding the ball. When Milo was away, he was the team's most rugged and solid presence, making it impossible for opponents to take advantage of him.

But it is becoming more and more obvious that his development direction is not Leonard, but Artest: an iron threshold, a ruthless body, relentlessly entangled with opponents, but unable to revive the extinguished offensive rounds.

The bridge continues to fight, and its durability is simply a myth in this era of open load management. He hit a three-pointer from the corner, he accidentally made a mid-range shot, and his defensive role was in sync with Dortmund in the west. He allowed the Knicks to hide Brunson as if Anunoby and Milo were sharing some of Towns' defense.

But in the playoffs, especially the Eastern Conference Finals, he showed two problems:

First, as the leader of the defense, he was confused by Haliburton's elusive and erratic movement. You can't blame him. In this era of large spaces, the traditional low-center-of-gravity lateral defensive method is no longer as effective as the T-shaped positioning method that frequently changes directions.

Secondly, as an attacker, he plays very carefully; Anunoby likes to use his body too much, and Ohashi simply avoids physical contact. The result is that neither of them can provide the firepower they deserve as the team's third leader. Under Thibodeau's single system, the two of them can easily become pure 3D.

So the arrival of Mike Brown might make them happy?

After all, Brown's system has more counter-runs, crossovers, and air cuts:

OG probably has more opportunities for the Bison to sprint straight to the basket.

Daqiao has more space to move erratically in the mid-range and receive the ball.

To put it simply: Born without the ball, and forced to stand on the wings under Thibodeau's system, it is expected that he can run.

Towns was still the same as last season. The third team in the league for the third time in his career. He averaged 24 points, 13 rebounds per game, and blocked no more than 0.7 shots for the third consecutive year. There was a 20-point explosion in the last quarter against the Pacers in the playoffs, but the true shooting percentage was 4 percentage points lower than in the regular season. He considers himself "the best shooting big man on the planet"; he can still drive to the basket; he can adapt to various lineups; and at the same time, he has reached the conference finals for the second consecutive year.

But as a No. 4 position:

In the Timberwolves, he must be paired with Gobert; in the Knicks, he must be paired with Milo.

"Your offense is very good, Towns, but your defense is not enough to support a team's inside line, so we have to put a long man beside you."

The thin Chet usually stands at 4, but the Thunder dare to let him stand at 5 alone; Adebayor is not tall, but Miami dares to let him stand at 5 alone; Porzingis is very fragile, Horford is very old, and Lavery is very young, but they have all stood at 5 in the finals.

Towns always needs another elder by his side.

Don't worry about his offense, he can perfectly adapt to the five outside coach Mike Brown likes. But just like Savoy under coach Brown in 2023: You can run the league's top offense, but can one person control the basket? Need Milo's help? If Mobley plays a single tower against the Cavaliers in the 2026 Eastern Conference Finals, can he block the basket alone and leave Mitchell helpless?

I think Towns' defense (which does not require Milo's support) is what determines the Knicks' upper limit.

Finally, Brunson.

Under Brown's coaching system, his data will probably decrease, but it doesn't matter: after all, he almost protects the Knicks' lower limit.

At the end of last season, he was basically the second player in the Eastern Conference (the first was Giannis). I don't think he's a perfect player, but I don't think any fan could ask for more from him.

He is like a version of Leonard at the No. 1 position: he has solid steps, seizes positions, takes long shots, mid-range shots, attacks the basket, and scores solidly. In six games against the Pistons, he scored more than 30 points in five games; in the fourth game against the Celtics, he scored 39 points to resist Tatum's impact before injury; against the Pacers, he scored 43 and 36 points in the first two games. There was almost no leakage, with 30+ points in four of the six games.

In the past three playoff years, he averaged 30 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists in 39 minutes per game, with 23 field goals and 8 free throws. I think only Jokic's burden can compare to him during this period.

You can't blame him for sticking to the ball occasionally: his vision is good enough; you can't fault his shooting. He makes tough and pragmatic judgments and never stops attacking, just like a boxer. Edwards is more explosive but less consistent, Cunningham is more airy but not as solid, and Mitchell may be more explosive but doesn't have the ball he has. Among the outside players in the playoffs last season, perhaps only Alexander was better than Brunson. Both of them were responsible for the team's defense and made quick judgments time and time again to find open teammates, make their own shots, or find ways to get free throws. He is the most unpretentious superstar of this era.

What the Knicks need now is to keep him healthy until the playoffs and leave his takeover until the moment of need. Coach Brown's offensive mission, to put it bluntly, is: everyone spends their daily lives touching the ball, turning "Brunson's one-on-one every round" from a daily routine into a killer weapon in the playoffs.

Of course, Coach Brown is also under a lot of pressure: his predecessor Thibodeau resigned after failing in the Eastern Conference Finals, which means that if the Knicks do not enter the Eastern Conference Finals next season, they will go backwards. And the past two Eastern Conference champions - the Celtics and Pacers - all had to deal with injuries to their ace, and there is no reason why the Knicks should not break out of the Eastern Conference.

Put another way: Coach Mike Brown needs to make the Knicks team worthy of Brunson's efforts over the past three years.

After all, Brunson does deserve it, at least once, in the finals.

By the way, in today's preseason game, Yang Hansen scored 14 points in the third and half of the third quarter, so he still needs to be a starter...

His intangible talents such as golf intelligence, support and three-point shooting are suitable for playing with reasonable and well-founded routines, but are not suitable for matching with substitutes to shoot birds and turn back - By the way, yesterday China Game Network This is the case for the team player Zeng Fanbo: the defense is a blue-collar foul, and the offense only allows him to touch the ball once - Yang Hansen scored 2 points in the first half. In the third quarter, paired with starter Afdia who has a clear idea, he can finish the game with a long shot; paired with Sharp, a jumping monster, he can pass the ball and assist: someone passes it to him, he passes it to others, and the ball just flows.

It’s just that in terms of tangible skills, it doesn’t have Klingen’s defense and high-intensity confrontation: it’s similar to a high-level magician, but its physical attack and defense are a bit fragile for the time being, and it can’t stand in the front row. It’s not as good as Klingen’s speed monster, which can be taken alive.

You still have to practice!

On the other hand, Zeng Fanbo was still in a pity yesterday: there was no organizer in the net, Deming did not play, the rookie Traore controlled and used, and before Cam and Saraf held the ball, Zeng Fanbo only touched the ball once.

When I couldn't catch Zeng Fanbo in the second quarter, I was still thinking that I was too naive to play the game. In the end, I finished the game and even got an overtime.

What is more interesting is the sidelines. Everyone is talking about Jackie Chan, Carina Lau, Tony Leung, Yao Ming, Beckham, Shaq, Wade, Carter, Jeremy Lin. The appearance of Deron and Marion in the second half was actually a surprise, as well as Tim Hardaway and Richmond: the Warriors' three TMC legends, except Mullin, were all here.