The New York Knicks' rollercoaster of a regular season involved plenty of changes to schemes, roles, and rotations. It was Mike Brown's first year as the team's head coach, and he came in with ambitious goals.
After a year's worth of adjustments and struggles, voters left Karl-Anthony Towns off of this year's All-NBA squads entirely. They favored younger players like Jalen Johnson, Jalen Duren, and Chet Holmgren — choices that look silly after Towns' fearless attacks of Victor Wembanyama in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and his playmaking prowess from the first couple of rounds of the playoffs.
The Knicks just have to laugh about voters' lack of recognition of Towns' season, despite the schematic adjustments and struggles. He's laughed it off, all the way to the NBA Finals. And with a 1-0 lead heading into Game 2, thanks to his play on both ends of the court against Wembanyama, he's got a chance to help New York travel the length of Broadway on a float.
Towns' NBA Finals debut left every narrative about the center looking silly
No Knicks coaching candidate was higher on the potential of Jalen Brunson and Towns as an offensive duo than Brown, according to ClutchPoints. The gaffer's utilization of the pair throughout this postseason has reflected that.
The NBA's best pick-and-roll duo from February 1, and on, has only expanded on their success as the stakes have gotten higher. Towns' ability to find Brunson, and teammates like OG Anunoby, with slick passes has created plenty of easy buckets for the Knicks. And Brunson's willingness to run, screen, and generally thrive without the basketball in his hands has glued it all together.
The Knicks' offense becoming more of a multidimensional threat is exactly why they spent the first three rounds of the playoffs beating teams into submission.
It's natural in NBA basketball, and professional sports at large, for teams to deploy schematic counters to address the weaknesses being exploited by their opponents. Brown's group seems to have an answer to every kind of question, though, thanks to the versatility of players like Towns. It's gotten to the point, round after round, where opponents seem tired of asking more.
Towns should be just fine with his All-NBA snub. Analysts and reporters' doubts of his desire to win clearly haven't inhibited him from making the Conference Finals in three consecutive seasons — or the NBA Finals in the third. He's one of the league's 15 best players, and he'll be deserving of even greater recognition if he keeps this up.
Add us as a preferred source on Google