After the New York Knicks' 112-101 loss to the Sacramento Kings, head coach Mike Brown was disappointed in his group. The Kings were led by DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine in scoring but fueled most by ex-Knick Precious Achiuwa. It's understandable that losing star point guard Jalen Brunson five minutes into the game could cause the Knicks to lose focus, but Brown said his team was just as much of a mess to start the game. It's not what you want to hear if you're looking for signs that this team will turn things around.
Brown stunned by Knicks' failure to execute
Brown set the tone after Wednesday night's loss, making clear that his current team did not deserve to win the game regardless of who their opponent was.
"This is one of the worst, if not the worst, that I've seen us play the entire year in terms of following a gameplan and keeping the game simple."
New York's head coach went on to give life to fans' fears regarding the team's toughness and grit. When asked how his group responded to Brunson's injury, he declared it nonexistent.
“We didn’t respond. We didn’t respond at all," the coach told reporters in Sacramento. "I got to give the Kings credit, because they took it to us. And we didn’t respond in any way, shape or form. But even before Jalen got hurt, we just- we weren’t following the game plan. Not sure why, but we just kind of were kind of just going through the motions. And if you go through the motions in this league, it doesn't matter, you’re going to get your behind kicked. And we got our behind kicked."
While Brown delivered his answer at a level volume, three words stood out more than the rest. The 55-year-old head coach was "not sure why" his group didn't execute that night's game plan, or come close to it.
Whether it's because it wasn't communicated to them effectively, they weren't bought into it regardless, or the team could just tell something was going to go wrong that night, it didn't happen. And their head coach is not sure why.
That's a tough state of affairs for a team expecting to make the NBA Finals at worst. The Knicks have a strong roster that is worthy of lofty expectations, the navigation of which Brown is unafraid to say constitutes a large part of the rationale for his salary.
With the trade deadline approaching, though, it's time for someone to figure something out.