When the New York Knicks made a coaching change, the organization's hope was clearly to get more out of the same group that just made the Eastern Conference Finals. Mike Brown began his tenure with the highest expectations possible: to win a championship. 18 games in, it's too early to determine how successful the Knicks will be as a team in the playoffs. But after securing a spot in the NBA Cup quarterfinals, Brown was unafraid to declare that Jalen Brunson is an early MVP candidate.
Brown calls his Brunson-MVP shot early
Brunson was integral to the Knicks' win over the Milwaukee Bucks. He extended his streak of scoring at least 27 points to seven straight games, in part due to his 16-point third quarter in which he made seven of the eight shots he attempted. Brown told reporters at Madison Square Garden after the game that even though it's only November, Brunson's performance was simply another piece of evidence in his eventual MVP case.
"He should be talked about right now, it’s early, but as a potential MVP. There’s not enough chatter, which, it’s early, so I’m not throwing a fit, but the guy had 37 tonight on 12-of-21," the coach said of his superstar. He also immediately admitted that he himself contributes to the issue of Brunson's play going under-discussed.
"He gets blitzed often and he makes the right basketball play. He basically did what he was supposed to do and that’s why I don’t talk about it a lot because that’s what he’s capable of doing and that’s what he’s supposed to do, being of that stature," Brown said of the 29-year-old point guard.
New York's head coach concluded his notes about Brunson with a direct address to the media in the room with him.
"Hopefully you guys, and your peers, will start really talking the right way about this young man in terms of him having some MVP talk–because that’s what he is. We’re not playing the best basketball right now but we’re trending in the right direction, and he’s the engine behind it. So, to me, he just did what he’s supposed to do, which equates to him being the MVP of the league," Brown claimed boldly.
Knicks have a chance at an NBA Cup run
Brunson's heroics against the Bucks didn't just earn the Knicks their 12th win in their first 18 games. The 118-109 victory was each team's fourth game of the NBA Cup group stage. New York secured a mid-December matchup in Toronto against the Raptors, where the two teams will compete for the opportunity to head to Las Vegas.
The Knicks have not yet qualified for the semifinals in Las Vegas in either of the two years of the NBA Cup thus far. A win against some old friends in RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley with the Raptors could change that luck, however.