Miles McBride just said what a lot of fans felt last season about the Knicks' offense, saying that it got stagnant at times and relied too heavily on isolation play.
Speaking to the media about how Mike Brown's offense will look, McBride said, "A lot more player movement, ball movement. Last year, at times, we got stagnant and we depended on a lot of isolation shots, which is tough down the stretch." He also noted that he anticipates there will be more movement and cutting this season under Brown.
It is important to note that McBride also spent time speaking very highly of Tom Thibodeau, as SNY's Ian Begley noted. Thibodeau has forgotten more about basketball than any fan has ever known. That said, many fans shared McBride's views about the offense lacking variety and becoming too stagnant, something they hope will change under Mike Brown.
McBride has a point
Diving into some numbers, it's easy to see what McBride meant. The Knicks were among the slowest teams in the league in terms of pace of play. They were slow getting across halfcourt, slow getting into actions and offensive sets, and had little off-ball movements.
Last season, according to league tracking data, it took 6.5 seconds for the Knicks to get into their first action, the second slowest in the league. Things go even slower down the stretch, too. In the fourth quarter, the Knicks averaged over 7 seconds until their first action, the slowest in the league.
The Knicks also ranked in the bottom 10 in the league in terms of passes thrown in the fourth quarter, averaging 68.2. Ultimately, this is part of what Mike Brown hopes to change in New York.
Things should look different with Mike Brown in New York
This is exactly what Brown hopes to change in New York. He wants things to be smoother and faster; he wants to generate fewer isolations and more drive and kick threes. He wants to move Jalen Brunson off the ball more and get McBride, OG Anunoby, and Mikal Bridges involved more.
Thibodeau is undeniably a fantastic basketball coach, as almost any Knicks player would attest to. The problem was that he was no longer the right coach for this team. They need to eliminate stagnant offense and insert more variety. Whether or not Mike Brown is the right coach to do that remains to be seen, but so far, he and the players are saying all of the right things.