After making it to their first Eastern Conference Finals berth since the 1999-2000 season last year, the New York Knicks shocked the sports world by parting ways with head coach Tom Thibodeau.
As his replacement, Leon Rose and company opted to bring in veteran headman Mike Brown, hoping that his more offense-driven approach to the game would elevate this ball club's on-court production in ways his predecessor never seemed capable of.
Less than four weeks into his regular-season tenure with the organization, it appears the 55-year-old has already managed to achieve this lofty goal.
Knicks look like an entirely new team under Mike Brown
After enduring a few growing pains and starting off the year with a lackluster 2-3 record, the Knicks have absolutely surged in both their production and overall success over the last week and a half of action.
Since the calendar page flipped to November, New York has been one of the hottest, if not the hottest, teams in the association, as they've gone an electrifying 5-1 while placing second in offensive rating (125.1), third in net rating (14.2), and third in winning percentage (.833) along the way.
As is often the case in sports, the majority of attention when it comes to this recent domination has been directed toward the players, particularly the likes of Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, and the potentially All-Star-bound OG Anunoby.
However, if one zooms out even just a bit, it's painfully obvious that Brown's hands have been all over this drastic uptick in play.
With largely the same core that Thibodeau had just a season ago, the 12-year head coach has guided New York to their best start since the 2012-13 season and, more importantly, finally brought this team's offense into the 21st Century.
Through 10 games played, the Knicks rank eighth in assists per game ( 28.0), sixth in points per game (121.8) and three-point percentage (38.5), and third in three-point attempts per game (44.1), all of which are substantial improvements from last season, especially in the ball-movement department where, in 2024-25, they ranked in with the fourth-fewest assists per game averages (34.1).
Considering they've managed to make such strides on offense while remaining equally as effective on the less glamorous side of the ball, it goes without saying that, though we still may only be early on into the new campaign, outside of hopefully winning a title, coach Brown has seemingly already accomplished his number one task with taking over the reins for the Knicks -- bring them to another level.