Throughout Mitchell Robinson's tenure with the New York Knicks, opposing teams regularly took advantage of the big man's historically bad free-throw shooting skills by purposely fouling him and sending him to the charity stripe.
Ironically, his current head coach in Boston, Joe Mazzulla, popularized this strategy during their 2025 Eastern Conference Semifinal matchup.
Now, with the Knicks set to face Robinson on Friday for the first time since his departure for Boston this summer, many are wondering whether they plan to use the Hack-a-Mitch approach to their advantage.
During Thursday's practice media session, coach Mike Brown gave his answer: No... probably.
Though he opened up by saying "Maybe" when initially asked if he would hunt Robinson on this front, the second-year headman would follow up by saying that he personally feels such a strategy is best utilized "come playoff time or even later in the season."
Brown would continue to emphasize that his mission is not to spam foul Robinson, but, instead, use this first bout against the Celtics to serve as a litmus test "to see if we can defend these guys with what we do staple-wise."
After years of experiencing the downside of Hack-a-Mitch, it seems the Knicks are aiming to take the high road in their first time on the opposite end and, instead, try to assess how they match up against Boston as a whole.
From a long-term strategy standpoint, this is undoubtedly the right course of action for the reigning NBA Champions.
Knicks looking to keep long-standing domination over rival Celtics alive
Though coach Brown may not be too keen on the idea of attacking one of Boston's biggest weaknesses in Mitchell Robinson's free throw shooting, in the end, he simply wants the Knicks to kick some serious donkey against their divisional rivals.
Fortunately, it seems they've had quite an easy time of doing so over the past year and change.
Dating back to their 2025 second-round postseason battle, the Knicks have had the Celtics' number in head-to-head matchups, as they are riding high on a 7-3 record over this 10-game stretch and have won their previous two face-offs.
This momentum, coupled with the personal incentives to get the best of their former center's new team, will hopefully bode well for New York's on Friday night.
Both the Knicks and Celtics head into their second games of the season down 0-1 following opening night losses to the 76ers and Pistons, respectively.
Tip off is set for 7PM out at TD Garden.
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