The Knicks are in the midst of a long summer reflecting on what went wrong in their Eastern Conference Finals loss to the Indiana Pacers. As if they needed another reminder, Rick Carlisle gave them one anyway, while making an appearance on Caitlin Cooper's podcast Basketball, She Wrote.
Speaking on the podcast, Carlisle said, "The NBA game has now become a play hard league. It's not just being top-heavy with stars. Roster construction is changing. It's become more important to have more good players than be top-heavy with two or three great players that get all the touches.”
While he didn't mention the Knicks by name, that was the exact recipe they used when they beat the Knicks in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals. In that series, the Pacers had nine players play over 60 or more total minutes. Meanwhile, the Knicks only had seven.
Indiana's depth beat the Knicks
Indiana's depth allowed them to play an incredibly fast style of basketball. On offense, they got out in transition every opportunity they had, constantly punishing the Knicks when they didn't get back after misses, and at times even punishing them off of made baskets.
On the defensive end, they would pick up the Knicks' ball handlers full court, swarming them and hounding them for the ball. The relentless ball pressure not only exhausted the Knicks but also forced them into careless mistakes and turnovers.
In many ways, the Knicks were the opposite of the Pacers last season. Their roster was top-heavy, relying on the individual brilliance of Jalen Brunson or Karl-Anthony Towns to score points. And when the pressure turned up, things crumbled.
The Knicks are adapting
The positive news for Knicks fans is that their front office appears to have learned a valuable lesson from that series loss.
They fired Tom Thibodeau and replaced him with Mike Brown, a coach who is known for playing fast. On top of that, they added key depth pieces like Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele, which should improve the Knicks' bench contribution next season, after it was the worst in the league in 2024-25.
That said, there is still work to be done. The roster is improved on paper, but the play on the court will dictate how the season goes. The Knicks will need to find a way to score while decreasing Brunson's heavy on-ball role. They will need to generate good looks with Towns as a play-making hub, and rely on their newly acquired depth to help out around the edges.