The Learning Curve

All off-season I spoke about the importance of a fast start. Not only are the expectations sky high for a team that has gone 53 years without a title, but the narrative around the head coach is an important one. He inherited a win now ball club. It truly can be hard to not be frustrated after a three-game losing streak. Especially when the games are winnable. But I continued to remind myself its October. I cannot prepare to give away Halloween candy and worry about my basketball team in the same breath. It is also hard to preach patience to the fanbase when we expect so much from the Knicks. During Coach Brown’s press conference following a 128-116 win over the Bulls, which saw the Bockers splash 20 threes, he spoke about the learning curve to his system. Some guys will grasp the concepts faster than others. Mikal Bridges has clearly felt comfortable so far. The second year Knick is much more aggressive in his approach. In a small sample size thus far, he has doubled his free throw attempts from a season ago. He also tallied 9 assists last night in the bounce back win. Who needs a backup point guard when #25 is looking like this? It was refreshing to hear the coach discuss his own shortcomings and ways he can become better with rotations. During the first few games he was testing the waters. In many ways it was an evaluation period. He is figuring out who he can trust and what his real game plan will be. Playing 11-12 guys on a consistent basis was never part of the plan. I know some people get tired of hearing “give it 20 games” or “the NBA season starts on Christmas” but the bottom line is this team is certainly good enough to figure this thing out sooner than later. And a lot of that has to do with the captain. Since becoming a Knick all Jalen Brunson has done is change the entire trajectory of the franchise. No big deal. But if you look back at the past 3 seasons, it has normally taken him a couple of weeks to play at the superstar level we have grown accustomed to here in New York. But JB has wasted no time this year. He is constantly in attack mode and is 1 of 7 players averaging 30 in the association. However, I have been on record saying the best version of this team features a balanced attack. In yesterday’s win 6 Knicks were in double figures (Shamet had 9 while Deuce chipped in 8). For Brunson it will be about picking his spots. In the first quarter against the Bulls last night, he wanted to set the tone right off jump. Enough is enough. Give me the rock. Were not losing again. I expect Towns to eventually look like himself on the offensive end. But what I appreciate about him is the rest of his game hasn’t taken too much of a hit. Sometimes when scorers aren’t getting touches it disrupts everything. It has been nice to see the big bodega cleaning the glass for the first couple of weeks at a high level. So, after all that the Knicks have 6 more games at MSG on this home-stand. And if last night is any indication, I think were going to be encouraged by how they embrace the learning curve.