Official Knicks Coaching Search Thread pt. 2 (update: poll added 6/18/25)

[Gravy]

it's pretty funny to see people talking themselves into mike brown over the past 50 pages.

if we're replacing thibs, it would have been great to have a young and modern coach that can bring fresh ideas, but unfortunately, we're getting a guy that runs a variation of an offense that has been around for basically a century, and every other coach in the league already knows and understands. i can't imagine this working out in the playoffs

It was never about that. It’s about who WWW is convincing Dolan it needs to be so this is going to be Dolans decision.

Everything else about this coaching “search” is a facade

It feels like WWW is running this whole shebang, knocked off his biggest enemy and replaced him with his guy. Bro quietly became the new Isiah Thomas.

https://heavy.com/sports/nba/new-york-knicks/brunson-reacts-to-coaching-search/

Brown has a known staunch supporter within the Knicks organization — executive vice president and Leon Rose’s right-hand man William Wesley aka “World Wide Wes,” according to Sam Amick of The Athletic.

“While [James] Dolan is the holder of supreme Knicks power, and team president Leon Rose is the undisputed leader of the front office, executive vice president William Wesley (aka “Worldwide Wes”) continues to have the kind of influence that matters a great deal during times like these. For Brown’s purposes, it certainly doesn’t hurt his case that his close relationship with Wesley dates back to the mid-2000s days when Brown was coaching LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers (Wesley, at that time, was a league-wide power broker and one of James’ primary confidantes),”

[Gravy]

Thibs got a better roster every year he was here.

I think the 24 roster was better than 25

Which one? We had three different rosters in 2024 and 5 different starting lineups.

The rafters roster from January of course. Greatest Knick team since the 70s lol

[mpharris36]

counter-counterpoint: the unknown assistant with "fresh ideas" may not need to install a culture of hard work and toughness because the leadership is already strong within the team. when thibs first came onboard, the team was young, soft and didn't know how to win yet. the team has changed significantly since then now having good veteran leadership with brunson & the villanovas, so it may not be as necessary anymore.

imo, what the team needs is new a fresh take on a playing a different style of offense and defending the variety of offenses that come our way in the playoffs

isn't that why they like Mike Brown? He has a lot of playoff coaching experience but he's far more flexible in terms of offensive/defensive schemes. For example with the rumors he wants someone like Borrego as the assoc HC and offensive coordinator...that is something thibs would never allow.

doesn't mike brown run a variation of the princeton offense that he's been running for decades and has been around for almost a century? he also lost in the first round that he won COY, and lost in the play-in game in his most recent season. i'm looking for something new and modern-ish, not for the knicks but within basketball entirely.

When he went to Sac, didn't he bring over Jordi Fernandez to help him develop and offensive system since he worked with him in CLE as well.

I don't think his time in SA overlapped with Borrego but that was interesting rumors coming out that they want to find a offensive coordinator type associate HC to go with Mike Brown (who is manly known as a defensive coach).

[Knicksfan1992]

He’s clearly not an upgrade but whatever. There aren’t as many of those as people here thought anyway.

Sometimes a team needs a new voice more than anything and that's fine. They're probably equal in terms of coaching acumen. It's been a while but, Brown has at least made a Finals before.

[prophet_of_rage]

What I hate about this whole process is that it has made Mike Brown look like a consolation prize. That isn't fair to Mike.

[BKlutch]

There was no point in firing a coach when Leon and your franchise player backed him. And it made even less sense to fire him after we were 2 games away from going to the finals. Dolan didn’t like Thibs and that’s why Thibs got fired. Fred Katz and James Edward said it themselves, they had an idea that Dolan didn’t like Thibs and the decision to fire Thibs was in dolan’s hands. Leon would’ve kept him otherwise. Dolan meddling in never ends well so you better hope it’s different this time.

I was just debating this point the other day with someone else… Katz reporting contradicts all the other reports we’ve been hearing like this was a Leon decision, Leon n Thibs not speaking all season, Leon would step down if he’s forced to do something he doesn’t want, Rick turning on Thibs, Wes n Brock not liking Thibs, etc etc etc… Dolan isn’t the bad guy, Thibs isn’t the saint you guys are making him out to be.

When Mike Brown, Mikal, and KAT lead us to the first title in our lifetimes… you need to replace Melo, Tatum, and that bum Giddey lol with their faces in your sig

Dolan is the worst owner in the nba by far. How tf you defending him lol

When has Katz ever reported something that wasn’t true? I’ve been following him since his OKC days. He’s valid.

My sig is for BAF mf get back in here so I can beat you

I'm not defending Dolan, please feel free to dislike him, but when you call him the worst, please remember:
Joe Tsai defended a genocide on ESPN, saying only 10% of the population were being killed
Matt Ishbia is incomprehensible and so much more inept than other owners
The Adelsons force a trade of Luka and almost destroyed the Mavs franchise, amid rumors thier actions were tied to a play to win gambling rights in Texas.
And don't forget Donald Sterling, who was removed from ownership in 2014 for being a blatant racist. Yes, he was an unabashed racist and seemed to really believe all that poison he spewed. He was also sexist and vented his hatred towards so many people...

[Jalen Bluntson]

It is awfully quiet on ESPN the last few days about the HC search. Every one of the rumors out there from Stein/Bondy/Begley etc have not been verified and Shams has not validated any of them. There are reports about interviews we never had. No follow up on interviews we were reported to be having. Reports about one second interview being the frontrunner. Nothing coming from ESPN since the Kidd rumors were shut down.

As of Friday, Kidd was dead. We had 3 interviews so far. Jenkins/Brown/Nori. Borrego was supposed to be interviewed over the weekend. I haven't read anything about how the Borrego interview went yet. Anyone? The only other interview since then was Browns reported 2nd interview. That's about all of the facts I have gathered during all of this.

Again. BSPN has not said anything about this search other than Staley was not interviewed basically. They reached out but, no formal, interview and no facts around what the discussion was about.

IOW...the reporters have all been using Knicks for clicks and most of you have been reacting to it as fact when it isn't. No one outside of the Knicks knows what's going on and that's all there is to it,

[god shammgod]

What I hate about this whole process is that it has made Mike Brown look like a consolation prize. That isn't fair to Mike.

True but he also is

[Ghetto Gospel]

isn't that why they like Mike Brown? He has a lot of playoff coaching experience but he's far more flexible in terms of offensive/defensive schemes. For example with the rumors he wants someone like Borrego as the assoc HC and offensive coordinator...that is something thibs would never allow.

doesn't mike brown run a variation of the princeton offense that he's been running for decades and has been around for almost a century? he also lost in the first round that he won COY, and lost in the play-in game in his most recent season. i'm looking for something new and modern-ish, not for the knicks but within basketball entirely.

When he went to Sac, didn't he bring over Jordi Fernandez to help him develop and offensive system since he worked with him in CLE as well.

I don't think his time in SA overlapped with Borrego but that was interesting rumors coming out that they want to find a offensive coordinator type associate HC to go with Mike Brown (who is manly known as a defensive coach).

i had heard that jordi fernandez was the reason why the kings were so good on offense then fell off when he left. they did run a princeton offense during their time together on the kings, but i guess mike brown didn't contribute much of the good ideas to the kings offense?

perhaps he is a defensive minded coach, but it didn't really show on the kings though? they didn't really play hard on defense and trying to get them to was allegedly how he lost the locker room.

[F N 11]

Mike Brown has everything we would want in a coach. Let’s just hope it works out. Knicks claim to like being coached hard let’s see if they keep the same energy for someone who is not Brunsons Godfather.

They giving him credit for Warriors dynasty defense and making the kings relevant. Has a lot of playoff experience.

[MrDollarBills]

I mean, I can see the vision I guess

It does worry me a bit that the Kings regressed in year 2 under Brown despite having basically the same exact rotation and only having 1 of their top 6 players (Kevin Huerter) miss more than 10 games (he missed 18)

I haven't been excited about any of the names that come up, but at the same time, I'm not really against any of them. They're all just kinda okay I guess.

That's how I feel. I don't feel excited or upset by any of these names.

[Trademarkk]

Mike Brown walking into MSG not giving a damn about what anyone thinks. And you will like it.

[NoStatsGuy]

Fair assessment. I do however think the 48wins were indeed a pretty big success. And he won coach of the year easily. Then he followed that up by a 46win season with the Kings in 2023/2024. I think those were the Kings' best seasons in 20 years. So he had two very successful seasons in Sacramento and really a 13-18 start was dissapointing but not catastrophic. The Kings didn't really fare a whole lot better without him. Given his experience and track record he is likely the most logical choice given that the top tier is unavailable.

oh ****, you are right. i actually thought it was only 1 season and didnt double check. definitley changes my view on that one season being a fluke. thanks for clearing that up.

[sol537]

Brown with Borrego, Jenkins, and Saley as assistants would be an upgrade IMO. The key is going to be having a strong assistant coaching staff unlike what we had this past season under Thibs… just a bunch of yes men.

[mpharris36]

doesn't mike brown run a variation of the princeton offense that he's been running for decades and has been around for almost a century? he also lost in the first round that he won COY, and lost in the play-in game in his most recent season. i'm looking for something new and modern-ish, not for the knicks but within basketball entirely.

When he went to Sac, didn't he bring over Jordi Fernandez to help him develop and offensive system since he worked with him in CLE as well.

I don't think his time in SA overlapped with Borrego but that was interesting rumors coming out that they want to find a offensive coordinator type associate HC to go with Mike Brown (who is manly known as a defensive coach).

i had heard that jordi fernandez was the reason why the kings were so good on offense then fell off when he left. they did run a princeton offense during their time together on the kings, but i guess mike brown didn't contribute much of the good ideas to the kings offense?

perhaps he is a defensive minded coach, but it didn't really show on the kings though? they didn't really play hard on defense and trying to get them to was allegedly how he lost the locker room.

I mean to be fair that was the worst defensive roster I can remember in recent history. The fact they weren't like the worst defense in the league was sort of impressive.

Fox/Monk/Sabonis. Then for some reason they went after Derozan this past year and that was the last straw. When is the last time he has had anyone near the caliber defender of OG/Mitch/Mikal to use?

[BKlutch]

Brown with Borrego, Jenkins, and Saley as assistants would be an upgrade IMO. The key is going to be having a strong assistant coaching staff unlike what we had this past season under Thibs… just a bunch of yes men.

Those assitants under Thibs never even had to say yes, because they just were never even consulted. It was Thibs Thibs Thibs and only Thibs all the way, baby!

[stuporman]

I'm a little confused by some of the rhetoric here.

Some say Brown is just like Thibs so it's a lateral move. Yet it's also being said he adjusts to his roster both offensively and defensively...which was one of the biggest criticism of Thibs is he didn't want to do that.

Thibs didn't want to accept input from assistants or the FO, it was his way or the highway as the story goes, another big complaint about him. Yet Brown does do that and it's being held against him as if it's a negative?

Thibs was also criticized about not maximizing the offensive talents given him yet Brown maximized the Kings offensive talent more than any coach has with Sac in decades with a modern styled system being a top offense in the league.

I'm not saying Brown is better than Thibs...even though his regular season and playoffs records suggests something about that. I'm not saying he's the coach to get them over the hump, to be honest I'm tepid on him if he's the guy hired.

Although, to suggest Brown is just another Thibs is lacking in nuance. He may be another Sisyphus coach not getting the rock over the hill but he's not a carbon copy of Thibs at all, he actually addresses some of the biggest criticisms people had with Thibs.

I'm not talking myself into him, I just see so many weird takes about him. I still reserve my right to not like the hire yet the distorted perceptions of him is something that just doesn't make much sense even if you don't like him either.

[Fury]

it's pretty funny to see people talking themselves into mike brown over the past 50 pages.

if we're replacing thibs, it would have been great to have a young and modern coach that can bring fresh ideas, but unfortunately, we're getting a guy that runs a variation of an offense that has been around for basically a century, and every other coach in the league already knows and understands. i can't imagine this working out in the playoffs

It was never about that. It’s about who WWW is convincing Dolan it needs to be so this is going to be Dolans decision.

Everything else about this coaching “search” is a facade

It feels like WWW is running this whole shebang, knocked off his biggest enemy and replaced him with his guy. Bro quietly became the new Isiah Thomas.

https://heavy.com/sports/nba/new-york-knicks/brunson-reacts-to-coaching-search/

Brown has a known staunch supporter within the Knicks organization — executive vice president and Leon Rose’s right-hand man William Wesley aka “World Wide Wes,” according to Sam Amick of The Athletic.

“While [James] Dolan is the holder of supreme Knicks power, and team president Leon Rose is the undisputed leader of the front office, executive vice president William Wesley (aka “Worldwide Wes”) continues to have the kind of influence that matters a great deal during times like these. For Brown’s purposes, it certainly doesn’t hurt his case that his close relationship with Wesley dates back to the mid-2000s days when Brown was coaching LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers (Wesley, at that time, was a league-wide power broker and one of James’ primary confidantes),”

Yeah this is concerning

[Ghetto Gospel]

When he went to Sac, didn't he bring over Jordi Fernandez to help him develop and offensive system since he worked with him in CLE as well.

I don't think his time in SA overlapped with Borrego but that was interesting rumors coming out that they want to find a offensive coordinator type associate HC to go with Mike Brown (who is manly known as a defensive coach).

i had heard that jordi fernandez was the reason why the kings were so good on offense then fell off when he left. they did run a princeton offense during their time together on the kings, but i guess mike brown didn't contribute much of the good ideas to the kings offense?

perhaps he is a defensive minded coach, but it didn't really show on the kings though? they didn't really play hard on defense and trying to get them to was allegedly how he lost the locker room.

I mean to be fair that was the worst defensive roster I can remember in recent history. The fact they weren't like the worst defense in the league was sort of impressive.

Fox/Monk/Sabonis. Then for some reason they went after Derozan this past year and that was the last straw. When is the last time he has had anyone near the caliber defender of OG/Mitch/Mikal to use?

yes the fox/sabonis core is not ideal, but we are also running a brunson/kat core. we also just added jordan clarkson to play the 6th man role like malik monk did for sac. how can a defensive minded coach fail to even get the team to play hard on defense? sure , if they tried and sucked, i get it but it was just bad all around.

he did have davion mitchell who's a great defender, but his minutes shrank when mike brown got to the team, which is peculiar for a defensive minded coach. sure could have used him more when steph curry lit them up for 50 in that game7

[G_K_F]

World Wide Wes has zero basketball knowledge.

Dude is a relationships guy and just gets his friends jobs.

Sounds a lot like Leon.