Mike Brown and his new contract haven’t made much of a difference yet, as the New York Knicks are facing the same issues they faced under Tom Thibodeau.
The New York Knicks haven’t set the world on fire after a 2-3 start to the season as Mike Brown tries to find his footing on the team.
Mike Brown is impressed with Karl-Anthony Towns, despite the big man having a slow start to the season.
But Brown, like Tom Thibodeau, has been demanding more from Jalen Brunson as the team’s leader. One of the biggest criticisms of Thibodeau was the amount of playing time the Knicks starters received.
As a result, the Knicks relied less on the bench to help the team in games. And one statistic shows this problem hasn’t been solved under Mike Brown.
A key indicator of the success of any team’s depth is bench scoring. Unfortunately for the Knicks, this has been a problem for them for a long time.
Under coach Tom Thibodeau, the Knicks ranked in the bottom 10 league-wide in bench scoring in four of the five seasons he coached, and in the bottom five in three of those seasons.
This offseason, the Knicks signed Gershon Yabusele, Jordan Clarkson, and Landry Shamet, so many felt their bench scoring would improve under Mike Brown.
But that hasn’t been the case so far, as the Knicks still rank second from bottom in bench scoring in the entire NBA.
The total numbers are:
| NBA season (with head coach) | Bench points per game (NBA rank) |
| 2020-21 (Tom Thibodeau) | 37.4 (12th place) |
| 2021-22 | 33.2 (23rd place) |
| 2022-23 | 29.5 (26th place) |
| 2023-24 | 28.4 (27th place) |
| 2024-25 | 21.7 (30th place) |
| 2025-26 (Mike Brown) | 22.2 (29th place) |
In recent years, the Knicks’ bench scoring has declined with each season under coach Tom Thibodeau, and last season they were the worst team in bench scoring in the NBA.
The problem hasn’t improved under Brown, with the Knicks only losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in bench scoring, and the Lakers struggling with multiple injuries.
Fortunately for the New York Knicks, their bench scoring deficit became apparent early in the NBA season.
The Knicks can figure out the problem they’re facing and adjust their rotation and midfield lineup to solve it.
Perhaps Miles McBride could benefit from playing more minutes since he’s averaging 11.0 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game off the bench.
The Knicks could use a player like Ajay Mitchell, who they traded for last year and is averaging 18.5 points per game this season.
But now is not the time for the Knicks to reflect on their mistakes. Instead, you should try to fix them.