Knicks' Josh Hart should benefit from Mike Brown's plans to keep players fresh
Josh Hart speaks during Knicks media day at the MSG Training Facility in Tarrytown, NY., on Sept. 23. Credit: Ed Quinn
YAS ISLAND, ABU DHABI — It might have been a coincidence, but shortly after Josh Hart talked about putting the blame on himself for the Knicks' season ending with a loss to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals and talked about running out of gas as the season extended longer than he’d ever experienced, Mike Brown talked about his plans for the team this season with a different mandate than the prior regime.
Throughout the five-year tenure of Tom Thibodeau as Knicks coach a defining characteristic was that the Knicks could be counted on to treasure every time they took the court, chase every win with a determination that other teams didn’t, dismissing the notions of load management and shrugging off what Thibodeau derided as “the minutes police.”
But Brown said that his focus after hard lessons learned will be to prioritize the entire length of what he hopes is a long season.
“I’ve got to help [pace the players], too,” Brown said on Tuesday. “That's one when I was fortunate, blessed, lucky to be in a couple of back-to-back Finals [as an assistant with Golden State], go a couple of times where you had long seasons and you feel that the next season is right there on you. But the biggest thing is trying to make sure you watch everybody’s minutes instead of trying to chase games.
“There might be some games that, maybe throw the towel in early. You know, just instead of — if you're in that many close games, just instead of chasing every single game. It’s important to win, but you also have to understand, ‘Hey, I want to keep this guy's minutes here, this guy's minutes here, this guy's minutes here,’ instead of trying to extend everybody’s minutes. Because if the season is long, we don't want anybody worn out by the end of the season. And then when the end of the season does come, make sure that everybody takes an adequate break before getting back into it."
Any criticism of the Knicks' minutes has to be countered with the reality that the team avoided any of the high-use injuries that always seemed to be a concern — and something that hit many of the other teams in the NBA.
But Hart, who can seem tireless — and credits Thibodeau with his career reaching new levels and earning him more money — admitted that by the end of the playoff run he just didn’t have the same energy that he normally boasts. Hart believes that blaming Thibodeau or any of the stars was misguided and if anyone was going to take the heat it was him. And he has set about trying to change the ending this time around.
“It was obviously tough,” Hart said after the Knicks' practice at NYU’s Abu Dhabi campus. “I mean, it’s tough whenever you go out there and you don’t play how you want to play. But it was one of those things where I gave everything I have and I just didn’t have anything left in the tank. It’s frustrating obviously at times. That was the furthest I’ve been. Now I know to get to the next step I’ve got to be better. So definitely sits with you, definitely changes your offseason routine. Now that’s the past and we’ve got to move on and look forward to this year.”
Brown noted that even at Golden State under Steve Kerr they did chase wins with an eye on the all-time record, winning 73 games in the 2015-16 season.
“They did. And they got, I think that year, they got beat in the Finals,” Brown said. “Yeah, and it kind of caught up to them. And from that point on, that's when he was like, I'm not going to chase it anymore. You know, if we get it, we get it, but I got to make sure for Steph [Curry], if we want Steph, to only play 35 minutes or average 35 minutes a game, then that's what he's going to average.”
Part of the focus of the organization in changing leadership was to use a deeper roster and trust the bench. That job is certainly made easier by the additions the Knicks made this offseason and the current health of the roster. In the end, it will be the best players who usually decide how far a team goes and Hart is hopeful he can be counted on this time.
“I mean, hey, I think the only one who should get blamed [for the Knicks' struggles against Indiana] is me,” he said. “I think I played well in Detroit, played well in Boston. Indiana, I just didn’t have nothing left. I thought [Karl-Anthony Towns] played good. I thought the team played well. I think I didn’t have enough to give. I think, honestly, I should get the brunt of that more than KAT or anyone else. They played hard. They did what they were supposed to do. If they’re blaming him I think it’s stupidity.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
