Mikal Bridges gives his early verdict on New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown

Mikal Bridges says Mike Brown is holding people accountable, ‘no Mr. Nice Guy’

Bridges was one of the many Knicks starters who had to play big minutes in Thibodeau’s system. He averaged 37 minutes per game last season, which was the most of his career. 

Midway through the year, Bridges said he had spoken to Thibodeau about playing too much. “We don’t need to play 48, 47 [minutes]”, he said. That was reported as one of the many reasons the Knicks moved on from their head coach. 

Bridges was likely relieved to see a new coach in the locker room, and he was quick to praise Brown to reporters. 

When asked what his training camp and preseason with Brown has been like, he said, “Real good man. Just being on guys, holding guys accountable. Preaching everything, every single day. 

“Him and his coaches, they all run a tight ship. You can tell that whatever we’re doing out there, they’re all on the same page, no matter what the situation is.

“That’s a lot of credit to him, because I think he’s the main leader, the vocal leader of his crew. And for everybody to be on the same page makes it easier for us players, because any coach I talk to, I’m going to hear the same thing.

“It’s been great, man, and I love how he pushes us. Accountability. You could make some good plays, and a couple plays you feel like you’re not doing the right thing, he’s going to let you know.

“Why wouldn’t you want that? Maybe in moments guys might be a little upset about it, but if we want to get to, there ain’t gonna be no Mr. Nice Guy. You gotta hold people accountable. And he doesn’t do it in a disrespectful way, he just wants greatness out of everybody.”

Brown has won four NBA Championships as assistant coach to Gregg Popovich on the San Antonio Spurs and Steve Kerr with the Golden State Warriors. He knows what it takes to go all the way, and it’s clear he’s attempting to set a culture in New York. 

Mike Brown plans to scrap Tom Thibodeau’s philosophy

Thibodeau played with the mantra that no lead is safe, and always played his starters big minutes throughout the regular season, no matter the score. Almost inevitably, that caught up with his teams in the postseason. 

Brown, leaning on his championship experience, will view the year through a long-term lens. He said in September, “The biggest thing is trying to make sure you watch everybody’s minutes instead of trying to chase games. There might be some games where maybe you throw the towel in early.”

That’s a totally different philosophy from Thibodeau, and it must be refreshing for Bridges. Brown is leaning on his championship experience to play the long game.

Brown admitted that Kerr and the Warriors chased their record-breaking 73-9 season too much, and it cost them the championship in 2016. They wouldn’t let losses be losses late in games, and LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers were able to outlast them in the Finals. 

Brown said, “It kind of caught up to them [in 2016]. And from that point on, that’s when [Kerr] was like, ‘I’m not going to chase it anymore.’”

Under Brown, the Knicks are headed into a new era with a championship in mind. Expect them to enter the postseason well-rested this time around.