Pressure?
Mike Brown scoffed at the notion.
Even if owner James Dolan said in January he felt the Knicks “absolutely” had to reach the NBA Finals and “should” win them, the first-year coach had that mindset all along after taking the job.
“People have talked about a mandate — like I’m coaching to win,” Brown said Tuesday. “It doesn’t matter what others say. I’m disappointed if we’re not in the Finals and having a chance to win it.”
They certainly look capable of getting to the NBA Finals now, after advancing in the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year in emphatic fashion and crushing the 76ers on Monday to start the Eastern Conference semifinal series.
The Knicks are hitting on all cylinders, the first team in NBA history to win three straight playoff games by at least 25 points.
When the Knicks moved on from Tom Thibodeau last spring after reaching the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000, Brown wasn’t their top choice.
But after missing out on a few targets, most notably Jason Kidd, they settled on Brown.
It hasn’t necessarily been smooth sailing. The Knicks trailed the Hawks 2-1 in the first round, before dominating the rest of the series.
Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns didn’t have particularly strong regular seasons.
But both have come on in the playoffs, and Brown deserves some credit for how well this group is performing.
“The opportunity for this job came open, and I was just intrigued by the players,” he said. “I was intrigued by being in New York, calling Madison Square Garden my home court, being around the fans, hanging with [team president] Leon Rose who I’ve known for many years. He’s just a fantastic human being. And being around the players on that roster, and that’s all I looked at it as.
“The mandate and all that other stuff, like that’s what I expect, that’s what I want to do, and hopefully it can happen, but who knows.”
Brown isn’t ready to anoint this group just yet. While he likes how they are playing, he believes there is room for growth.
It is that same even-keeled approach that served the Knicks well in the Hawks series, when others outside the franchise were panicking.
“He doesn’t listen to the outside noise and doesn’t let that affect him. And he’s focused every day on how he can come in and make this team better,” Josh Hart said. “He listens to his coaches and listens to us with our feedback and what we have to say and asks us questions and stuff like that. So I think it’s just a good line of communication with everyone within the organization. … And he’s doing an amazing job with that outside noise.”
