Mike Brown took over the Knicks’ head coaching role from Tom Thibodeau at the end of last season after they abruptly parted ways with their former head coach. One of the first changes that he made was to remove Josh Hart from their starting lineup and replace him with Miles McBride.
Following their 119-104 win against the Hornets, the Knicks’ head coach admitted that he was wrong to make that decision at the beginning of the season. Brown spoke to the media after the win and confessed to his blunder.
“I rely on my staff. I had reasons why I was starting another way. But my staff, I think, almost all of them were like, ‘Hey, these are the reasons why it would be better,’ and the reality of it is, I just listened to my staff. I said, ‘Okay, if I’m the only one thinking that other way, maybe better at that time, then maybe I’m wrong,’ and I have been wrong before, and I will be wrong again in the future,” said Brown.
“And so, like that’s what I love about my staff is I have guys that aren’t afraid on staff to tell me what I think. And now, at the end of the day, it is up to me to make the decision. I’m not going to always listen to them, but if my whole staff is telling me something, then I’d better open my eyes and my ears and figure out what they’re really trying to say and maybe follow their lead instead of following my lead all the time.”
Hart started rusty when he replaced OG Anunoby on his return to the starting lineup over the past six games. But according to Brown, he quickly caught up with the role change once again and immediately started making a difference for the Knicks as part of their starting five.
Josh Hart averaged 9.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.5 assists while shooting 48.2% from the floor in the first 14 games he played, where he was coming off the bench. But when he was promoted to a starter, his production has now improved severely and averaged 17.0 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 6.7 assists while shooting 52.2% from the field over the last six games where he was a starter.
One of the biggest questions for the Knicks in this case would be deciding what to do when OG Anunoby returns from his hamstring injury. In my opinion, the Knicks should move Miles McBride back to the bench, put Josh Hart as the shooting guard, and bring Anunoby back into the starting lineup when he returns.
While Hart has found his place as a small forward in the starting lineup right now, his primary position is a shooting guard, and thus, he could move to that role to fit Anunoby back into this stacked starting lineup.
The Knicks are currently 14-7 for the season after tonight’s win against the Hornets and face the Jazz on Friday night. It will be interesting to see how the Knicks figure out their starting lineup situation when Anunoby returns.
