MILWAUKEE — A substantial tumble since New Year’s Eve hasn’t diminished Mike Brown’s belief in a Knicks championship.
But the coach understands there are factors beyond talent that will help hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy.
“I truly believe it [that we are championship team],” Brown said Thursday. “Now, having said that, there are things that have to go right. You got to be playing your best basketball. You have to be connected. The things that I talk about. You got to sacrifice. If you got guys on your team that aren’t sacrificing, you could be in trouble. Because it’ll mess with your connectivity. Which is huge. You got to have a competitive spirit. You got to want to compete every night. And you got to believe. You got to keep believing. Even when things are going bad. Even when you go through stretches of 2-7 or 2-9. You got to believe not just in the process — because it is a process — but you got to believe in each other. And then at the end of the day, in anything you do, starting with me, everybody has to be held accountable.”
The Knicks (37-22) haven’t looked the part of a title contender over most of the past two months, amassing a pedestrian 14-13 record starting Dec. 31. Heading into Thursday, it was tied for the NBA’s 18th-best winning percentage during that stretch — and it included bouts of ugly defense, disjointed vibes and blowout defeats against the East’s top dogs. The No. 1 Pistons (48-13) have created space in the standings that feels insurmountable, while the Celtics (38-20) surpassed the Knicks for No. 2.
Lately, New York, just a half-game above Cleveland for No. 3 in the conference, has been more pretender than contender.
Before New Year’s Eve, though, the Knicks were 23-9 and NBA Cup champs. They carried the look of an NBA Finals team, after nearly reaching that point last year. So the talent has shown it’s capable, and there’s a public mandate from owner James Dolan to at least win the East.
But Brown, who was on the coaching staff of four NBA championship squads in San Antonio and Golden State, said the Knicks need to quickly find the other stuff first — sacrifice, accountability, competitiveness.
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“Those things, which are our standard, are huge for us,” Brown said. “Those things are not necessarily what the outside world can see. The outside world sees the shots, the points, the defense and all that. If you want to win a championship, you gotta have a team that’s talented. We have that. Can we make sure we maximize and embrace our standard every time we step on the floor? And if we can, that’s what’s going to get us over the hump.”
With 23 games remaining there’s still time to rediscover a title form, but the door is no longer wide open.
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“We’re not trying to be a final product by Game 60,” Jalen Brunson said after Tuesday’s nasty loss to the Cavs. “I know how good we can be.”
After Friday at the Bucks, the Knicks begin the toughest five-game stretch of the season — vs. San Antonio, at Toronto, vs. OKC, at Denver and at the Lakers.
All those opponents are top six in their respective conferences.
It’ll be a good test of Brown’s “standard.”
“Everything is geared toward being your best toward the end of the season and going into the playoffs and hopefully throughout that run,” Brown said. “I’ve never been a guy who puts stock in everything and it’s the end of the world if it doesn’t happen in this particular game. That’s not life in general. Things are going to average out to however they need to at the right time. And hopefully after 70 games, or whatever it is, you feel pretty good where you are going into that postseason.”
