CHARLOTTE — From the very start of training camp there was always the warning that Karl-Anthony Towns would have the most difficult adjustment. He would need to learn every position on the court, shuffling between center and power forward and learning a system he’d never played in his career. He would have to adopt rules of an offense that was foreign to him.
But Mike Brown’s ideas claim with a disclaimer: there are exceptions to the rules.
“We explain to all our guys the types of shots that we want,” Brown said at the start of the five-game road trip that ended in Charlotte Wednesday night. “But there are certain guys that you give a little leeway to, to kind of let them find their game.
“For instance, when it comes to rebounding, we have certain crash rules that apply to almost everybody but Josh [Hart]. There are certain defensive rules that apply to almost everybody but OG [Anunoby]. We have certain snap or quick decision rules that apply to everybody but KAT and Jalen [Brunson].”
And maybe that could have simplified things from the very start. There really didn’t need to be any huge change in the games of Towns or Brunson, Hart or Anunoby. What the Knicks, Towns and Brown have realized is that 11 years of doing this at an elite level has provided Towns with the knowledge of how to succeed.
Towns put on his best performance of the season Monday in Brooklyn, an inside-outside exhibition, converting 14 of 20 shots with an assortment of powerful drives to the basket. He was 3-for-4 from beyond the arc and looked like the All-NBA player he has been throughout much of his career.
“Jalen was doing an amazing job of attracting attention and it gave me a chance, you know, just be really aggressive,” Towns said after the game. “Just got opportunities.
“Of course, I know everyone wants me to shoot the three ball, [but] I’m a more complete player. A lot of times . . ., shooting the three allows me to get to the basket and open the game up, not only for myself but teammates.”
“You can see his comfort level is starting to get there,” Mike Brown said. “But I will say that you know his teammates understand what one of our key staples is, which is spacing. If our spacing is right, especially after all the movement that we try to incorporate within what we do in [the] frontcourt, then he’s going to have room to drive. And if he has room to drive it’s going to be tough for his defender, because he can shoot the ball if you don’t close out close enough to him.”
That is Towns way. He arrived in New York last season and refers to Brunson as “Cap” more than by name, and with his best performance Wednesday he still was starting by crediting Brunson. But like Brunson, he can adapt to systems and coaches, as both have done along the way in their careers. But in the end, it is their experience and knowledge that makes them who they are.
The Knicks simplified the system for Towns Wednesday by bringing Mitchell Robinson off the bench for the first time. They started Towns in his natural spot at center. Robinson has sat out six of the first 15 games and Towns numbers weren’t great in those ones prior to the Brooklyn game, but it does put him in a more comfortable spot.
“My experience teaches me a lot,” Towns said. “Just keep shooting and keep trusting the work. Opportunity for me tell the young guys, you know, obviously shot hasn’t been falling. But I continue to show up to work, be the first one there, last one to leave, and just continue to believe in the work.
“I know it’s disappointing, especially for me, who puts so much time in the gym, and you’re not seeing the results every day the way you want, you would like, at the standard you anticipate.
“But you know, never, never change the grind. Never change what you do every day that’s made you the player you are today. Continue to put the work in play, even more work in dive more into the game and let the work speak for itself..”
Notes & quotes: Landry Shamet sustained a sprain to his right shoulder Saturday in Orlando and he has begun rehabilitation and an update is expected in approximately four weeks. For now, it appears he can avoid surgery and, as he did last year, rehabilitate the shoulder injury. ”Anytime you can avoid surgery, at least from my novice experience, I think it’s great,” Brown said. “But I don’t know much about it still. I know he has a right shoulder sprain and he’s going to go through the process, whatever that means.” Shamet has been a key rotation piece and was even starting in Anunoby’s absence, but is on a non-guaranteed contract. The Knicks will have a decision to make on that before the Jan. 5 deadline. ”That’s something that Leon [Rose] and his group will discuss,” Brown said. “But Landry is a really big part of what we’re doing and I’ll give up my salary for him.”
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.
