Mike Brown out to turn Knicks’ 3-point vision into reality

It became an annual fall tradition under Tom Thibodeau. 

The Knicks, the former coach often said, needed to attempt more 3-point shots than they had the previous season.

One goal was to average 40. 

But that never happened, and last year the Knicks tried just 34.1 per game, the fourth fewest in the league, and only 31.7 triples per in the postseason. 

Thibodeau’s replacement, Mike Brown, wants to see that change. 

“I mean, if we get 40 I’m cool with it,” he said on Friday after the team’s final practice before going overseas to Abu Dhabi to play two exhibition games against the 76ers. “If we get 40-plus, I’m cool with it, but they’ve gotta be good 3s.” 

That, of course, is required.

It was a Thibodeau talking point, too.

Brown doesn’t just want the Knicks taking a high volume of 3-pointers to up their average.

It has to be in the flow of the offense. It has to be off ball movement. They have to be open, quality looks. 

“We’ve got a couple of guys that we’ll allow to dance with it and let it go, and they know who they are, but if we play like we’re capable of — with pace, especially spacing, and the paint touches — we should generate a lot of catch-and-shoot 3s,” the Knicks’ new coach said. “If you’re open and your feet are set, especially if that ball hits the paint or we’ve got a cut or roll and it pulls the defense in and now we get a spray to a 3, we better let it fly. We better let it fly.” 

In Sacramento under Brown, the Kings were seventh (37.3) in the league in 3-point attempts in 2022-23 and third (39.3) the following season.

The most 3s the Knicks attempted while Thibodeau was the coach was 36.9 in 2021-22. 

There are a few additional factors working in their favor in terms of increasing their 3-point volume.

For one, the plan under Brown is to play faster and generate more possessions. 

The Knicks were fifth-to-last in the league in pace a year ago.

Another is that they have more 3-point options after adding the likes of Jordan Clarkson, Guerschon Yabusele and Malcolm Brogdon. 

The Knicks, it should be noted, shot 36.9 percent from distance as a team last year, which was the eighth-best mark in the league.

Returnees Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Miles McBride and Landry Shamet all shot it at a 36.9 percent clip or better.

The only two non-shooters in the projected rotation will be Mitchell Robinson and Josh Hart, and even Hart can make 3s on occasion. 

The pieces are in place to be a strong 3-point shooting team.

It just may take time, considering this group is learning a new offensive system.

Through the first week of training camp, Brown has emphasized the need to generate good shots, not necessarily 3s. 

“We’re still trying to understand concepts, understand where we need to be on the floor, our pace, spacing and stuff like that,” Brunson said. “I think, obviously, once we understand that and once we know where everyone’s going to be, whether we’re making plays for ourselves or for others, that’ll be a lot easier.”