New system! Can the new style and look brought by Brown allow the Knicks to break out of the Eastern Conference?

New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown is instilling a new offense that encourages more running and more three-point attempts.

The New York Knicks appear ready to embrace new coach Mike Brown's offensive philosophy. The Knicks' offense often stagnated under former coach Tom Thibodeau. Fortunately Brown believes that by pushing the tempo, moving the ball and shooting a lot of 3-pointers, results can be achieved. This could greatly help the Knicks become more successful in the near future, as they have struggled to continue generating offense.

The Knicks' three-point shooting performance is promising

Last season, the Knicks averaged 34.1 three-pointers per game, ranking 27th in the league. Things got even worse in the playoffs, where the Knicks only attempted 31.7 three-pointers per game in the playoffs, ranking 13th among 16 teams.

But Brown likes his team to take more shots, and the Kings will take 39.3 three-pointers per game in the 2023-24 season, Brown's last full season as head coach. And there's a growing body of data that suggests a Brown-led Knicks team will shoot with similar volume.

In the first three preseason games, the Knicks have taken more shots than last season's average. In fact, they averaged 43.5 shots per game, including an astonishing 57 shots in the third game. The opponent in this game was the Timberwolves, and the Knicks eventually won.

Winning or losing is not important at this stage. The team is trying different lineups to determine which fringe rotation players will be able to enter the playoff lineup. This also affects the performance of various other details such as shooting. In this preseason, the Knicks only shot 27.6% of three-pointers. However, the style and system we saw is definitely here to stay.

Brown is clearly committed to the Knicks becoming more comfortable in the catch-and-shoot game, and more importantly he has implemented a system that looks for shooters in the corners rather than relying on pick-and-rolls and occasional pick-and-roll combinations.

The Knicks' personnel is ideally suited to Brown's modern offense.

The reason the Knicks embrace three-point shooting is because they have enough shooting opportunities to be successful that way, which makes it puzzling that Tom Thibodeau doesn't encourage them to take more shots.

First, there's Karl-Anthony Towns, probably the best shooting big man of all time. But despite shooting a team-best 42% from three-point range last season, Towns averaged only 4.7 three-point field goals in the 2024-25 season. That's fewer than his previous two seasons of 5.3 and 5.7. And that's a far cry from his career-high of 7.9. Therefore, Brown's first offensive focus should be to free up Towns and put him in a position to take more shots.

Myles McBride should also get a bigger role. Part of that role will be as a catch-and-shoot shooter. McBride averaged 4.9 three-point attempts last season and shot 36.9 percent from the field. He averaged 24.9 minutes per game. If McBride takes on a larger role, which is expected, he will inevitably get more three-point shooting opportunities as three-pointers have become such a big part of his game.

Mikal Bridges should also get more opportunities to shoot three-pointers. When playing for the Nets in the 2023-24 season, Bridges' three-point shooting rate reached a career-best 37.2%. However, last season he averaged only 5.6 three-point attempts per game. Of course, that's higher than any season he's had with the Suns. Bridges looked lost at times last season, especially early in the season when he was modifying his shot. But the problem may arise in how to use him. If he can find the right place to shoot the three-pointer and understand Brown's expectations of him, then he is expected to usher in a rebound season.

The Knicks seem to be fully prepared for the 2025-26 season. After a full season of running-in, they should have better team chemistry. Their role positioning is very clear, starting with captain Jaylen Brunson. In addition, with the introduction of the modern system, their offensive ability is also expected to become an important force leading the team forward.

Obviously, the Knicks are going to have to execute an offense that includes trying to score on a ton of three-pointers. However, with Brown's offensive layout, the Knicks may be ready to make a move to the NBA Finals and even win a championship.