Knicks UNLEASHED

Knicks get 'B' ucked vs Bucks! Growing Pains Or Red Flags? Rewiring A Ball-Dominant Team

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Seventy-one points by halftime felt like a reveal: the offense we’ve been promised is real when the ball hums, the cuts are sharp, and decisions happen in under a beat. Then the second half arrived, the ball stopped, and the old ISO reflex took over. That contrast is the truth of a team changing its basketball language after five years—flashes of fluency, followed by the accent of habit.

We walk through what worked and why it matters: early actions that trigger second-side reads, ball reversals that crack set defenses, and the connective tissue OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges provide when the spacing is right. We also get blunt about what broke: slow possessions, crowded lanes, and a three-point diet driven by timing, not advantage. Jalen Brunson’s scoring kept us close, but the offense cannot live off one-on-one for long stretches. Karl-Anthony Towns had a rough night, yet his gravity and rebounding still shift the map when we keep him in rhythm.

Depth and roles sit at the heart of the next step. Josh Hart’s energy helps, but the second unit needs structure to create easy looks and protect leads. We talk about Jordan Clarkson’s usage inside the flow, the case for playing five deep off the bench, and the ripple effect of shot quality on transition defense. Then we tackle the big roster question: a dependable backup point guard who can defend, organize, and keep pace. With Malcolm Brogdon’s sudden retirement leaving a hole, we sort realistic profiles and why the right steady hand could lift every lineup.

The takeaway is simple and hard: break the old habits, trust the system, and sustain the first-half identity for a full 48. Milwaukee did their own evolution in 2021; there’s a path if we commit. Tap play, ride with us through the details, and tell us what you’d change first—rotations, roles, or a roster move. If you’re into smart Knicks talk that blends on-court tactics and honest roster talk, follow, rate, and share a review so more fans can find the show.

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SPEAKER_00:

This is Derek Nixon unleashed, and last night the Knicks got bucked. One twenty-one, one eleven in the middle of Milwaukee. Oh, this offense is gonna be a work in progress. Mike Brown had some comments to make after the game, and really, this was a tail of two halves. Knicks once again are unable to put together a complete offensive flow. You had 45 points the Knicks did in that second quarter, and then only scored 40 the rest of the game. The offense once again kind of got bogged down in itself in that second half after displaying what they could and can be and still will be. The ceiling is still high for the Knicks. This has always been considered a work in progress because the Knicks are literally, after five years, changing an entire offensive philosophy. The first half on Tuesday, it lived up to all the ideals that Mike Brown has been preaching. Ball movement, flow, continuous motion, no lethargia, a creative offense. And Nick scored 71 points and took a double-digit lead into the locker room. You know, it was just it was just this fun thing to watch. They sprayed the ball around. They were just moving. I believe they had 15 first half assists. Offensively, it was perfect. But then what happened? I don't know. The wheels fell off the proverbial bus. And this is going to happen with this team because literally, like I said, you've had five years of working in this uncreative offense designed by Tom Thibodeau and his staff, and you are going a different direction. It's like you are playing, you know, and nothing against classical music. It's like you've been playing classical music for five years on the violin, and then all of a sudden, someone throws you a guitar and says, Okay, let's rock out with Crazy Train. So the Knicks go into the locker room, they come back in, and they drop only 40 in the entire second half. And of course, the Knicks wound up with Knicks wound up losing 121 to 111. And like I said, it was a tail of two halves. Mike Brown came out and said, I talked to our guys, and I thought the second half, the ball came to a standstill. I think you guys all felt it in the second half. The ball didn't move. Whenever it whenever, excuse me, whoever had it was like, okay, let me try to get it on my own. Or give me the ball, give me the ball, give me the ball. So our pace went out the window, and the full court, and excuse me, in the full court and in the front court, our spacing went out the window because you just wanted the ball. Quick decisions went out the window because you just wanted, we just had the ball. It was, okay, let me see what I can do. We didn't get the ball reversal because we held on to it quite a bit. It really was, if you watch that second half, almost the Tom Thibodeau ISO offense. It was almost like, and I hate to say it because Brunson had another good night with uh 15 for 25 for 36. He was one for eight from the three-point line. But it was almost like in that second half, just give me the ball, just give me the ball, just give me the ball. Let me see what I can do. Not trusting OG Ananobi, not trusting Carl Anthony Towns, who had a bad night in 35 minutes, two for 12, 0 for 3 from three again, 12 rebounds. I do like the way the Knicks have been clearing the offensive board. They had 17 offensive rebounds out of their 28 in total. Got to get that rebound total up a little bit. But honestly, it's just the fact that if you go into this creative dearth with this offense, it's just going to look horrid. And that's kind of what it did for the Knicks. But like I said, this is going to be in a work in progress. You have two ball-dominant players in Jalen Brunson and Carl Anthony Towns. And you're asking these guys to completely change their playing style for the better overall improvement of the team. You want to create a new team infrastructure, you want to create an entire new philosophy. And like I said, this the Knicks aren't the first team to try this. They won't be the last team to try this, but you have to understand it. When you're making these systematic changes, you have to kind of wait. You have to make these adjustments, adjustments, and the players need to fall into it. The players can't just fall into give the ball to Jalen or give the ball to Carl and let's see what happens from there. No, no, you have to break these habits, and it's going to take some time. I'm not concerned. I'm not worried. Milwaukee did something similar back in 2021. So I think the Knicks can do something similar now. It's just going to take time. There's going to be growing pains associated with this. I would like to see, and I and I and I and I don't understand the philosophy. This is this is the one thing I don't understand the philosophy. You had a continuity last year of OG Ananobi, Carl Anthony Towns, Bridges, and uh Hart and Brunson. Now, Josh Hart has been coming off the bench. Again, he did not have a good night as well shooting. He was one for five from field goal range, only three points. He had four assists, but he also had two turnovers. Once again, the bench kind of let us down. The bench only had 18 total points. Jordan Clarkson, 17 minutes, four for 17 for 10. Um, found a little bit of a rhythm. He was two for three from the three points, from the three-point range. He he kind of found a this is this is this is kind of the first time he found a little bit of an offensive rhythm, but we're gonna need more out of Jordan. We are gonna need more out of Josh Hart. We're gonna need more out of Tyler if this is gonna be the bench. Because you got to remember, right now, if you take a look, then again, the Knicks are going five deep on the bench, which is what you want to see because, like I said, you don't want to tire out your starters. Brunson had in even in a blowout, and then 10 points isn't a blowout, but even at a loss, you had Brunson at 35 minutes, uh, Landry Shaman at 30, Bridges at 39, Carl Anthony Towns at 35, Ojananobi at 34. Bridges had a good game. Bridges probably had the best game out of the bunch outside of Jalen Brunson going uh eight for 16 uh for 24 points. I would like, like I said, again with 11 rebounds and added another six assists. If you go back to the Miami game, the the flow of the three, it's it the flow of the three-point shots that we're taking just do not make sense right now. Sometimes you're chucking up threes that it's almost like time to take a three. And we've said this before. If you're only hitting 28%, 26% from three-point line, maybe you should try something different. The next we're at over at 32.5% last night. But maybe I need to try something a little bit different. But like I'm gonna tell you this when you go, when you have this overall team philosophy, when you are making such wholesale changes as Mike Brown's gonna do, the growing pains are gonna be associated with this. We're gonna see it. Hopefully, we're gonna see a better showing against the Chicago Bulls on that back-to-back on Friday and Saturday night. Excuse me, Friday and Sunday. They play home and away from the Bulls. Um, I'm gonna be at the Bulls game in MSG on Sunday. That's a 7 p.m. game. So it's gonna be, like I said, don't don't be despaired, Knicks fans. Uh the team is there, the team is in place. I would still like to see the Knicks try to find a point guard, uh backup point guard. Um, not that not that I'm not saying that you know Tyler isn't gonna be the isn't the man, but I I do think that we need we need a veteran realistic point guard option or even a trade target for the Knicks. Uh and I'm not sure who is out there. Um you know, you hear the likes of like uh you hear the likes of who we were hearing just yesterday. Uh you hear the likes of Chris Dunn. I mean, I don't know if that is a realistic option. Um I mean it's you know, the the Clippers do have a pretty deep bench. Uh you know, harder for Dunn really to get any regular type of minutes. But like I said before, it's it was the the the sudden retirement of Malcolm Brogdon that really, in my mind, kind of screwed this team up a little bit. And we're gonna get over it and we're gonna fix it. But like I said, if you want to do something like Dunn, I mean, I I think like I said, with the depth at the Clippers bench, I think Dunn might not be a bad option to bring in. But we have to kind of we gotta kind of figure something out. We gotta figure out what's remaining out there. Um, you know, it it's it sucks to think that you you got the likes of Ben Simmons. You know, Ben Simmons, like I said, is a nutcase. I've watched a lot of Sixers basketball because I live in the Pennsylvania area. He he is a nutcase, but he's athletic. He he can bring the ball up. He is a guy that's not gonna give you any really offensive threat. He's not a three-point shooter, but he has the athleticism, he has the defense, and he has the ability to to to really um you know to really stick it up to the you know, stick it up the ball and you know, play play what we need him to do. But I I I'm literally stuttering and staring here because I'm trying to convince myself that Ben Simmons would be an option. And we all know it's not a fucking option. It's not an option, but like I said, don't let your heart wander. This Nick team will be fine, they will figure it out, they will find their ribbon rhythm and flow. We got, like I said, we got the home and excuse me, the away and home against the bulls coming up. And as always, this is Tim. This is Nick's Unleashed, and I'm out of here