One of the first rules of the NBA preseason: don’t make any wild predictions about players or teams based on exhibition games.
So you shouldn’t expect Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle and RJ Barrett to shoot a combined 64 percent from the field in the regular season. You shouldn’t expect the Knicks to have a 2-to-1 assist to turnover ratio in the regular season. And you shouldn’t expect New York to hold opponents to 41 percent shooting. All three of those things occurred in the Knicks’ win over Detroit on Tuesday night.
But not everything you saw on Tuesday should be dismissed as preseason noise.
The steadying presence of Brunson is something that you saw for the first time against Detroit. If the Knicks have made the correct assessment of Brunson, you should see a lot of that over the next four seasons.
“I love the way he can control and manage a game,” Tom Thibodeau said after Brunson scored 16 points (7-for-9 shooting) and handed out five assists on Tuesday. “To me, that’s the No. 1 function of a point guard. So he doesn’t get sped up, he doesn’t get rattled. I love the way, Julius the third quarter, that was terrific. So I think it’s a calming influence.”
Brunson’s influence on the Knicks extends beyond the court. He’s started to connect with younger players, offering advice and working with them outside of the traditional practice setting.
“His impact off the floor is going to be as big as on the floor,” Immanuel Quickley said.
Brunson and Quickley have shot together at the Knicks facility at night. Quickley says Brunson has been an encouraging presence for the Knicks’ younger players.
None of that surprises Thibodeau.
“He’s tremendous. From the moment he signed, just being in the gym everyday. He’s not a rah rah type guy (as a leader),” Thibodeau says. “He just does all the right things and when he gets out there, he’s ready to execute.”
Brunson executed at a high level in his first Knicks outing. He drew two charges (he says he actually drew a third when he was elbowed by a Pistons player). He organized the Knicks on offense and seemed to look specifically for Randle early in the third quarter during a tone-setting run.
“When he gets us going and we can get stops and get up the floor and then share the ball, then the game becomes easy for everyone,” Thibodeau says.
Thibodeau has known Brunson since he was a child, coming to Knicks games with his father, Rick.
There hasn’t been much of an adjustment for either Thibodeau or Brunson during their first training camp as head coach and starting point guard.
“I think his father has really coached him hard his whole life and he wants to be coached. So he has a great demeanor,” Thibodeau says. “I think the way he communicates with his teammates helps our team communicate with each other. The only thing that matters to him is the team and whether we win or not…. He comes in and he does all the right things. He doesn’t have to say anything. His actions do all the talking.”
You probably shouldn’t draw any hard-and-fast conclusions from Brunson’s actions on Tuesday night. It was just a preseason game. But Brunson’s approach on and off the court so far has been nothing but positive for the Knicks.
DUECE IS LOOSE
Miles ‘Deuce’ McBride had six steals in 22 minutes against Detroit.
“He can do that. I’ve known that,” Brunson said of the second-year guard. “That’s been on scouting reports. And he has that capability. So seeing that tonight, with what he did was just special. He can do that; that’s no surprise.”
Some people in touch with the Knicks say the club has been impressed by McBride’s play in training camp thus far. They probably felt the same way about his preseason debut.
