So far, Mike Brown has shown no hesitation when it comes to the two-big-man lineup of Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson.
The duo have started together in the first three Knicks preseason games, and Brown sounds like he plans to use them in the same frontcourt frequently this coming season.
“It just brings a different dimension,” the coach said Sunday.
The previous coach, Tom Thibodeau, shied from the pairing a year ago during the regular season, mostly because Robinson appeared in just 17 games following ankle surgery.
They did get some time together during the Knicks run to the Eastern Conference finals.
In 165 minutes, they produced a plus-4.4 NET rating, meaning the Knicks outscored the opposition by 4.4 points per 100 possessions when they shared the floor.
“When you’re playing with two bigs, it’s going to be exciting to see,” Robinson said. “We did a little bit of it last year and we had success with it. So, we’re going to see how it goes from there.”
Brown likes the duo together for a few reasons.
First, it allows him to move Towns around at different positions, making it harder for opposing defenses to load up against him as the starting center.
And by starting Towns at the four, it makes the Knicks longer.
“The second [part] is just the length, the length on the floor is just unbelievable, when you’re playing KAT at the 4, playing OG [Anunoby] at the 3, Mikal [Bridges] at the 2,” Brown said. “That’s a big, long team, with a lot of interchangeable parts. And then offensively, not just for KAT, but for the rest of the group, it just gives you a different look. You’d think that group should be able to offensive rebound at a high level, which is one of our staples.”
Brown is very high on Robinson, the rim-protecting, offensive-rebound dynamo who is coming off a strong postseason.
He averaged 4.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and notched a NET rating of plus-2.7 in the playoffs a year ago.
The coach believes the 7-footer can thrive in his up-tempo system.
To prepare for the change, Robinson altered his offseason workout plan, running hills to get into top condition.
“First of all, he’s a great runner. Not a good runner, a great runner,” Brown said. “And he’s got to — like all of us — play at this pace, especially all the time. We don’t wanna do it most of the time, we wanna do it all the time. Having said that, you know Mitch is a vertical threat. I’m just guessing off the top of my head. He might be the best vertical threat I’ve been around. Antonio McDyess was a tremendous vertical threat.
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“But you can just close your eyes and throw it up there and he’d go get it. That’s something you can do with Mitch and some of the passes — I’m like, dang, that’s a bad pass — and he just catches it even with one hand sometimes and throws it down. So with his ability to be a vertical threat, it’s gonna help us in a lot of ways, but it definitely is better than what I thought coming in.”