00:00You guys heard about it, but you probably learned it from the post.
00:03Mike Brown is expected to hire a new associate head coach.
00:07That means Rick Brunson will take on a lesser role.
00:10So Jonathan Macri of Knicks Film School is on to try and convince me if this is the right decision or not.
00:17J-Mac, what's happening?
00:19The star player of the franchise just happens to be my son, but I get a demotion.
00:25So tell me why this is going to be the right or wrong thing.
00:29In terms of basketball X's and O's and overall continuity, not just the optics or perceptions,
00:37is this a good move by Mike Brown and staff or no?
00:41Well, I mean, you know, to use an analogy, it's not like Rick Brunson's going from like the manager to like the fry cook,
00:50you know, or even I don't know what's below fry cook in a kitchen.
00:53He's going from like the manager to the assistant manager.
00:57It is a demotion, and I understand where you're coming from because obviously he's Jalen Brunson's son.
01:05But I think part of the issue here is like, you know, you said X's and O's.
01:08We have no idea what Rick Brunson's X's and O's are individually because it's just he's been under Tibbs for so long.
01:16So I could only assume that his X's and O's beliefs are the same as Tom Thibodeau's X's and O's beliefs.
01:22And I think the organization pretty clearly, you know, let its opinion on where, you know,
01:28what those were when they let Tom Thibodeau go.
01:30As far as the continuity piece of it, I think the important part is that Rick Brunson is staying on along with reportedly several other members of the staff.
01:38So it's not like you're doing a full changeover, which I think for a veteran club, some of whom have been together for a few years, you know,
01:48I think it's good that you didn't do a full turnover.
01:51But I, you know, in that story, it was reported that Rick Brunson is like I don't think he has a huge problem with this.
01:58And I think everybody would agree maybe this is for the best.
02:00The dad in me, and you're a dad as well, the dad in me wouldn't have a problem with it because I get to stay with my son.
02:07But the professional in me would have an absolute problem taking a demotion.
02:14Sources out there are saying that having him as the top assistant is a bad look for the franchise.
02:20So come on, man, be frank with me.
02:21Let's be 100.
02:22Since Rick Rick took over as top assistant after Johnny Bryant left for Cleveland, have you or any of the French of the fan base looked at him as some sort of distraction or conflict of interest?
02:37So up until this season, the answer was definitely no.
02:40And in fact, you know, when Jalen Brunson signed the extension, a very below market deal last summer, I think universally in the fan base, they were like, listen, if you want to build a statue to Rick Brunson, have at it as long as Jalen Brunson doesn't go anywhere.
02:56Because we have been so starved for a leader, the likes of which we have now with with Jalen Brunson for so long.
03:03Now, this season, you had the incident in the preseason with Dante Vincenzo chirping a little bit back and forth.
03:10And then towards the end of the year, you had some reporting that maybe certain players thought that Rick Brunson's role was a little bit too big.
03:17I think for me, looking at, you know, a team last year that I suspected all along, maybe, you know, the locker room wasn't as good as it could be.
03:28And I wonder if it's a coincidence that Mike Brown and his introductory press conference talked about things like trust and selflessness and cohesion and all concepts that I think a lot of fans suspected was missing from this group last year.
03:40So I, again, didn't have a huge problem with it.
03:44But again, focusing on the present and the future, I think this is probably the move that is in the best interest of everybody involved.
03:51When it comes to those players in that report, Rick Brunson doesn't make you or not make you hit jump shots in practice.
03:59That's only you to fight for more minutes.
04:01So that's one of those things where I feel like, you know, as a former player, not NBA player, a lot of guys get upset when they're not getting playing time and they point fingers, but they hardly look within.
04:12And it was like, all right, I dropped that pass or I had this missed assignment.
04:16These are more of the reasons why I'm not playing as opposed to just pointing the finger at a coach.
04:21So I kind of take those reports when it comes to those players with a grain of salt.
04:26So as we kind of look forward to who's going to be that next guy, it's been reported by our guy, Ian Begley of SNY, that Pelicans associate head coach,
04:35James Borrego, who we all know as a Knicks target for that lead spot on Mike Brown's staff, is going to be staying in New Orleans.
04:44There are any names out there that you and the fan base likes that you guys think Mike Brown should make his top assistant?
04:54Yeah, I mean, I think it's tough because, you know, again, similar thing with Rick Brunson.
05:00These guys don't have a track record.
05:01Most of the associate or assistant head coaches out there.
05:05One guy that I have my eye on, and I'm going to lean on the reporting of my buddy Mark Stein, who does great work with the Stein line on Substack, is Darvin Hamm.
05:14So Darvin Hamm, you know, fans probably most recently remember his stint with the Lakers, which, you know, didn't go terribly, but also, you know, didn't blow anybody away.
05:23But Darvin Hamm, for like close to a decade before he got the head job with the Lakers, was one of the more highly thought of assistant coaches in the league.
05:31The reason why I like the partnership with Mike Brown, a couple of reasons.
05:36For one, he was actually already an assistant under Mike Brown when Mike Brown was the head coach of the Lakers a little bit more than a decade ago.
05:43And if you go back even further than that, Darvin Hamm actually played for a season when Mike Brown was an assistant head coach or assistant coach, excuse me, with the Washington franchise way back early in his career and like in the middle of Darvin Hamm's career.
05:56So those guys have a good connection. Again, Darvin Hamm maybe wasn't fit to be a head coach in the league, but I think everybody has thought very highly of him as a basketball mind.
06:06So maybe bring him in and who knows, maybe he gets that associate head coach job that they wanted Borrego for, but unfortunately couldn't get him.
06:13I like that because, you know, my football background, the quickest path to becoming a head coach or re-becoming a head coach, I don't know if that's a word or not,
06:22is being one of the top coordinators or one of the top assistants on a championship-like team.
06:29Nick's going to win a championship with Darvin Hamm as the top assistant, then that is an easier pathway for him to get a head coaching job again.
06:39J-Mac, appreciate you hopping on with this, my man.
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