Knicks’ Jalen Brunson tunes out the preseason noise

The Knicks enter this season with very different outside expectations.

Championship expectations. The belief that they can oust the defending champion Celtics and win their first crown since 1973.

Inside the MSG Training Center?

Well, that’s another story. They never talk about it.

“As much as we want to get back to Game of 7 (of the Eastern Conference semifinals) last year and continue where we went, we have to start the journey all over again,” Jalen Brunson said Saturday.
Brunson did say that the hype is “definitely a big deal,” but he also believes it’s important for the Knicks to shut out outside noise, whether it’s positive or negative. They don’t want to feel too good about themselves without doing something, or feel the need to prove people wrong.

“Regardless of what people say, whether it’s positive or negative, we have to have mental toughness and just worry about what’s happening inside this building, inside this organization,” Brunson said. “You can’t listen to the positive and not listen to the negative. It just doesn’t work that way.”

The mentality, as always under coach Tom Thibodeau, is “get better every day,” Brunson said.

When asked if this is the most talented Knicks team he has coached since taking over in 2020, Thibodeau simply said, “We’ll see.”

“Nothing changes. That’s for you,” the Knicks coach said when asked about expectations. “For us, we can’t skip anything. Every day we have to do everything we can. Hopefully we build the right kinds of habits needed to be successful and get better, and we’ll see where it goes.

Thibodeau said he doesn’t expect to have a permanent backup center for Karl-Anthony Towns once the season starts.

He has plenty of options, from youngsters Jericho Sims and Ariel Hukporti to undersized big man Precious Achiuwa and even using OG Anunoby in a small lineup.

“I like the versatility they bring and the physicality,” Thibodeau said. “That’s important. You obviously need that depth for a season. We’ll see how it unfolds. I still have a long way to go.”

Sims and Hukporti, the No. 58 pick in last June’s NBA Draft, battle for minutes in a crowded frontcourt.

The 6-foot-4 Hukporti had an impressive preseason debut Wednesday, producing seven points, four rebounds and three steals in 16 minutes.

“One guy has been in the league a little longer and Jericho’s athleticism is very different than most,” Thibodeau said. “Ariel is a young guy coming in, there is already a defensive component in him. But he has to learn the attacking part of the game, and that’s coming. But both are very good.”