Things are going to be different this year under the New York Knicks' new head coach, Mike Brown.
In years past, former coach Tom Thibodeau was scrutinized and lambasted for playing his starters heavy minutes throughout the regular season.
While some argued it prepared his players physically for deep postseason runs, it was fair to question if the risk was worth the reward. Now under Brown, New York will be taking a different approach to how often their starters play.
Mike Brown reveals how many minutes he wants his Knicks starters to play per game
Following the Knicks' final preseason game against the Charlotte Hornets, Brown revealed how many minutes per game he will aim to play his starters.
"I wanted them around 34 minutes, you know, because hopefully I'll keep them around that during the regular season. And this is the first opportunity that they had to do it," Brown told the press.
"So, there was a part of me, don't tell the players I said this, but there was a part of me that I hoped that the game was a little close because if it was a blowout, you know, whether we were getting our behind kicked or we were kicking their behind, then I would have been in a dilemma because I wanted Jalen [Brunson] and Mikal [Bridges] to play 34 minutes regardless."
34 minutes per game will be a slight decrease from what the Knicks' starters were used to last season.
Jalen Brunson (35.4), Josh Hart (37.6), Mikal Bridges (37), OG Anunoby (36.6), and Karl-Anthony Towns (35) will all get a little extra time on the bench this season.
It could be in part due to New York's improved depth. After all, they added a former Sixth Man of the Year in guard Jordan Clarkson and a swing big man in Guerschon Yabusele.
Whether this leads to a better outcome than any Thibodeau-led team remains to be seen.
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