New Villanova Coach Has Clear Stance on New York Knicks

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New Villanova Coach Has Clear Stance on New York Knicks originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The New York Knicks are coming off one of their most successful seasons in this century. They finished the regular season as the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference after touting one of the league's best offenses for much of the year. While the Detroit Pistons challenged them in Round 1 of the NBA Playoffs, they were able to pull away and win the series in six games.
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In the next series, they faced the defending champion Boston Celtics. They entered as underdogs, and after the Celtics took a 20-point lead, many believed the Celtics would cruise to another appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals. However, the Knicks were able to overcome 20-point deficits in the first two games to take a 2-0 series lead, which proved to be too much for the Celtics to overcome, especially once Jayson Tatum went down with a torn Achilles.
May 23, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) controls the ball against Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam (43) in the second quarter during game two of the eastern conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden.© Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
New Villanova coach has clear stance on New York Knicks
Waiting for the Knicks was a foe the Knicks should be familiar with by now: the Indiana Pacers. It was the eighth meeting all-time between the two sides in the NBA Playoffs. Unfortunately for the Knicks, the Pacers proved to be too much to handle and won the series in six games.
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For some fanbases, a berth in the conference finals for the first time in 25 years would be considered a successful season. Not the Knicks, though. They fired head coach Tom Thibodeau shortly after being eliminated.
Some have joked in the past that the Knicks are essentially the Villanova Knicks, considering all of the players from that university on their team, including Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges.
As a result, new Villanova head coach Kevin Willard identifies significantly with this Knicks team.
'"I grew up on Long Island, I'm a diehard Knicks fan,' Willard said. 'I was a ballboy…my dad worked for the Knicks…I used to run around Madison Square Garden for hours & hours…Josh, Jalen, Mikal, those guys have been awesome."
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The Knicks will head into next season hoping that the hiring of head coach Mike Brown will be enough to get them over the hump and bring home a title for the first time since 1973. If not, there will be plenty of Knicks fans, as well as people in the New York media there to slam Knicks ownership if they prove to be worse under Brown than Thibodeau.
Brown is considered more of an offensive coach, and while the numbers looked good on paper, the Knicks' offense proved stagnant down the stretch of some of those critical playoff games. Instead of relying purely on Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, Brown will likely have an offense that can move the ball and be more reliant on cuts and ball movement than taking turns in isolation.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 13, 2025, where it first appeared.