Steve Popper: Mike Brown warns Knicks about losing 'possession battle'
Andre Drummond and Jarrett Allen battle for a rebound during Knicks-Cavs game on Nov. 11, 2026. Credit: Getty Images/Al Bello
When the Knicks lost Mitchell Robinson in free agency, the natural question was: What would it mean to their rebounding? But before the two straight losses, the Knicks were the No. 1-ranked team in rebounding in the NBA. Karl-Anthony Towns leads the NBA in rebounding. Andre Drummond is tops in rebounds per minute.
Good, right?
That was surprising, but maybe no more surprising that when it didn’t happen in the losses to Cleveland and Indiana. Getting outrebounded by the Cavs wasn’t ideal, but Cleveland ranked sixth in the NBA heading into that night. Indiana though was ranked 25th entering Fridays game and beat the Knicks up on the boards.
“Just like in our last game against Cleveland, we lost the possession game,” Mike Brown said. “And that's free throw attempts, plus offensive rebounds, and then you throw the turnovers in there, too, and we lost the possession game by 21 points. We lost the possession game, big against Cleveland as well. And it's going to be hard, no matter if you're at home, or if you're on the road, if you lose the possession game.”
Does that sound familiar? Well, this was Brown after the Cleveland loss.
“When you play a good team, one of the things we kind of track is what I call the ‘possession game,’ and we lost it in every category,” he said. “They had 14 more free throw attempts than us, four more offensive rebounds than us and two less turnovers. And when that happens versus a good team, it's going to be hard to win the game.”
So why has that happened when the Knicks are stressing, when they had Josh Hart, their worker bee player who does all the hustle stuff, was back for those two after missing the prior three games? Brown didn’t mince words afterward, noting that the Pacers did the little things to win the game. But Mikal Bridges, who has struggled this early season, played his best game of the season. Towns continued his consistent, efficient play. Jalen Brunson had 33 points and 11 assists.
Where is the fix?
Well, the Knicks were not officially eliminated from trying to repeat as NBA Cup champs with the loss Friday, but it’s close. If they want to defend the real title, the NBA championship they earned, these questions will be answered shortly.
Drummond’s board work
When the Knicks had to replace Robinson, they signed Drummond and they got not only a player who was once the top offensive rebounder in the NBA (six times leading the NBA and still the active career leader), but one who had rounded out his skill set, shooting 35.6% from three-point range on 90 attempts last season, able to mimic some of the floor spacing range that Towns provides.
But after firing up 90 threes for Philadelphia last season, he has attempted just one this season. Instead of a threat on the perimeter, Drummond has been back under the rim filling the role left by Robinson’s absence — and leading the NBA in rebounds and offensive rebounds per 36 minutes. With six rebounds Friday night, Drummond moved into a tie with Knicks great Patrick Ewing on the NBA's career rebounding leaders, 26th overall, with 11,607.
"I think for me, I just do what I’m asked to do,” Drummond told Newsday. “I mean obviously, I did expand my game to shoot the three, but that’s not what’s needed right now. Obviously, it could be something that comes along later in the season, but as of right now, what I’m doing right now is what’s asked of me and I’m trying to do it at a high level and try to help our team win.”
“I don't want him to be Mitch,” Brown said. “I just want him to be himself. He was a great offensive rebounder before he came here. And so I just wanted him to highlight that. In this league, successful players do what they do best, and that's one of the skill sets that he does extremely well. … Everyone always wants to expand their game. Can he shoot it a little bit? Yeah. But we don’t necessarily need him to shoot it because that’s what KAT does. And we want our backup to be different than what our starter is and embrace that role at a pretty high level.”
It’s not surprising that the Knicks want to pick up what Robinson gave them, but Drummond still believes he can do more.
“I can still do that, too,” he said of shooting from range. “But at the end of the day he runs the show here, so I’m just doing what’s asked of me because what’s being asked of me is what keeps me on the floor so that’s what I’ll do.”
I joked with him that in his 15th season he might enjoy being on the perimeter a little better than in the scrum under the rim.
“No, I like the fight,” he said with a smile. “Bring me down there. I like war.”
Curious rotations
Mike Brown has talked about his minutes sheet, a chart that he brings into every game and usually abandons. But it’s hard to imagine that he’s crafting them alone lately. In the second quarter Friday night, Pacome Dadiet entered the game with 4:27 left — briefly, before being sent back to the bench after one minute that included getting lost on a backdoor cut by Pascal Siakam. Tyler Kolek has played well since displacing Jose Alvarado as the backup point guard, but Alvarado’s energy and toughness might have played well on a night when the Knicks were outworked by the Pacers.
So what do those two have in common? Dadiet and Kolek are both on expiring contracts and have been shopped by the Knicks already. Mo Diawara and Alvarado signed multi-year extensions this summer. So is part of the rotation right now a showcase?
In his defense, Brown has talked about something he learned with Golden State: that anyone can go in at any time and with that, should always be ready.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
