Mike Browns plan for Tyler Kolek as Jose Alvarado nears Knicks return

The Knicks could be getting a needed injury boost.Jose Alvarado is listed as questionable for Monday’s game against the Nets at Madison Square Garden.He missed the last four games with an ankle sprain.Alvarado was able to go through practice on Sunday, coach Mike Brown said, though he didn’t have much of an update otherwise.Tyler Kolek has gotten a shot in the rotation in Alvarado’s place.

After two DNPs to start the year, Kolek played 57 minutes the last four games, notably recording 25 assists to just two turnovers.Now, if Alvarado returns, Brown will have a decision to make — whether to keep Kolek in the rotation at the expense of some of Alvarado’s minutes or not.“Tyler is definitely going to keep playing while Jose is out,” Brown said last week.“When he comes back, we’ll figure it out.”Brown has been making analogies to other sports recently to explain the Knicks’ struggles.This time around, he used football to explain why the Knicks haven’t shot well at the rim.“If you think about it, if you’re shooting the way we’re shooting the ball at the perimeter, it’s like in football, if you’re not able to pass the ball, they’re gonna put eight guys in the box,” Brown said.

“It’s the same thing.If we’re not making shots, they’re going to do this [collapse in the paint] and it’s gonna be harder to finish in the paint.“And so eventually, at least the green [high-quality] 3s, we’re gonna have to continue generating green threes but we’re gonna have to make some green threes.

But in the same breath, while we’re not doing that, we gotta be better in other areas to compensate for our ability to shoot the ball right now.” ...