{"id":667824,"date":"2026-03-20T00:32:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T00:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/667824\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T00:32:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T00:32:20","slug":"jose-alvarados-energy-skill-giving-knicks-something-they-didnt-have","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/667824\/","title":{"rendered":"Jose Alvarado&#8217;s energy &#8216;skill&#8217; giving Knicks something they didn&#8217;t have"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There\u2019s an intangible part of Jose Alvarado\u2019s game that could be crucial for the Knicks.<\/p>\n<p>Plenty of what he brings can be measured and was needed when the Knicks <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/02\/05\/sports\/knicks-add-jose-alvarado-in-trade-deadline-deal-with-pelicans\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">acquired him just ahead of the trade deadline<\/a>: on-ball defense and the ability to force turnovers; orchestrating the offense as a ball handler; speed to get them going in transition. <\/p>\n<p>Perhaps just as \u2014 or even more \u2014 important are traits that can\u2019t be measured.<\/p>\n<p>His energy. <\/p>\n<p>His personality. <\/p>\n<p>His ability to lift up teammates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbsolutely, it helps the team no matter what,\u201d Jalen Brunson said after practice Thursday. \u201cYou kind of wish he was on the court because he\u2019s a little bit quieter than on the bench. He does so much for this team on and off the court. It\u2019s constant energy. Kind of regardless of how he\u2019s playing, he always has the energy. That\u2019s a skill, that\u2019s a skill that makes someone last in the league a long time. It\u2019s great to have him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.39509537;display:block\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38837684\" width=\"823\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/new-york-knicks-guard-jose-122541377_664daf.jpg\" alt=\"New York Knicks guard Jose Alvarado reacting on the court.\" class=\"wp-image-38837684\"  \/>Jason Szenes reacts during the Knicks\u2019 blowout win over the Spurs on March 1, 2026. Jason Szenes for the NY Post<\/p>\n<p>Brunson, who was out for the Knicks\u2019 win over the Pacers on Tuesday, got an up-close look at it, sitting next to Alvarado on the bench and seeing how vocal he was.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust be myself at all times, no matter what. But JB don\u2019t shut up, neither,\u201d Alvarado joked, \u201cso I don\u2019t know why he said that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alvarado\u2019s mindset around that aspect of himself has changed. <\/p>\n<p>Now, he believes he wouldn\u2019t be where he is without it.<\/p>\n<p>You don\u2019t usually hear someone\u2019s energy be described as a \u201cskill\u201d that someone masters, but that\u2019s what Brunson labeled it for Alvarado.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t think that growing up, but as I got closer, into college and going into my NBA career, it\u2019s definitely \u2014 it keeps me in the NBA,\u201d Alvarado said. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the reasons I got to the NBA, and it separates me from being just in the NBA, if that makes sense. I just figured out that\u2019s what God blessed me with, and I\u2019ve just got to do it at a high level.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38837718\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/new-york-knicks-guard-jose-123871567.jpg\" alt=\"New York Knicks guard Jose Alvarado (5) driving past Indiana Pacers guard T.J. McConnell (9).\" class=\"wp-image-38837718\"  \/>Jose Alvarado looks to make a play during the Knicks\u2019 blowout win over the Pacers on March 17, 2026. Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>Importantly, Alvarado\u2019s energy has stayed consistent through some ups and downs early in his Knicks tenure.<\/p>\n<p>He got off to a strong start, particularly with a 26-point eruption during a rout of the 76ers right before the All-Star break. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s easy to be a great teammate and energetic and vocal when you\u2019re playing well, though.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Then Alvarado struggled when the calendar flipped to March. <\/p>\n<p>He went the first nine games of the month without hitting a 3-pointer, missing all 11 he took. <\/p>\n<p>There were moments when coach Mike Brown turned to Tyler Kolek and Jordan Clarkson in place of Alvarado, searching for an offensive spark. <\/p>\n<p>Alvarado <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/03\/13\/sports\/jose-alvarado-gets-honest-with-the-post-about-his-3-point-shot\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">even told The Post that \u201cI f\u2013king suck\u201d<\/a> during that stretch.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless, though, Alvarado didn\u2019t let it affect that energy. <\/p>\n<p>He was the same when he was struggling as he was when he bounced back with 16 points and two steals in a <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/03\/17\/sports\/josh-hart-has-big-night-to-propel-jalen-brunson-less-knicks-past-pacers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">blowout win over the Pacers<\/a> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s happening on and off the Garden court\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"inline-module__cta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Knicks by Stefan Bondy, a weekly exclusive on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s added an element to the Knicks they didn\u2019t really have. <\/p>\n<p>They don\u2019t have many rah-rah, high-energy personalities outside of Josh Hart.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJose has been fantastic for us,\u201d Brown said. \u201cThe time that he\u2019s been here, he\u2019s given us a lift energy-wise. And he\u2019s a veteran. He knows the league, the league knows him. And he has a respect level for what he\u2019s accomplished already that\u2019s helped us tremendously.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If energy truly is a skill, it\u2019s one Alvarado has perfected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s an intangible part of Jose Alvarado\u2019s game that could be crucial for the Knicks. Plenty of what&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":667825,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3774],"tags":[7,113,126,3866,11053,6,191,114,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-667824","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indiana-pacers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-indiana","10":"tag-indiana-pacers","11":"tag-indianapacers","12":"tag-jose-alvarado","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-new-york-knicks","15":"tag-pacers","16":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116258692452532214","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/667825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}