Traded from Brooklyn to New York over the summer, Knicks forward Mikal Bridges has had to adjust to new roles on both sides of the ball this season, as Chris Herring writes for ESPN.com.
On offense, Bridges is handling the ball significantly less than he did with the Nets, with his touches down nearly 20% and his usage rate easily the lowest it’s been since his last full season in Phoenix. On the other end of the court, he has often served as the point-of-attack defender on guards rather than being assigned to bigger wings, which means he’s spending more time chasing smaller players around screens.
“Teams wanted to try attacking him, because it was a different spot for him; especially early on,” one Western Conference scout said to Herring. “If you got past him initially, you could force all sorts of aggressive rotations because the team was still getting used to having (Karl-Anthony) Towns at the rim. And the collective trust didn’t look like it was there.”
While Bridges’ transition remains a work in progress, his offensive numbers have rebounded following an up-and-down start. Since the start of December, he has averaged 20.0 points per game on .523/.385/.757 shooting. He’ll face his old team on Tuesday in the Knicks’ first visit to Brooklyn this season.
“It’ll be just good to be back,” Bridges said on Monday, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. “To see my teammates and the coaching staff that was there for a couple months before I got traded. See the staff and everybody. Good energy.”
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- Towns, who missed a pair of games due to a bone chip in his right thumb, was back in action on Monday against Atlanta. Josh Hart was also active after initially being listed as questionable due to a cervical compression that he said had been bothering him for a little while and was aggravated on Friday, according to Bondy. Towns’ injury appeared to be affecting his shot – his 27.8% mark from the field (5-of-18 shooting) was his worst of the season – but both players made it through the contest without setbacks. They’re listed as probable to play against Brooklyn on Tuesday, tweets Bondy.
- Head coach Tom Thibodeau expanded his rotation from eight players to nine on Monday, with Landry Shamet earning 10 minutes off the bench after a pair of DNP-CDs, writes Ian Begley of SNY.tv. Bridges was the biggest beneficiary of the move, logging just 27 minutes, well below his season average (a league-high 38.7 MPG). “It’s nice, man,” Bridges said, according to Bondy. “We got a lot of players, 1 through 15. So it’s good.”
- Mitchell Robinson, who said just a few days ago that he was down to 268 pounds, said on Monday that he’s now at 265, according to Bondy, who suggests the big man’s weight is notable due to his struggles with fitness and conditioning coming off injuries. According to Begley, he hasn’t heard anything to contradict the “internal hope/belief” that Robinson could return to action in early- to mid-February.
This Mitch thing is bothering me. First it was December/January, then it was January, then late January, then early February, now early-mid February. Good grief. This gives me little hope that when he comes back (if he comes back at all this season), he’ll be on the court very long. I love Mitch and what he provides on the court but man oh man it’s concerning that this is taking so long.
Knicks are 11–13 against playoff teams this yr.
Knicks are not going to contender status. Till Bridges steps up as a scorer. Against Hawks he had attitude. Hasn’t always had that. As to often he gives way to other players. In 27 mins against Hawks had 26 pts. That’s the Bridges we need …..
There’s only so many shots in a game. Brunson hasn’t gone down. KAT is going to shoot. Even Hart is up, as is OG. And McBride and Payne are going to shoot as much as they can when on the court.
Bridges isn’t the issue…
He’s a fine 3rd option…
It’s KATs defence and how much Thibs has to get creative to make it work…
Bridges is better off spending energy on defence to make up for this deficiency…
Mitch coming back before TD. Could wind up staying here. Is signed for next yr too. Knicks can always move him at end of year. For draft would be nice. Mitch can help Knicks get to East Finals. Then his value would be high.
Even if Knicks wait on Mitch. And he should ready to go for playoffs. Knicks still need more bench scoring. TJ Warren is waiting for a call up. Can also add a player thru trade or one who gets bought out. Feb 6 is not that far away. NYK
TJs best years were a decade ago. I’m not sure he can ball in a Lifetime Fitness League.
NYK played hard on defense yesterday after the 1st Qtr. One of the few games this year they won when they were behind after the 1st Qtr. They still can’t cover the 3 pt shot. But allowing 43% (ATL) is better than allowing 55% (MIN).
KAT makes offense easy for the team even when he’s not hitting his shot. Great high post passer, in addition to his floor spacing. I never realized his passing was this impactful. We have to figure out how to defend better with him at C, because even if Mitch comes back healthy, he won’t be playing more than 25 minutes or so, best case.
Thibs already pretending it’s the playoffs…
8 or 9 player rotations aren’t going to cut it…