Mikal Bridges’ position on each ends of the ground is altering underneath new Knicks head coach Mike Brown.
Bridges, the NBA’s reigning Ironman and a confirmed stopper on the level of assault, was typically tasked with checking lead guards final 12 months. However underneath Brown, he’ll function as a roaming, matchup-proof weapon — a defensive Swiss Military knife deployed towards the league’s most harmful scorers, wherever they line up.
“He will [guard the point of attack] some,” Brown stated after Wednesday’s apply in Tarrytown. “If Reggie Miller was nonetheless enjoying, I’d throw him on Reggie, as a result of I believe he navigates screens effectively, and with these lengthy strides, he can keep near a shooter’s physique, after which he’s contesting and he’s obtained lengthy arms.
“But then if we need to put him on a point guard, because, again, he’s able to navigate through screens and if he does get hit, people still feel him. They feel him coming with his length, and so we’ll mix it up. He won’t always be at the point of the ball. He won’t always chase shooters.”
Brown stated he and Bridges didn’t focus on his on-ball position this summer time — as a result of they didn’t must.
“I haven’t asked him because I know he’s elite at it. He knows he’s elite at it. And that’s what he’s going to embrace,” Brown stated. “And so that provides us a luxurious to have the ability to transfer Jalen [Brunson] and whoever else is on the ground round, as a result of we all know we will say, ‘OK, you know what? Tonight, Mikal’s gonna take this man — he’s a shooter and a two-guard. Or tonight, he’s gonna take the top of the snake — the purpose guard — due to this and that.’
“It allows us to have different options. And when you know you’re great or elite at something, you embrace it — and you go do that every night you’re on the floor.”
Whereas Bridges welcomes the problem, his work on the level of assault wasn’t all the time seamless final season.
In January, he was navigating an NBA-high 25 screens per recreation — essentially the most because the league started monitoring the stat in 2012 — a grueling burden that wore down even one of many league’s most sturdy gamers. Shifty guards and laborious screens typically knocked Bridges astray, opening up driving lanes and breaking down New York’s protection on the level of resistance.
Nonetheless, the technique was vital: putting Bridges on the tip of the spear helped preserve Brunson’s power for crunch-time offense — and masked a transparent weak spot on the defensive finish.
This season, the system will look completely different. Brown is putting in a extra aggressive defensive id — one designed to generate turnovers and gasoline a transition-heavy offense. After apply, Bridges detailed the shift in method in comparison with Tom Thibodeau’s extra conservative scheme.
“I think our coverages [are] just a little different, when it comes to shifting and stuff like that: concepts, making sure our verbiage is always different with different coaches and different systems,” he stated. “I think more emphasis in being aggressive when you’re off the ball. Obviously the usual X’ing out, the help in rotation. I think every coach in the NBA has that. But just putting an emphasis on shifting and helping the guy on ball a little bit more.”
Bridges additionally expects the offensive uptick in tempo to profit his personal recreation. His velocity, motor and stride make him one of many quickest gamers on the ground — very best for the open-court assault Brown is constructing.
“Yeah [the offense is a good fit] personally, yeah and then for our team as well. I think it’s a great fit for all of us,” he stated. “Expertise we have now and one by means of 15 — I imply, s–t, we’ve obtained 20 guys in there at present, thought on this camp so 1 by means of 20, it’s for everyone.
“Everybody be unselfish and making the right play and being aggressive. Not just personally me, I think it helps the team a lot.”
Brown plans to lean on his teaching employees — together with two assistants aware of Bridges from his time in Phoenix — as he defines the ahead’s position on each ends of the ground.
The Knicks added Ricardo Fois to a employees that already included Mark Bryant, giving Brown two coaches from Monty Williams’ Suns employees earlier than Bridges was traded to Brooklyn within the Kevin Durant deal.
“So these guys have an idea of how he played and what his strengths were in Phoenix. And then you watch him a little bit in Brooklyn, too, or [watch him] play against you in Brooklyn. And you watch him last year in the playoffs and you just try to put guys at their strengths, and you hope guys will embrace those areas that are their strengths because they’re already the best in the world,” stated Brown. “And now, if you can put them in positions in terms of making sure the floor is spaced the right way with everybody else, the pace is there, the ball is moving, screens are set, whatever we’re trying to introduce, now it shines.”
Bridges averaged 17.6 factors per recreation final season — his first in New York following the midseason commerce — capturing 50% total and 35.4% from downtown, his lowest three-point clip since his rookie 12 months.
Brown believes the brand new system will assist him shine on each ends of the ground.
“When you look at him — and we’re trying to play fast — you know he can be if not the best runner in the NBA, at least in the top three. I mean, he can get out and go. He’s got long strides. Everything’s real fluid. He’s long,” Brown stated. “And now when he does do this, it places numerous stress on our opponents as a result of he’s attending to the nook, he can shoot the three and so he’s gonna flatten the protection, or he’s [cutting to the basket] and attacking and ending on the rim earlier than the protection may even suppose twice about it.
“We’re excited offensively, after which on the flip facet defensively, he’s among the best chasers that I’ve been round. So in the event you’ve obtained a man that’s flying off of screens, he’s obtained a knack to navigate by means of screens and chase guys. And identical with guys that play the pick-and-roll recreation. He’s lengthy, so even when he will get cracked on a pick-and-roll a bit of bit, his will to need to pursue and particularly contest from behind at that size is extraordinarily, extraordinarily impactful.
“So I think those are the areas that you should see him shine in this year.”
