How Knicks’ Mikal Bridges can continue turning his season around

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Twenty games into this new season, it’s safe to say the Mikal Bridges trade hasn’t met expectations thus far.

The Knicks shipped out six first-round picks to unite the former Villanova Wildcat with some of his college teammates, then dealt his backup to acquire Karl-Anthony Towns, putting major faith in Bridges as a core piece of their championship hunt.

And why wouldn’t they? Bridges is just two years removed from nearly winning Defensive Player of the Year and one from blossoming as Brooklyn’s lead offensive option. While he’s had some standout moments like a game-sealing block on his former team and a 31-point outburst against New Orleans, the overall results have been underwhelming.

Bridges is shooting 33.1 percent from three, and an abysmal 21.5 percent from above the break, an uncharacteristically poor shooting performance after tweaking his jumper over the offseason. While he’s been very efficient from two-point range, he’s lacked aggressiveness driving the ball and looking for his offense, taking only 13 free throws so far this year.

But the biggest issue has been his defense, which after regressing mightily last season, is still working to recover. His physicality and point-of-attack denial look like career worsts, which is reflecting in the team’s performance, as New York holds teams to 10.7 fewer points per 100 possessions when Bridges is on the bench.

All of this is moot if Bridges and the Knicks are holding up the Larry O’Brien Trophy come June, but if Bridges plays like this, that scenario is extremely unlikely to come true.

What can the Knicks and Bridges do to turn his game around?

For starters, there’s always the “just shoot better” trick. Bridges’ three-point diet isn’t different in any material way compared to his positive seasons – he’s largely getting open looks and enough volume to be in rhythm.

His three-point shooting should come around on its own in time. He’s been lights out from the corners, making nearly half of his shots from there, a good sign that will hopefully begin to translate to other spots on the floor.

Bridges should get more easy looks to get his…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/knicks-mikal-bridges-continue-turning-195250517.html

Author : SNY

Publish date : 2024-12-03 19:52:00

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