{"id":66890,"date":"2024-03-09T19:49:33","date_gmt":"2024-03-10T00:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=66890"},"modified":"2024-03-09T21:29:57","modified_gmt":"2024-03-10T03:29:57","slug":"nets-hc-offers-surprising-critique-mikal-bridges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/09\/nets-hc-offers-surprising-critique-mikal-bridges\/","title":{"rendered":"Nets Head Coach Offers Surprising Critique of Fan Favorite"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brooklyn Nets fan favorite Mikal Bridges<\/a>, now in his sixth NBA season, was the league\u2019s most notable breakout player in 2022-23. Now, he has received notable critique.<\/p>\n

Averaging 26.1 points per game after the Nets acquired him from the Phoenix Suns, Bridges showed himself to be a deadeye shooter in the midrange. In fact, Bridges played so well that he escaped from a box labeling him as a 3-and-D role player. However, in spite of last season\u2019s heroics, the 27-year-old is \u201cjust not Superman,\u201d according to interim head coach Kevin Ollie.<\/p>\n

Mikal Bridges Is \u2018Just Not Superman\u2019 for Nets<\/h2>\n

\u201cYou know it hurts when you don\u2019t have [Cam Thomas<\/a>] or [Cameron Johnson<\/a>] where they\u2019re double-teaming [him], and you expect him to be Superman. But he\u2019s just not<\/a> Superman,\u201d Ollie says, per the New York Post\u2019s Brian Lewis.<\/p>\n

Acknowledging the wall that Bridges has hit in his first full season as Brooklyn\u2019s No. 1 option, the former UConn head coach<\/a> says that \u201call the game plan is to [stop] him, to take him out of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ollie\u2019s words may seem a bit harsh. However, Bridges has failed to meet sizable expectations. Averaging 20.9 points per game, so it\u2019s not as if he\u2019s been unproductive. Nonetheless, his scoring average is tainted by uncharacteristic inefficiency, as Bridges is posting his lowest true shooting percentage (56.1) since his rookie season (55.6).<\/p>\n

Consequently, what can be said of the Bridges is that he\u2019s been unreliable as the top option.<\/p>\n

To be frank, he\u2019s likely always been suited for a secondary or tertiary scoring role. His shot-creation is negatively impacted by average ball-handling ability and the lack of explosive first step. His shot-making has been impacted by opponents making him the focal point of their defensive game plan.<\/p>\n

Ollie isn\u2019t out on Bridges though. In fact, he believes the Villanova product \u201ccan learn through this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201dEven through struggle, you have an opportunity to find a lesson in it\u2026,\u201d Ollie says. \u201cWhen he gets in this situation again, he\u2019ll be better equipped.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Candid Admission<\/h3>\n

The eight-month, 82-game regular season is long and grueling. This season, the arduous NBA schedule and his new role have led to issues in how he balances his energy between offense and defense. Even Ollie believes fatigue could be a factor in Bridges\u2019 recent slump.<\/p>\n

Since the All-Star Break, Bridges has managed just<\/a> 16.2 points per game with a 48.3 true shooting percentage. His energy is down. His deference is up. However, Bridges believes his recent play is the result of the coverages he\u2019s seeing, not his being tired.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, it\u2019s just between missing shots and schemes on other teams. It\u2019s just a mix of that,\u201d Bridges says. \u201cIt\u2019s not too many times where I come off and it\u2019s easy looks now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mirroring Ollie\u2019s words, Bridges says \u201cIt\u2019s just part of growth\u2026 [it\u2019s] gonna make me better [and] make the team better when it\u2019s all said and done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEven games where I shot bad, they all felt good,\u201d he continues, with an air of confidence. \u201cAnd that\u2019s probably the worst part when you make every shot in warm-ups and then come into the game and miss every one. So that\u2019s not fun. But [my] body feels good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kawhi Leonard-Esque Rise<\/h3>\n

After being traded to the Nets, Bridges made a star turn reminiscent of Kawhi Leonard<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Leonard, the 15th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, began his illustrious career as a defensive specialist for the San Antonio Spurs. He progressively took on a heavier offensive load \u2014the Spurs\u2019 core no longer in their prime \u2014before becoming a bonafide go-to scorer in his first All-Star season. Leonard never looked back, and when he\u2019s healthy, he looks like the league\u2019s best two-way player.<\/p>\n

In Bridges\u2019 case, he became an archetypal 3-and-D role player for Phoenix after being drafted 10th overall in the 2018 NBA Draft.<\/p>\n

He also saw a steady rise in his scoring opportunities, culminating in what was then a career-high 17.2 points per game midway through the 2022-23 season. Headlining the trade package that the Nets received for Kevin Durant<\/a>, Bridges had gigantic shoes to fill. After all, their entire Big 3 had been dissolved within a calendar year.<\/p>\n

All Bridges did to prove his worth was raise his scoring average by nearly 10 points.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s His Best Role?<\/h3>\n

There\u2019s not enough evidence that Bridges is suited to be the No. 1 option.<\/p>\n

Even if there was, like Leonard, he may be better suited as a 1A. To that end, Thomas\u2019 evolution as a volume scorer has all but transformed him into that already. Yet, even Thomas isn\u2019t ideally suited to be the team\u2019s leading scorer. This offseason, the Nets would be wise to find a player that can be their top dog.<\/p>\n

Maybe that\u2019s Donovan Mitchell<\/a>. Perhaps it\u2019s even Trae Young<\/a>. Both stars could be available for trade<\/a> this summer and their arrival could usher in a prosperous era for the Nets. But frankly, as long as the ball makes it in the rim more often, it may not matter who<\/a> Brooklyn gets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brooklyn Nets fan favorite Mikal Bridges, now in his sixth NBA season, was the league\u2019s most notable breakout player in 2022-23. Now, he has received notable critique. Averaging 26.1 points per game after the Nets acquired him from the Phoenix Suns, Bridges showed himself to be a deadeye shooter in the midrange. In fact, Bridges […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":66948,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,1608,62,3],"tags":[38084,1484],"class_list":["post-66890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nets","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-kevin-ollie","tag-mikal-bridges"],"modified_by":"Zach Kircher","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}