The New York Knicks made major moves over the last week, with their biggest pickup being two-way wing Mikal Bridges. The 27-year-old is among a select few who possess the rare ability to play on both sides of the ball, something that Bridges admitted to being difficult. His Knicks teammate, Jalen Brunson agreed with his opinion, but not before calling out the former Nets guard for his lack of defensive effort in recent times.
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Bridges reuniting with his [2018 NCAA Championship winning] Villanova teammates has undoubtedly been the off-season’s highlight. The Knicks duo even commemorated the event by dropping some extra footage from their episode with Bridges. The trio had met half-way through the 2023 season on Brunson’s and Hart’s Podcast ” The Roommates Show”.
During a segment, the trio touched on the difficulty of being a two-way player, and what it entails. The discussion quickly switched to a roasting session, with Brunson calling out his former Villanova teammate for his lack of defensive effort. Talking to Bridges, Brunson said,
“Tell them, this is what I[Bridges] do, I don’t play defense anymore, I hoop, I ball.”
Brunson’s hilarious criticism of Bridges’s game didn’t sit well with him, as the 27-year-old clapped back at his Knicks teammate by saying,
“Why do you gotta do that? Look at the last 3 or 4 games, you got me hot now…I felt that though, that’s why I’m so aggressive. I just wasn’t feeling myself on defense like I usually do, but these past games.”
But banter aside, Hart later confessed that in his limited experience of playing on both ends of the ball [mostly in New Orleans], he found the experience to be extremely exhausting. Not only that, but Brunson also agreed with the difficulties of guarding the opposition’s best player, while trying to also score. But moving forward Knicks Head Coach Tom Tibedou will most probably focus more on Bridges’ defense than his offense.
Bridges is going to be a 3-and-D wing for Thibodeau
The 27-year-old landed in the Nets as part of a deal that saw Kevin Durant arrive in Phoenix, Arizona. While in the Suns, Bridges was the primary defender of the opposition’s best player, but once he arrived in Brooklyn, his role shifted to being a scorer. But Bridges had to make that shift keeping in mind the Net’s lack of firepower, but the same won’t happen in New York. If anything, Thibodeau could push Bridges on defense just as much as he will on offense.
Bridges’ primary role will involve being the secondary scoring option next to Brunson, hopefully complimenting his Villanova teammate’s playstyle. And while Bridges will play ‘Robin’ on offense, he will be asked to be more in the driver’s seat once it’s time to play defense. The 66-year-old likes pushing his players to the limit and considering Bridges’ injury-free playing record, the Knicks HC will love having the 27-year-old on his squad. Hopefully, the HC doesn’t break Bridges, as it would be sad to see another player fall victim to his extreme conditioning tactics.
