Mikal Bridges has caused quite a stir amongst NBA fans this past offseason due to his new shooting form. Ridiculed for now having an unflattering hitch in shot, Bridges doesn’t seem too comfortable shooting the ball. Austin Rivers took to ‘X’ to comment on this and lay out why he cannot seem to understand this desire to change his shooting motion.
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“It’s very rare you see someone with hitches in their shot that are able to be as efficient consistently. I don’t understand it. It’s hard to watch. It looks like it hurts. It just doesn’t look natural.”
Interested to know why bridges changes his shot and what’s the end goal with his mechanics. Usually when a jump shot changes, we remove certain movement to simplify it. Easier to make your form more consistent that way. Why there is an added hitch is bewildering. Hopefully he… pic.twitter.com/p2fhSx2EKr
— Austin Rivers (@AustinRivers25) October 22, 2024
Rivers hit the nail on the head with this take of his. Bridges did always have a funkier looking shot than most. His release point was comically high and while that does ward off defenders’ pesky hands for block attempts, it’s difficult to get a high enough arc to be a great 3 point shooter consistently if that high of a release.
Fast-forward to present day and the release point looks even higher which would lead to the ball going straight at the rim more times than not. Of course, there is also the problem of the hitch which has been spoken about ad nauseum by analysts, fans, and pundits across socials.
In case you wanted another look at Mikal Bridges’ shooting form pic.twitter.com/GPy0JfIt98
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) October 22, 2024
No shot should have a hitch in it. It makes a player second guess their own shot and more importantly, does not feel nearly as smooth as it should. “You look at some of the greatest shooters of all time; Ray Allen, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, all these guys. It’s a very simple form,” said Austin about having a simple looking shot.
Mikal Bridges reveals why he changed his form
Bridges, during the preseason, revealed to a media scrum the reasoning behind him changing his shooting form. According to him, he’s been chasing the form he displayed back at Villanova and has been wanting to bring it back for the past 7 years.
The now Knick, in college, had an incredibly smooth 2 motion shot. It was as regular as a shot could get and that’s a good sign. There is no need to overcomplicate a shot when it’s tried and true. As a junior at Villanova, Bridges shot a staggering 43.5% from beyond the arc on 6 attempts a game so clearly something was working for him.
As a pro, Bridges only ever exceeded the 40% mark from the 3 point line once in his career. He shot 42.5% from 3 during his 2020-21 campaign with the Phoenix Suns. Every other season has seen him shoot below 39% from 3 and below 48% from the field as a whole.
With him going 0-10 from the field during a preseason game, it’s safe to say that there is cause for concern here. The Knicks gave up a plethora of FRPs to expand the ‘Nova Knicks’ but if their starting 3&D forward cannot shoot then the Knicks do not have a chance in the top-heavy Eastern Conference.
