GustavBahler wrote:

Panos wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:I hope Bridges can put game 2 behind him. That was ugly.

He needs to move to the bench or get traded. He's really not impactful. I gave it a year, I'm not onboard.

Bridges brought the energy that's been missing from his game. But those bricked 3s were a real gut punch.

I keep thinking about what the FO gave up for him, and how good they've been at drafting.

I think about the FO we got who’s not afraid to take a huge swing (hit or miss). They will have to stomach the fact that Mikals value is dropping. I hope it doesn’t take another pick to move him at this point. But an old past his prime KD would’ve done more.

JB and Thibs have to figure this offense out. Waiting for JB to save the day hurts us when we can’t get stops.

blkexec wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

Panos wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:I hope Bridges can put game 2 behind him. That was ugly.

He needs to move to the bench or get traded. He's really not impactful. I gave it a year, I'm not onboard.

Bridges brought the energy that's been missing from his game. But those bricked 3s were a real gut punch.

I keep thinking about what the FO gave up for him, and how good they've been at drafting.

I think about the FO we got who’s not afraid to take a huge swing (hit or miss). They will have to stomach the fact that Mikals value is dropping. I hope it doesn’t take another pick to move him at this point. But an old past his prime KD would’ve done more.

JB and Thibs have to figure this offense out. Waiting for JB to save the day hurts us when we can’t get stops.

Crazy talk. Another pick to move him? Please. He’s fine. Even if you wanted to move on, he’s an expiring contract. I think he still has huge value in the league. I think you are too close to it. Also, recall his performances without Brunson. That’s what any other team would be looking at.

Panos wrote:

DLeethal wrote:This guy goes invisible for enormous stretches and hits one layup and starts flexing and sniffing his hand. Really can't stand this dude. Plays like he doesn't want to break a nail. I am fine trading him in the offseason, he has value and he's not the missing piece.

Right?!
It's OK to show emotion but he usually looks like he's taunting the other team. I don't appreciate it.

Outside of the flamboyance, Mikal was second in usage behind Brunson amongst the starters last night. Second most shots too (Brunson 27, Mikal 18, OG 10, Josh 6, KAT 11, Bench: 9).

Brunson Usage was 40%, which is ungodly high, Mikal second at 23%. Hart, OG, KAt were ~15%.

When Brunson has the ball a lot and takes most of the shots, it's gonna be a hard battle for all the other players. Neither Shamet or Payne got a shot off.

None of this is any good.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/202504210NYK.html

GustavBahler wrote:

Panos wrote:

DLeethal wrote:This guy goes invisible for enormous stretches and hits one layup and starts flexing and sniffing his hand. Really can't stand this dude. Plays like he doesn't want to break a nail. I am fine trading him in the offseason, he has value and he's not the missing piece.

Right?!
It's OK to show emotion but he usually looks like he's taunting the other team. I don't appreciate it.

I didn’t like Melo’s “3 to the head” celebration, and I don’t like the JB “sniffing hand” either. Both vulgar displays. The fact that he won’t explain what it means says enough.

Not opposed to players cursing each other out in the heat of the game, but that other stuff debases the endeavor IMO.

Can’t stop culture changing celebrations. Once you accept one you accept all.

What’s interesting with Mikal. I wonder what’s his percentage or ratings after this celebrations? Last game he went cold. I think he’s more consistent when he’s serious and stoic vs cam Payne needs those expressions to fuel him. Mikal is just a weird dude with no answers and several problems. It’s a love hate relationship.

blkexec wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

Panos wrote:

DLeethal wrote:This guy goes invisible for enormous stretches and hits one layup and starts flexing and sniffing his hand. Really can't stand this dude. Plays like he doesn't want to break a nail. I am fine trading him in the offseason, he has value and he's not the missing piece.

Right?!
It's OK to show emotion but he usually looks like he's taunting the other team. I don't appreciate it.

I didn’t like Melo’s “3 to the head” celebration, and I don’t like the JB “sniffing hand” either. Both vulgar displays. The fact that he won’t explain what it means says enough.

Not opposed to players cursing each other out in the heat of the game, but that other stuff debases the endeavor IMO.

Can’t stop culture changing celebrations. Once you accept one you accept all.

What’s interesting with Mikal. I wonder what’s his percentage or ratings after this celebrations? Last game he went cold. I think he’s more consistent when he’s serious and stoic vs cam Payne needs those expressions to fuel him. Mikal is just a weird dude with no answers and several problems. It’s a love hate relationship.

There is a line. Ja Morant was fined for his shooting gun celebration. Another player got fined for flipping off a fan. Some celebrations are in poor taste and should be left on the schoolyard.

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://www.twitter.com/BigKnickEnergy_/status/1915062790286360734

blkexec wrote:Mikal vs 5 picks = Hes a terrible player and not worth the trade.

Mikal without trading 5 picks = He's the perfect glue guy that can swing a series.

I know it's hard to swallow, but those 5 picks doesn't equal Mikals value. Thats just what it took for a rival NBA team to trade with us. With that said, Mikal isn't doing too bad. He's just not on JB, Towns or even OG's level. I believe his individual stats would look different on a new team, but thats the JB affect. We have a star PG who holds the ball and dribbles the air out. Which I'm fine with since he's usually the savior. But we have system players surrounding him and system players need more touches.

Jay Wright figured it out. And looking at some college clips, JB wasn't as ball dominant as he is now. Thats due to Thibs offensive system. We have offensive players and a defensive coach. Our star players lack defensive IQ. Our coach lacks offensive creativity. It's a battle every game of which side of the court will the knicks show up. Our offense cannot carry the defensive mishaps. Our defense cannot carry our sloppy offensive approach. So every game we have to win ugly. Not pretty but gritty. Means injuries will pile up, which hurts our chances going deep into the playoffs.

I think one of the differences is that Jay had a different Josh Hart. Villanova Josh Hart was a decent 3 point shooter and could improve spacing, leading to better cuts and more open driving lanes. This iteration of Josh just makes easier for teams to sag. More Josh offensive initiation can help, I think. But KAT needs to do a better job of abusing the wing the opposition puts on him.

VDesai wrote:19 games in - he is non-entity on defense, he is a turnover machine and he's an atrocity shooting the basketball. We gave up 6 first rounders for him. All we needed from him is good defense and Corner 3s, with the occasional creation off the bounce. Suns Bridges not Nets Bridges.

Now is literally killing us out there. Do we bench him? Do we take him out of the rotation for a bit? Do we trade him? Do we just stay the course. WHAT DO WE DO??????

This move literally closes our championship window if he continues to play like this as it cost all of our draft capital and the Towns deal closed our cap flexibility. I'm not freaking out about Towns (even if wasn't great today or the game before), but I haven't seen any signs of Bridges being useful.

Not for now but I hear ya.
He needs to shed the 'SOFT' on demand demeanor. He's capable of being 24x7 tougher.
However he played well this PISTONs series & team moves onto CELTICS next week!