Mikal Bridges’ first season with the New York Knicks hasn’t gone according to plan thus far and a lot of criticism has come his way as a result. Following the Knicks’ 99-98 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday, Josh Hart was asked if Bridges has struggled to deal with high expectations and he came to his teammate’s defense.
“I know him, he’s not worried about it,” Hart said. “I’m not worried about him… The media and people are killing him. He’s in a new situation… what, 18 games? In a different role than he’s played (the) last four years. So, it’s our job to get him going.
“All the other BS about what we gave up, this that and the other, it means nothing,” Hart stated. “If we win, if we make a championship ain’t nobody give a damn how many picks we gave up. We gave up 15 picks, it don’t matter.
“At the end of the day we’re trying to win a championship,” Hart continued. “He’s gonna be a key piece of that, and we need to continue to build him up. If you go out there and nitpick everything that he does, that’s only detriment to him. We’re all gonna have a conversation with that, we gotta get him going and that’s when we get the best version of Kal.
“It’s 18 games. I just think he’s a helluva player, he’s been to the Finals, he knows how to win,” Hart added. “So we can calm down with all the criticism and nitpicking a guy who’s won every time he’s stepped on the court in any situation. A lot of people can’t do what he does.”
If the Knicks, who are now 11-8 on the season, win the NBA title, then it wouldn’t matter that they gave up four unprotected first-round draft picks and an unprotected first-round pick swap to the Brooklyn Nets to get Bridges. The problem, though, is that they’re not going to win it all if the 28-year-old doesn’t start playing better.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau benched Bridges for much of the fourth quarter in this win over the Hornets as he was struggling with his shot yet again. He was taken out with the Knicks trailing 82-78 with 8:25 left in the fourth and was only subbed back in, in the final seconds.
It was the second time that Thibodeau had benched Bridges in the fourth in less than a week. The forward played less than two minutes in the fourth quarter in the Knicks’ 121-106 loss to the Utah Jazz on Nov. 23.
Bridges went 3-15 from the field against the Jazz and 3-10 against the Hornets. After Friday’s game at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, in which he had eight points, two rebounds, two assists, and two steals, he acknowledged he has to be more consistent.
“I got to play better. I’ve been inconsistent,” Bridges said. “I’ve had some games where I’ve played good, some I haven’t. Just got to find a rhythm within the team. That’s pretty much it. Not even 20 games in, still just trying to figure it out. … I had a lot of sloppy turnovers. Couple of times (where the opponent) scored on me getting into the middle. I’ll be better.”
I do think Bridges will get better. It’s been a big adjustment for him to play next to the likes of Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, and OG Anunoby, and it’s going to take him time to settle into this role. I will only really start getting worried if he’s struggling when we get to the All-Star break.
For now, Bridges and the Knicks’ focus would be on their next game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Madison Square Garden on Sunday at 6 PM ET. The Pelicans have lost seven in a row and I back the Knicks to extend their losing streak.
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