thelesterlee
Okay, so, uh, Mikal Bridges can’t shoot anymore.
Mikal Bridges’ shooting form doesn’t look sound atm.:
Vs the Wizards last night:
2/12 FG
0/10 3PMLots of talk in fantasy circles about him returning to his efficient Suns days where he was a top 50 guy. Do you think he can do it?#FantasyBasketbal
— NBA Fantasy Bible (@NBAFantasyBible) October 19, 2024
In the Knicks preseason finale against the Washington Wizards, Mikal Bridges shot 0-for-10 from 3 and 2-for-12 from the field.
You can’t take 10 threes in an NBA game and make zero of them. Adam Silver personally drives you to the local Target so you can fill out an application.
Last season, Tony Snell was going door-to-door, begging for a contract to qualify for the NBA’s retirement plan and get some health insurance, maybe see a doctor.
All 30 NBA teams pretended they didn’t have the ink to print out a 10-day contract for Snell all because of that 0-point game that became a meme.
Mikal Bridges shoots 37.5% from 3 in his career. But for some reason, he is actively changing his jump shot form to “fix it back to when he was in college” despite being a really good shooter already.
Mikal Bridges says he’s been trying to fix his jump shot for 7 years, per @Krisplashed.
Bridges went 0-for-10 from three yesterday and is 2-for-19 in preseason.pic.twitter.com/IE1hgKNMgV
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) October 19, 2024
Don’t love that it takes him 12 minutes to get his jumper off.
I totally understand why Knicks fans and trolls are concerned. It looks worse after the team just traded away Donte DiVincenzo—literally the greatest 3-point shooter in franchise history.
Donte came back to town barking at the coaching staff while Bridges was slowly getting a 3-pointer off.
But Donte and Mikal both scored 15 points in that game. Donte made 2 three-pointers. Mikal made one. This doesn’t matter.
Who cares if Mikal Bridges can’t shoot?
Yes, without a jumper, Mikal Bridges with the ball in his hands feels RJ Barrett-ish. But Bridges isn’t here to score 20 a night. Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns have that covered.
Bridges is here so he and OG Anunoby can put opposing ball handlers in the torture chamber.
And with Josh Hart on the court with them, these three will generate so many steals and easy transition buckets that it won’t matter if Bridges’s shot is broken. He’s getting open layups and dunks all night.
You will not get me to overreact about a preseason game I didn’t consider watching.
It would be cool if this wasn’t a thing at all. Of course.
But the Knicks won’t have problems scoring points. Brunson can shoot 3’s. KAT can shoot 3’s. OG can shoot 3’s. Deuce McBride. Cam Payne. The rookie Pacome Dadiet. The Knicks are fine.
This season isn’t about October. They’re trying to play into the Summer Solstice and I assume Bridges will unlock the answers before then.
Maybe Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges just love Jalen Brunson so much that they don’t want to take any points away from him. That’s true friendship. Brunson can score 80 points a night while they do all the defending and rebounding and boxing out and diving and getting the fuck out of Brunson’s way.
Knicks in 4.
Thanks for reading. Go ahead and sign up for the D, the daily Deadseriousness newsletter sent directly to your inbox every AM.
Follow us over on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Or shoot me an email at Deadseriousmailbag@gmail.com. Let’s chat, bay-beeeee.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings