Mike Brown's open door has Knicks' Mikal Bridges feeling better
New York Knicks guard Mikal Bridges (25) shoots against Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) during the second half of an NBA basketball game on Saturday in Atlanta. Credit: AP/Mike Stewart
NEW ORLEANS — Mikal Bridges could not be blamed for being cautious with his words on the subject of minutes and coaching decisions about bench players after finding himself in the middle of controversy last season.
Little more than nine months ago he suggested that Tom Thibodeau could give some relief to the starters while utilizing talented players waiting their turn, noting, “We’ve got a good enough team where our bench guys can come in and we don’t need to play 48, 47. We’ve got a lot of good guys on this team that can take away the minutes, which helps the defense, helps the offense, helps tired bodies being out there and giving up all these points.”
The controversy had Thibodeau irate when he got word of it, at least until Bridges hit the game-winning three-point field goal that night in Portland. So when he wonders about the thinking of the head coach now he is happy to have an open door and talk it out with the current head coach, Mike Brown.
“Honestly, I think we had some meetings and talked to each other and stuff,” Bridges said after the Knicks morning shootaround Monday in preparation for facing the Pelicans. “I think honestly right now is probably the most I’ve been close with Mike. I think right now, honestly, to this day. Just have some good conversations, talk to each other. And just picking his brain, hear what he’s thinking and me voicing some things.
“Kind of get that clarity from your coach. Because you never know what’s going on. Playing hard and just talking to him, what he’s thinking about our team and stuff. I think we had a pretty good talk before Christmas and I think our relationship . . . was always fine. But I think it’s definitely going up. Everything we’re looking to do as a team offensively, defensively. All that kind of stuff.”
Brown didn’t take anything out of the meetings other than learning about the player and the person.
“I try to communicate with everybody,” Brown said. “But I’m human just like everybody else. Sometimes I may not communicate enough. Sometimes I may try to over-communicate. It’s a fine line that you’ve got to try to figure out. Everybody is human and everybody needs to be touched. That’s all I was trying to do with Mikal.
“I was just trying to touch him, to get his thoughts. Let him know my thoughts. Because you know, everybody does it including me, you assume certain things . . . That’s all it was.”
Bridges' minutes have reduced slightly — from 37 minutes per game last season to 35.3 minutes this season. And he, as always, has played every game. He’s topped 40 minutes three times in the first 31 games compared to 14 times last season, and in the 32nd game he topped 40 minutes for a fourth straight game last season.
“You could check it, but I swear I played more 40-minute games at this point that I’ve had this year than last year,” he said. “So I definitely feel better. It’s definitely working. I’m so used to playing a lot so — even though I’m still playing a lot — but sometimes I might get subbed out, and I’m looking like, What?
"So I know something’s right. Because I freak out sometimes, like, ‘You’re getting me?’ But then I’ll sit down and come back in after a couple minutes or something. So it’s something to get used to. But that’s also about building relationship with my coaches and stuff."
“As a player, it’s tough,” Bridges added. “You might miss a couple shots, you might mess up defensively, and you’re prepping yourself to make the next play and you might get subbed out and you’ll be questioning yourself . . . But sometimes you need a break, you know? So I think that’s just building your relationship with the coach and building that trust to know, alright, if I’m thinking I’m struggling or I’m thinking this and that. And it’s just a breather."
Notes & quotes: Deuce McBride returned to action after missing the last eight games (plus the NBA Cup final) with a sprained left ankle . . . Mitchell Robinson sat out with what the team is calling left ankle load management.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
