Is Mikal Bridges THE PERFECT Player?

Описание: On the pick and roll switch, the 7’3’’ Porzingis has the smaller Bridges at only 6’6’’ on him, and at this moment you can clearly see the huge difference between the 2. However, Mikal holds his ground and at no point does the Latvian ever get to the paint. Which forces him to take an awkward shot with the clock expiring and the result is an ugly miss.
And in crunch time you can see it again, the big man wants the post up here, but Bridges fights over and deflects this pass ultimately ending with a steal.
And look at the fight on the final possession of the game, the Suns forward hustles for the steal that sealed the victory for Phoenix.
Dude battled on this switch throughout the entire game and did not give an inch to his much bigger opponent. Mikal Bridges is playing an insane level of defense, while shooting 53% from the field as the Suns are by far the hottest team in the NBA right now, with a blistering winning streak of 10 in a row.
So with all this in mind, he has to be the perfect 3 & D player for any team right?
Well, yeah he’s terrific but let’s dive deeper. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it.
In a recent interview Damian Lillard said that this guy is his favorite small forward in the league. And as you look at how Bridges is absolutely hounding him right here I completely understand the respect that Dame is giving him. I mean look at this. It ends in an airball. Wow.
And against the Grizzlies, you see at this moment that Mikal recognizes the action of screening the screener that Suns actually Phoenix runs extremely often. So he signals for the switch, disrupts the flow of the offense and the Grizzlies throw it out of bounds. Great recognition, and reaction resulting in a perfect defensive sequence for the team.
Against Atlanta Mikal starts off by chasing Bogdanovic all over the floor, but as he gets caught on this screen and switched onto Capella, there’s no giving up on the play, and watch the effort and the fight as he blocks what should have been an easy 2 points. This is incredible.
And offensively he’s tremendously efficient by shooting 53% from the field and 39% from downtown.
It only makes sense since he’s getting a ton, and I mean a ton of completely uncontested looks at the basket. Bridges is so quick and in such great condition that he is tirelessly running and getting easy layups and dunks.
I mean look at this for example. At this moment Bridges is dead last behind everyone on the court, but then watch him turn on the jets here beating everyone all the way for the dunk. This is pure hustle.
Same thing here, as they get the steal, you see that Mikal is in line with 3 Rockets defenders. But he sprints ahead of all of them, and is awarded with the assist for the layup.
He’s a great runner overall, and one of the best cutters in the NBA so I can make a full highlight reel of Mikal just running during fast breaks or in half court like some of these examples, using even the tiniest moments when the defense is not looking, to sneak along the baseline and finish inside.
Watching all of these now you can understand why he’s an astonishing 77% finisher at the rim while the league average is 57%. It’s because of all of these cuts that get him under the basket with literally nobody to contest.
All of these plays are of course a reaction off of his instincts rather than a play call, but the Suns do have a play design specifically for him that works almost every time.
He starts off at the elbow with a big man coming for the screen, so he curls along the free throw line, gets the pass and has the driving lane just for himself.
Again, check out how simple this play is but at the same time so effective.
I love these types of players and I feel like they can be a very valuable piece on a championship level team, but at the same time, I do want to point out something for context.
The fact that the Phoenix Suns paid him that big 4 year 90 million dollar contract, and the fact that they didn’t really upgrade the roster means that the team is banking on Bridges and Cam Johnson to take the next step in order for Phoenix to even get back to the finals, let alone win the title of course.
But looking at the raw numbers, in my opinion the math simply doesn’t add up.
Bridges is hovering around the same numbers, with a slight drop in the 3 point percentage.
The story is a bit worse with Cam Johnson who is averaging 2.5 points less than last year which illustrates that the Suns expectations are not being fulfilled.
This is by no means a knock on Bridges. He’s absolutely great at what he does, and as you saw in this video, what he brings on the court would fit in with any team.
I’m just asking if he’s got another gear to unlock, or should the Suns look to get 1 more piece that could take them over the hump. The team is a contender as it is, but 1 piece away at least in my opinion from repeating or even surpassing the success from last season.