Bro forgot how to shoot it's not a surprise he forgot how to defend
opiniononion
Imagine giving up 4 picks and 2 pick swaps for a guy that has a broken jumper, averages 15 points a game and forgot how to defend. Knicks just made a 2013 Nets level trade.
pabblo
My guess is all the scoring he did in brooklyn made his defensive mindset diminish. He hasn’t had time to worry about that side of ball as mich because he was scoring for like two years. Its sad because dude was LOCKDOWN at one point.
Kolb
0:12 the way he was just waddling then jumps at cade with his hands down😂😂😂
jahbrilplaysgamesandstuff
Him and Dejounte both went from great defenders to just straight up bad
LorDust-
Mikal "we have OG to play defense" Bridges
hectorwatt
Defense is 80% effort, 20% skill.
A lot of players have the potential to be top defenders in the league, but, that means giving it your all, taking a whole lot of contact, hits, putting a lot of stress on your joints, and, not a lot of people will notice it, unlike ppg, so, it's not very rewarding...
He probably just does not want to do that anymore...
BackyardBeardMan
He had a game winning block and has been knocking down threes. Hes getting better
Mega_Rager
Everyone can see now how important a defensive anchor is. Ihart and Robinson where soo important for this team last year
janovolkner
One possibility is that Mikal just became less athletic in his later 20s. “Athletic” statistics like blocks/steals and rebounding tend to peak in your early 20s (Andre Drummond is a great example).
Perhaps more strength/balance based defenders can keep it going longer (see PJ tucker going into his 30s) vs more speed-based defenders.
benjobuensuceso
Nets traded Mikal and are now one of the most dangerous teams in the league
iguesss
he has to become a modern day luol deng for the knicks to have success
thepoet_ag
brooklyn nets fans been telling yall for a year now 😂😂😂😂
dickson
Block to win a game last night. There’s hope
LeoSonn
His defensive highlights.. just looks like players are missing shots they’re comfortable taking
nelsonreed
well luckily they have og to defend wings/guards but KAT is such a big liability in the paint that idk if they will be good. Because if bridges gets beat you can still rely on KAT or on help defense in the paint so he can somewhat afford to get beat.
cookipandamonster
oh.. my baby.. mikal... i loved and miss him in phoenix, and now it sucks, hearing all this about him, sucks hes getting alot of media attention for the wrong reasons, wish he got this much media attention when he was in phoenix.
jasangkal
Luka broke him in the suns series.
He's never been the same since
matthieusaade
Definitely a mental matter to me. Adjusting to changing roles can be very hard, especially for a player who fits into his role as well as he does (especially for consistency, since he never misses games). If I were the Knicks, I’d try to have him by far more of an offensive star next to Brunson, and have KAT be the one to adjust and to sometimes help more on defense and be able to step up when needed. Mikal seems like he can get stuff going once he’s comfortable. Especially now, and as we’ve seen with his shot, he’s not comfortable
Jonathan-A.C.
What has Brooklyn and NY done to Mikal - he was the best defender on my SunS when he was with us.
