How Does Mikal Bridges Fit In The Knicks Offense? W/ DJ Zullo
welcome into the lockon Nicks podcast today I’m joined by DJ Zulo of Nicks Film School to break down how excited we are to see Mel Bridges on offense and how the Knicks can best maintain their spacing you are locked on Knicks your daily New York Knicks podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day you are locked on Nicks your daily New York Nick podcast I want to remind you that today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code lockedown NBA for $20 off your first purchase terms apply I want to thank you for making lockdown Nick your first listen today and every day we’re now available on all platforms so if you want to become an everyday be sure to subscribe and hit that notifications Bell to ensure you never miss an episode and do the same on your audio podcast platform of choice but who’s talking to him Gaff and Shaw your favorite play byplay broadcaster favorite play byplay broadcaster joining you today for what I’m gonna say is my favorite episode I’ve recorded this offseason um once again joined by the incomparable DJ Zulo uh one of the smartest basketball LS out there certainly one of the smartest that we were lucky enough to have on the show and we are diving deep getting excited about Mel Bridges and why spacing is ultimately going to be the king for the Knicks winning a championship this season for the first time in 50 years all right guys as promised lucky enough to be joined by my buddy DJ Zulo fresh off a European Vacation I’m I’m sure spending some time scouting r K shabtis wall overseas DJ welcome in buddy uh how how’s it going it’s been a little while it’s been good you know I haven’t um my Rus uh film is a little light this time of year uh unfortunately though I I hear there’s a good chance he could be coming to Summer League so hopefully um we get some like fresh film on on the state side with him but everything’s been good you know trying to um get back at the swing of things I I feel like this Nick’s offseason has been very positive but also very interesting thing and there’s a lot of things that are still to be determined but a lot of things for us to talk about and sort of try to flesh out a little bit absolutely um I I wanted to start off with some uh male Bridges optimism because I I think I’ve been guilty on this pod of like doing all these episodes and um out the last one I did was leaning optimism just coming on and listing all the reasons like well here’s why this might not work out here’s why this might not work out and not just leaning into the fact that it’s pretty awesome that the Knicks are adding a guy who’s been an efficient 20 point scorer in this league and and is is unselfish and can shoot the basketball and can more than hold his own defensively um what are you what are you most excited about to see from him on the offensive end of the floor and his fit on offense for this sck team yeah so I think in terms of his offensive fit um and I know there’s been some concern and I I feel like it’s been warranted uh to a degree regarding swapping out Bridges or swapping out Dean chenzo for bridges in terms of like how is that going to impact the spacing um I am very cognizant of that and I feel like especially with Brunson and Randle I feel like that is a necessary component and divon chenzo his sheer volume his efficiency his ability to shoot threes from 28 feet out like his deep spacing to me was an underrated trait of his coming over to the Knicks and that really held up um last season so there is a concern there and I feel like with some of the film I’ve watched at Bridges especially his last couple of years with um the Sun where he’s playing off uh whether it’s Chris Paul or Devin Booker like he’s you know third sometimes the second option sometimes fourth option so he’s really an off ball player primarily you really saw how teams would respect him and to me he was respected as a great shooter and the part of his game that really shines um as a floor spacer is that if you’re gonna give him space and and you’re GNA have to close out hard on him he’s going to eat up hard Closeouts he did it with um Phoenix his last couple years there as he developed some more um high level ball handling he did it with uh Brooklyn he can take two or three dribbles um on a close out either get to the basket or get into a pull-up game which is really efficient in that two-point area so to me even though he is not the level of shooter that Divan chenzo is because he’s a more diverse offensive player it requires teams to stay attached to him more than maybe you would or anyone would would be you know instinctively suggest based on lining up Bridges versus even chenzo as Shooters because obviously Dean chenzo is a better three-point shooter but because Devan chenzo could struggle a little bit inside the arc that mitigates some of his Elite uh spacy because you could run him off the line and be quite comfortable with the results um just today I was looking at um DVID chenzo in the playoffs and yeah he had some really highlevel scoring games but there were also some games where like he just didn’t have it and to me that was when he was run off the line and got into inside the arc his driving while it increased the playoffs he shot 34% on drives um in the in the postseason on 91 drives decent um You Know sample size there and that just speaks to some of the concerns I think the Knicks had with him going forward as a great regular season player but maybe not quite the guy you need in the playoffs and I feel like while you may give up a little bit in terms of the deep spacing when you swap them out for Bridges you’re gaining much more in terms of a highlevel offensive player that can obviously catch and shoot but also make plays um off a close out whether it’s with a pass or with the shot what what have you seen from Bridges development as I I I I kind of want to boil this down to like his like what he does off of closeouts and also his ability to go in isolations or go off a screen basically as as an on ball player over the course of his career because I I I think like the more you read and and the deeper you dive into it I think there’s more there than the stats which obviously weren’t very favorable to him on the Nets and and you’re you’re always I think think when we have these conversations from a Nick’s perspective you’re trying to thread that line of all right how does he bring out the best of of him as a role player in Phoenix and the best of him as a star in Phoenix and just sort of combine those down the middle and become sort of this ultimate like Flex role player slash like part-time pseudo star that that gives you everything you need depending on who the other players are on the floor and what a specific situation calls for but I I I go back to some of the rim numbers early in his career and they were just exceptional after like shooting 64% at The Rim as a rookie he was 73% his second year 76% his third year 79% just ridiculous his fourth year on the Suns and then before getting traded when when the volume went up um he was at 68% um the first half of that 2223 season in Phoenix basically the same in Brooklyn before falling off a cliff a little bit down to 62% which obviously is is not terrible but he went from a guy who who for three years of his NBA career was a 9 third percentile or above finisher to a 35th percentile finisher which again is the reality of going from maybe the fourth option on on a a team competing for a championship to the clear-cut number one on a team that didn’t make the playoffs and yet if if you dive into the film and and in my case if you do some reading on it like Lucas Kaplan um over at net Staley had a really good article on it like there there there was reason to see that all right like even if the numbers went down like if he was put back into a son’s s context which I I think in a lot of ways he will be on the Knicks maybe not quite that much spacing but in some ways even more powerful offensive engines around him um he can regain some of that efficiency the rim volume was was quite good last year was actually higher than it was during his first run of play on the Nets he turned a lot of the mid-range shots he took into threes and and you saw more conscious pick and roll like manipulation artam being blitzed like I’m gonna get off the ball quickly they’re guarding me one-on-one like I I can attack this like I I see Trey young here I’m going to split this really quickly get all way the rim throw a panoy step at the basket and and find a way to finish and and I think there is more baked in versatility into his game now that will ultimately reflect in his efficiency now that he’s in a better environment I I guess the question is to what extent and how high can he ramp that up as someone who whose Advantage is length and touch but not someone who ultimately is going to be a great athlete or is ever going to be kind of like a great vertical finisher at The Rim Yeah it’s a it’s a really good question and I think I think little bit is um it’s a question I feel like I it’s it’s the one question I have with him that I don’t feel like I have a great answer for because there is some areas where he has improved his versatility you mentioned the Pinoy step which um for anyone that doesn’t you doesn’t get the vernacular it’s basically like a it’s on your first step on your drive so on your first you pick the ball up on that first step you’re basically bringing the ball up high to almost give the impression that you’re going up for a shot and then you bring it back down the defender and you know theoretically is going to jump at that you get underneath and you can finish it um that that is he’s probably one of the two or there’s like two or three guys in the league that do that and I noticed against the Knicks at least hartenstein which I know we’re gonna talk about a little bit later he blocked two of those and it was almost like he had scouted that play so well because he knew it was coming that he was able to sort of time that and not go for that initial um up fake so I feel like there’s some of this where for Bridges specifically you’re trying to you have all these tools now or more tools than you had in Phoenix you’re trying to figure out like when am I going to these things because his tool bag is definitely wider it just felt like with the Nets last year he had a hard time developing that um awareness of when to to go to certain moves whereas in Phoenix his first couple years these were a lot of like just downhill drives and you know he’ while not a strong player um physically was able to take contact and and finish at a at a reasonable um level so I think for in in the Knicks regard the spacing should be better now I don’t know how much you know better for him as a driver because I think a lot of it’s going to depend on what kind of year Julius is gonna have shooting the ball and that always sort of like you go into a season you never you never really know in that regard and then the second thing is without hartenstein you’re gonna have Mitchell Robinson if he’s in the game sort of camped out in that dunker spot so that is that is an area that I know we saw with Claxton a little bit last year and then a year before Aon had a little bit more of that spacing component where he would at least be available for a a kickout mid-range opportunity and not GNA just park himself in the dunker spot so there is going to be some you know level and that might be something that the Knicks are gonna have to figure out and bridges um himself try to figure out where his drives are GNA come from but I feel like the Knicks are going to do they really did a good job last season in getting the ball to the second side that was one of the developments they had at a necessity when they had all the injuries to me that is an area in terms of team building that they should be able to continue this season so if Bridges is going to get that ball on the second side if you have a initial Brunson Randall or Brunson Robinson action on the strong side if that ball gets to the weak side and it’s Bridges catching with the defender closing he’s gonna have a drive to the basket and he’s gonna be able to finish on a straight line so in that in that area you might see his Drive efficiency actually go up a little bit but certainly he’s gotten more diverse as a as a driver as a finisher I think there’s an area of his game that he’s got to figure out is when to sort of go to these new U moves and and areas of skills that he’s developed over the last couple years all right guys we’re g to continue talking Mel Bridges gonna continue talking our potential concerns about the Knicks offense next on lock on Knicks all right guys we want to take a second to tell you about our friends over at game time game time is an authorized ticket Marketplace of Major League 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five really quick decision makers on the floor and and they had a lot of spacing but they also really leverage their spacing and and and that’s what I’m I guess constantly trying to look for for the Knicks especially when Julius randle’s on the floor and you made this point I I heard you on Nicks Film School talking about this the other day that after the Knicks got ogan and Obi Julius like really leaned into that aspect of his game and there’s a little bit less of like 2021 Julius where it’s pound pound Pound double all right I know Reggie Block’s supposed to be here on the floor so I’m going to throw this blind no look over my head pass to that wing and it’s amazing and it shows you what kind of talent he has as a passer but it on a team now that has so much more option and so much more baked in versatility like it feels like the best way to leverage it is to have those quick decisions and I I think where I’m where I’m fearing some drop off from last season’s playoffs is having divon chenzo on the floor a little bit less having hard on the floor a little bit less two guys who you almost took that for granted I mean hardenstein more than anyone else right was just fantastic about that and maybe this this dips a toe into that conversation you wanted to have about what they lose in hardenstein but like with the like I guess slightly less spacing also that Mitch brings to the table to me that that kind of quick connective passing and decision- making is going to be such a premium like how do you think he kind of fits into that structure yeah I think he’s very good at it um I think with de you know I think it’s a vill NOA a trait and also a trait that Nicks seek out I think I thought Grimes was good um at this area just keeping the ball moving toppen uh for you know all the things that I’ve you know I’m not the biggest fan of his but in terms of his connective passing that is one of his strong suits especially in the half court so uh quickly obviously you know would be a high level in this area Hart um Josh Hart as a as a trade and then a free then a a signing um high level divon chenzo the same thing and I feel like Bridges sort of fits into that where the Knicks they don’t have a you know Randall might be first position considered like close to not maybe not an elite passer but like pushing that envelope especially when he’s like at his best but they have a lot of guys that can make the right uh play in terms of just keeping the the ball moving as as you said so I think Bridges definitely fits right into that I feel like the the Phoenix uh Point reference is spoton um that’s something that really shined when when you watch him especially that 2122 season where I feel like everything about him as a dynamic role player just was crystallized um and even that that first half of the 22 23 season just him as a you know third option or a you know top 30ish player mean top 40 player in the NBA on a good night but but a guy that is really going to just do everything really well um I felt like he just was like that that’s to me the the archetype that if they if the Knicks can get that player he’s really gonna um Elevate their season a little bit so in terms of his connected passing you know I didn’t SE anything that would give me any pause that he’s going to negatively impact it I feel like he’s would probably be in the same tier as uh divon chenzel maybe a little bit lower um but certainly same tier as Josh Hart like really good passers in the half court um that is just going to keep it moving which is you know not only Randall um concerned but also like Brunson you know for all his greatness again can get a little sticky with the ball so you want to have guys around him that can certainly you know keep it moving um um an anobi probably the one guy that you that I think was better than advertised with Toronto but certainly can get in trouble with his you know you know he takes him a beat every now and then to either make a drive or get the ball um moving to the um to the other side so I feel like he’s the one where I I would have a little bit of a question mark in terms of like his connective passing I don’t think it’s poor but I just don’t know if it’s like at the level of some of these other guys on the Knicks but certainly with Randall and Brunson you need guys that could just you know uh keep it moving get the ball to the second side which again to me was one of the great Revelations of last year’s team which I hope they can continue to tap into this year I I I do think it’s and this is something Bill Simmons has talked about a lot over the years I mean you see it on on the best teams in in NBA history that type of passing becomes contagious and I I I do think that like we we we always we talk about all these ancillary reasons the Knicks brought in Mel Bridges having another guy who’s committed to that and is committed to like passing up a good shot for a great shot like I I do think you even saw that in the playoffs with OG like on on the best play of of the Knick season last year hardenstein in game two against the Sixers that gets that offensive blings it out to OG and like maybe like on another team in another context like he’s taking that shot instead he says Hey like Dante’s better than me at this like I’m I’m making one more pass and like and in in like a moment where like most players would freeze like especially players like your point where that is not inherently in their game like he made that play and that that gives me a little bit of lat and optimism that like another just another guy to put on the floor to lean into that like that c that can only help um I I think we are we were sort of dancing around like the the the core of of what I’m trying to get into and and and you addressed it with with your point on on Bridges and for Divan chenzo and that is the Nick spacing and and that also Loops in like like it is it is sort of this unifying theme of the Knicks offseason because to me that is my single biggest concern with Isaiah hartenstein leaving like his ability to find ways to act as a spacer even though he was not a shooter and with his ability like you and Benji highlighted this on the kfs Pod to set like those great like pinning screens and and create threes that way his ability to just always be a threat to do that off the ball so his man wanted to stay attached of course his little flip shot what does it do for the Knicks going from him to Mitch on a more consistent basis when in a in a theoretical world if both those guys were back I think they would have leaned a bit more towards hartenstein and playing in the bulk of those minutes just because it was such a boon to the Nicks offense after Mitch got hurt and and I guess part two of this question is since you already addressed to divan chenzo part um like like where does Julius coming back F into that as a guy who like certainly is not a downgrade as a shooter from Josh Hart but does get so much of his offense around the rim and and in turn I think like maybe creates even more of a clogging effect there and I’m just wondering like what does this look like early in the year in particular when when this team doesn’t have a great Rhythm and how do they kind of address those concerns with Mitch being about as Rim bound as any Center in the league well it’s to me the concern of mine coming into the year I feel like they and um I have some skepticism that hartenstein can replicate the defensive season he had last year this this season um if you look at some of the all-in-one metrics his defensive performance was Elite all defense um potentially like you know Defensive Player of the Year level stuff I don’t know if you would you would get that type of year um this year from him because that is such a high level of performance on that end but what he does do and you highlight a lot of in terms of his off ball movement his ability not only to set those pin in screens but if he’s not going to be covered on the weak side that ball gets over there and let’s say you’re playing the Heat and banab bio is camped out in the in the pain he’s guarding hartenstein if that ball gets to the the opposite corner and you have Divan chenzo on the wing he can fly into a dribble handoff and if hartstein sets a good screen a bam is too far under the hoop to come out and get and and help out and contest that that three-point shot those are areas that hartenstein you don’t need to run play place for that that is just flow offense that he is one of the best uh centers in the league at at doing and then the idea of like yeah he’s not a spacer but I’ve I’ve dubbed I’ve dubbed him like a a movement five where he’s just constant motion getting passing windows for his teammates getting to the area where he gets that flip shot off the the floater from outside the restricted area these are things that there’s no Center on the market um that’s a free agent the snow Center certainly on the next roster that could do those things I don’t know if you can figure out a way to sort of you’re not going to replicate it so how do you like how do you mitigate it and to me it’s going to be an increase in shot diversity with Mikel Bridges Julius Randall hopefully a full healthy season and then Brunson you feel like you have enough and then um an anobi as a catch and shoe player as a guy that can beat a close out get into a pullup like you have enough to where yeah Mitch is going to be in the dunker spot primarily what are you gonna how do you how do you guard against that well you just have to be that much better um in terms of your other four players as Shooters as Playmakers as creators I feel like the Knicks can do that in the starting lineup with with how they’re designed and built right now though it is um certainly um a concern it’s not something Mitch has ever developed um I think there’s if there’s one player on the roster that can sort of do some of those things it’s it’s Jericho Sims um offensively that can as a mover his floater to me is is like the it’s the shot that I just feel like is of all the Knicks players like there’s it’s just it’s so close to being like an effective NBA weapon but it’s just not there yet and he’s a guy that has gone to the weak side corner and gotten that uh dribble handoff game uh situation where um you can kind of walk you you steal a three every now and then so he’s certainly done those things offensively at a at a level that gives you a little bit of Hope but you know and the other part is I I pointed this out last season before Julius got hurt his efficiency numbers were far and way better with hartenstein and that to me is because the space on julius’s drives on his post-ups were just better when hartenstein was on the floor so these are if Julius is not going to be a shooter like he was you know two seasons ago then you have you have a legitimate problem and that’s why you know it’s like that is Julius Going to Be an Effective three-point shooter this year on volume that to me if you’re gonna like write out your five biggest question marks or five biggest um you know areas where that could swing a Nick season from being a good year to a great year I think Julius shooting at a level close to what he did two years ago does more than any one area in in accomplishing that goal of the Knicks really being an elite offensive team because I I do think he’s an effective floor spacer regardless of how he’s shooting because he’s so good putting the ball on the deck and he’s a willing shooter and that goes a long way but if he’s shooting 32% you know teams are especially in the playoffs are just going to ignore him and then you have you have problems and I feel like that is an area that you know if Julius can shoot at a League average level on volume the Knicks ceiling as an offense even with Mitch as a starting center and hartenstein out can still be top five in the NBA but these are these are legitimate questions and you know I feel like the Knicks can sort of make up for what hartenstein was as a Defender maybe not quite that level with Mitch you know hopefully playing 65 70 games big question mark there um but offensively there are just things that hartenstein does that there’s just a few guys um that at the center position that can consistently Do It um you can’t teach it in my mind you can sort of like instill it as a principle but it’s to me it’s just like you’re playing in flow you’re reading the game your floor awareness your mapping all those things he just has innate and it’s going to be a hard area for the Knicks to to replace uh you’re going to have to do with with highle shot making and and on Ball scoring which the Knicks have four other guys in the starting Atlanta that could do all those things on a high level so I still there there’s a lot of positivity but question marks um certainly there with hartenstein not not in the fold anymore I I think it’s it’s a great call because hartenstein is is not this monster athlete he’s not extraordinarily skilled but like the way like just his intuition in terms of how to create spacing is and I think that’s that’s what you’re getting at in terms of just being like natural and not not something that can be taught like like he he just his inclinations were always to find a way to create more space and he knew how to do it Mitch is almost the exact opposite and and that is that is a big flip but but moving well real quick I just want I do I should say this because it is an area Mitch does well is that his his spacing as a vertical threat is still there now I know the Knicks don’t tap into it a lot because Brunson is a really poor lob thrower they don’t really have another guy um you know this has been my I know I know you’re a long time listening this has been my number one complaint for about since since I started the podcast five years ago thr this skyop RJ RJ would do it you would run a couple plays for RJ maybe he’ get one a game maybe but it’s you know it’s even when he doesn’t get the pass though he is and I clipped one last year against um the the Bucks late in the regular season where he just he he just it was a hard roll to the rim collapse Corner three wide open so there is area for him to help with the spacing but you’re you’re dead on that he is typically going to be camped out in the Ducker spa and the Nick’s goingon to have to um figure out other ways he’s gonna have to be a better finisher though that’s one area where he can’t drop off anymore his non- dunk finishing numbers have gone down three years in a row like he’s in 40% territory as a finisher with layups he’s got to get better at it and um that will if he can get back to where he was a couple of seasons ago will will will help out in terms of uh just being an effective offensive player maybe not like a a highly impactful one all right guys sorry to cut things off in the middle of our conversation with DJ but we got to leave you wanting some more so we’re going to continue with him tomorrow um I I can say it now it’s the end of the episode maybe tomorrow’s conversation might be even more interesting we get into a whole bunch of different topics including what the Knicks defense looks like what Julius randle’s future is on the team and whether the Knicks actually have enough minutes for everyone if they acquire a backup center it the math gets really really tough me and DJ try and figure it out we’ll get we’ll talk to you about that tomorrow on lockon Knicks [Music]
Knicks Film School’s DJ Zullo joins Gavin Schall to discuss Mikal Bridges’ offensive fit with the New York Knicks, why he’s not too concerned about losing Donte DiVincenzo from the Knicks starting lineup, and Mitchell Robinson’s impact on the team’s spacing relative to Isaiah Hartenstein.
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