Mikal Bridges outdoor shooting, a sensitive subject in New York

In a major problem with his outside shot during the preseason, Mikal Bridges had to change his sights for the start of the regular season. It failed, since a new player of the Knicks struggling again with a crash from a distance last night in Boston. Result: an ugly 2/7 of the parking lot, and doubts that become more and more intense.

It’s a video that got people talking quite a bit this summer.

We saw Mikal Bridges, who had just arrived from New York, using long shots. Nothing special so far, because even Ben Simmons is used to doing this. Well, nothing, or almost nothing, because the winger still seemed to have changed his shooting mechanics a bit.

Since then, several games have passed and we can say: Brooklyn Bridges has found a new look. The problem is that it barely fits into… anything anymore.

Mikal Bridges and Landry Shamet take pictures together on the first day of #Knicks training camp. Cam Payne’s video bombs near the end pic.twitter.com/zM89rrWNyo

– Kristian Winfield (@Krisplashed) October 1, 2024

As proof, he’s having a terrible preseason in that regard. It’s very simple, in four games played during the preparation, Bridges finished 2/19 at 3-pts. All of them finished with a very ugly 0/10 long against the Wizards in the last game before the official restart. An unprecedented situation, even more so for a guy who has been known to be reliable behind the arc since coming to the NBA (37.5% in his career). But then, why did you decide to review a mechanism that, although not very academic, was rather effective?

In fact, and according to his statements, Mikal Bridges wants to rediscover the comfort of shooting from his university days. With Villanova, the player shot 40% from distance, making him one of the most promising snipers in the country. However, when he got to the NBA, Mikey’s shooting mechanics changed a bit and was less fluid. This is the mechanic he used all those years and eventually he got used to it until he was a real threat on the outside in the NBA. As it is, a back to basics not always the best.

Big changes to Mikal Bridges jump shot mechanics going into this year. He hit a career high .425 in 20-21 and you can see the frame-by-frame changes he’s been making since then, culminating in a very high hitting streak before being let go. spread Lower set point = faster, better view… pic.twitter.com/jFm7DL1dMi

— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) October 14, 2024

Last night, for the regular season opener, Bridges was in trouble again. Facing the Celtics released from afar, the authors of 29 bombs – equivalent full-time schedule – Mikal converted only two of his seven 3-point attempts, including an ugly 0/5 in the first half. Something that will worry Knicks fans even more after the gigabyte move this summer. If the player continues to struggle so much with his shooting, perhaps it would be better to return to what he has done successfully all these years? A valid question, even if we don’t want to talk about it too much in the Knicks locker room.

“We are not paying attention to this conversation about his shooting. He works every day, things will go well for him. The discussions about that are ridiculous because he was a hunter with almost 40% success. – Josh Hart uses Celtics – Knicks

Surprisingly or not, we know that changing mechanics during your career isn’t always the best idea, as Giannis Antetokounmpo can attest. If the Greek was never an elite shooter, he nevertheless had much more suitable mechanics during his NBA debut.

Now, all we can do is hope for Bridges and New York that the winger gets his vision back soon, or gets it back. Otherwise, the season could be very busy in the Big Apple.