New York Knicks star shooting guard Mikal Bridges recently approached head coach Tom Thibodeau over the way he’s distributed his minutes this season.
Knicks: Mikal Bridges encourages HC to play bench more
According to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post, Bridges prodded coach Thibodeau to ease his starter’s heavy playing time and trust his bench more:
“Sometimes it’s not fun on the body,” Bridges said. “You’ll want that as a coach but also talked to him a little bit knowing that we’ve got a good enough team where our bench guys can come in and we don’t need to play 48 (minutes), 47.”
Bridges also expounded on how the Knicks’ leader can overcome his perceived coaching flaw:
“I think he’s not arguing about it. Sometimes I think he just gets in his ways and he gets locked in. He just wants to keep the guy out there,” Bridges said. “Sometimes you’ve got to tell him, like Landry (Shamet), for example or somebody, keep him out there, they’re playing well.”
Knicks starters among league leaders in minutes played
Bridges and his teammate Josh Hart lead the NBA this season playing 37.8 minutes per game. OG Anunoby logs the fifth-most minutes in the Association with 36.6 MPG.
Coach Thibodeau’s management of the Knicks’ rotation has come under fire this season. His longstanding reputation for flooring the gas with his first five was dampened the last couple of seasons in New York before resurfacing this time around.
Knicks bench needs to step up to foster lineup balance
Admittedly, the Knicks’ second unit has not given coach Thibodeau an abundance of confidence to play them more minutes. They score the fewest bench points in the league with 21.5 PPG.
Thus, if the Villanova product wants coach Thibodeau to institute more balance in the lineup, his teammates will have to give him more reason to. Nevertheless, as the playoffs near, the Knicks will have to find a better solution for their lineup so that it doesn’t break down like last year.