Bridges Calls Thibs Out For High MPG

[HMFFL]

Exactly I hate thibs for this

Care to elaborate?

Should the players play 30 or less minutes per game?

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[JujitsuFlip]

Knicks bench isn’t exactly loaded. I’m sure he could chop some minutes during blowouts either direction, but for the most part, this seems like what they likely need to do to win at a high clip.

This is what the JB Bickerstaff truthers said about the Cavs bench last year. But with a new coach who won’t yank around minutes or bench guys for missing 1-2 threes, all of a sudden Wade, Okoro, Merill, Niang, and Levert were able to play at a considerably higher level this season. Jerome being healthy obviously helped a ton, but we had 4 productive bench players that weren’t properly utilized last season with a budget Thibs type coach

Shrug. I had seen 4 of those 5 Cavs be productive NBA players, that’s not surprising. Knicks have what? Deuce, then you can barely count Mitchell since he just got back. What else? Precious is meh, as is Shamet.

Shamet has played 27.4 MPG in this league... You truly believe 11.8 MPG is all he can muster?

Payne has played 23.3 MPG in the NBA, he's really only good for 14.2 MPG this season?

Wright has played 30.8 MPG before, he can't get off the bench?

I have Knicks fans on the GB telling me Robinson can play 27 MPG again no problem...

[ForeverTFC]

Chris Broussard said something the other day I thought was nuts but it may turn out to be true sooner than later. He said that Thibs was the guy needed to turn around the Knicks culture but he may not be the one who can take them to the promised land. He said the same thing happened with Bickerstaff in Cleveland. There are probably other examples too throughout the league's history where the first guy was the guy who helped build the foundations to change the team's fortunes but it's the 2nd guy hired afterward who can get them over the hump.

Same thing happened in Toronto. Casey needed to build the culture. Nurse was needed to finish the job.

And the opposite is true. Once the culture carriers were gone and the team needed to re-build its identity, everything fell apart in Toronto under Nurse. The guy oversaw such a toxic environment that his own assistant attempted a coup.

[jbk1234]

Knicks bench isn’t exactly loaded. I’m sure he could chop some minutes during blowouts either direction, but for the most part, this seems like what they likely need to do to win at a high clip.

This is what the JB Bickerstaff truthers said about the Cavs bench last year. But with a new coach who won’t yank around minutes or bench guys for missing 1-2 threes, all of a sudden Wade, Okoro, Merill, Niang, and Levert were able to play at a considerably higher level this season. Jerome being healthy obviously helped a ton, but we had 4 productive bench players that weren’t properly utilized last season with a budget Thibs type coach

I'm not a JBB truther, but we didn't have Ty Jerome for the entire year and Mobley, Mitchell, and Garland missed so many games, the starters barely played together last season. Our second units always have Mitchell/Mobley or Garland/Allen in them. When our starters miss extended periods, it impacts both units. We still don't have a legitimate backup 5 on the roster.

Even though Atkinson is running deep rotations, guys like TT or CPJ aren't getting real run. Bates is still stuck in the G League. Players like Niang got real run despite it hurting in January when Mobley went down.

[Statlanta]

Olajuwon, during his back to back titles, averaged 40 minutes a game and 42.5 during the playoffs lol.

Olajuwon AVERAGED 36 MINUTES A GAME OVER AN 18 YEAR CAREER.

While fasting.

[donkki]

People pay to see the stars play, not the bench warmers. In this sense I understand why you would play the starters as much as possible.

[kcktiny]

OMG, how dare they have to play 36 out of 48 minutes! Wilt says, today's players are soft.

Boy is this ever true. Players today, getting paid ungodly sums of $$ to play a game for a living, want less games per season, and now want to play less min/g.

Next thing they're gonna want is to play less playoff games just to win a title, just 3 game series instead of 7.

I worry especially for an undersized guard like Brunson having his prime cut short because of consecutive seasons of "overuse".

Why? Because he's asked to play 35 min/g, like he did the previous two seasons?

6-0 Chris Paul played 37 min/g his first 7 seasons in the league, twice played 3000+ minutes in a season. He's still playing today at the age of 39.

Tell Jalen to jump rope all the time when he's not playing like Tiny Archibald did to stay in top shape. Then he could play 46 min/g like Tiny did one season.

this seems like what they likely need to do to win at a high clip.

Correct. You want to win games? Play your best players as much as you can. Or else get a bench of young-in-shape-under-the-age-of-25 players that excel on defense to replace your starters like OKC has done.

Go look at Stockton and Malone's minutes while playing 82 virtually every year lol.

Karl Malone 1987-88 to 1996-97, a full decade, missed all of 3 games, averaged 3150 minutes/season, and 39 min/g.

Not to mention 108 playoff games that he averaged playing 42 min/g.

Thibs is a moron. Didnt learn anything from Rose and the bulls.

Thibs wants to win. Right now New York is winning games at a W-L% of .641, their highest winning percentage in 12 years. As a Knicks fan I'd be grateful.

Not like Utah getting fined today for not playing their best player (Markkanen).

Players don’t really practice anymore either. Playing 35 mpg 2-3x per week shouldn’t be a big deal. This generation is ridiculous

It sure is. Way to many divas.

Nba minutes today are 10x more physically taxing defensively than they were in the early 2000s. A lot less one on one iso and a lot more off the ball motion.

You guys sound ridiculous when you compare minutes from previous eras to today.

Oh please. Give us all a break.

You watch a lot of NBA now do you? If so then you know a ton of teams run offensive sets that start with a player in each corner that just stand there to give space to the team's other players. You truly don't have a clue what a real motion offense is.

Go watch a Denver Nuggets game from 1982-83 or 1983-84 where they ran a true motion offense with more passing and far less dribbling than today yet playing far more possessions per game.

The game pace in the late 70s and early 80s was faster than now. 11% faster in 1979-80 than this current season. That means there was more running/sprinting back then. From 1977-78 to 1982-83 a player played 3000+ minutes in a season 48 times.

The 6 years before this current season a player played 3000+ minutes in a season just once.

So players back then played a faster game pace than today, with more running/sprinting, and many played far more minutes in a season than do the players of today.

And saying the players of today cover more ground is nonsense. That chart above showing miles covered per 82 games is a complete fabrication. In the late 70s and early 80s players were playing 5%-11% more possessions per game than now, with far more up and down court coverage than now, yet somehow they averaged covering less miles than now? That's completely ludicrous.

Tell me, when was the last time you saw either James Harden or Luka Doncic actually sprint up or down the floor? That's right - never.

The pace is the highest it's ever been...

Patently false. And more than likely written by someone I would bet was not alive watching the NBA 40-50 years ago.

Also, if you go back and watch the tape, these guys didn't play hard every night during the regular season - especially against bad teams.

Don't have to watch tape. Was alive watching the NBA 40-50 years ago.

And you are dead wrong. There were very few guaranteed long term contracts back then. For the vast majority of players if you didn't play hard then you didn't play and weren't around for very long..

People pay to see the stars play, not the bench warmers. In this sense I understand why you would play the starters as much as possible.

Mikal Bridges makes $25 million this season. No matter however you look at it, either $300,000 per game or $12,000/hour for a 52 week 40 hr/wk job, that's a boatload of cash.

Just once I'd like to see a player interviewed who says he's grateful to be in the NBA, to be able to make so much money, and would be willing to play anywhere, anytime, for as long as the team needs me.

[Roger Murdock]

They don't make em like they used to.

Go look at Stockton and Malone's minutes while playing 82 virtually every year lol.

I know I'm likely getting trolled, but I can't resist.

Rough math is ~15.5 miles/game ran for a starting 5 about ten years ago, compared to ~18.8 miles/game now.

Much faster pace combined with far more active possessions on both sides of the ball

[JujitsuFlip]

Knicks bench isn’t exactly loaded. I’m sure he could chop some minutes during blowouts either direction, but for the most part, this seems like what they likely need to do to win at a high clip.

This is what the JB Bickerstaff truthers said about the Cavs bench last year. But with a new coach who won’t yank around minutes or bench guys for missing 1-2 threes, all of a sudden Wade, Okoro, Merill, Niang, and Levert were able to play at a considerably higher level this season. Jerome being healthy obviously helped a ton, but we had 4 productive bench players that weren’t properly utilized last season with a budget Thibs type coach

I'm not a JBB truther, but we didn't have Ty Jerome for the entire year and Mobley, Mitchell, and Garland missed so many games, the starters barely played together last season. Our second units always have Mitchell/Mobley or Garland/Allen in them. When our starters miss extended periods, it impacts both units. We still don't have a legitimate backup 5 on the roster.

Even though Atkinson is running deep rotations, guys like TT or CPJ aren't getting real run. Bates is still stuck in the G League. Players like Niang got real run despite it hurting in January when Mobley went down.

But jb coached the Cavs more than just the 2023-24 season and he sucked his entire 5 seasons as head coach, when it came to rotations.

[Sixers in 4]

[JDR720]

So you're just making things up to fit your argument.

10 times more taxing lol.

You don't ever look in the mirror and ask yourself why you must live in a fantasy to feel at ease?

Running from block to block and defending some other big guy that won't go out more than 15 ft from the rim isn't the same as perimeter defenders today having to fight over multiple screens or closing out on shooters that may or may not put the ball on the floor.

You guys sound ridiculous when you compare minutes from previous eras to today.

Oh ya man, no doubt. I don't see players just standing around in the corner every single game and not moving; my eyes are deceiving me.

There's Reggie Miller's running everywhere out there!

10 times tougher to play in today's league!

Look at some of the tape/highlights of the 90's and 80's. You'd see MJ or whoever going 1v1 in the midrange and the rest of the team standing and watching (usually inside the 3pt line). There was a lot less ball movement, and thus more standing around, back then than today.

And now the main thing that leads to the increased mileage is the 3pt shooting and 5-out lineups. A lot of the bigs back then didn't need to ever leave the paint. And now everyone, including the bigs, have to spend a lot of time chasing players around the 3pt line.

This doesn't really get into the AAU ball stuff, which grinds players into dust before they even get in college because they played a half dozen games every weekend during the summer.

[MrGoat]

Mikal Bridges is the ultimate ironman. 558 consecutive games played and counting which makes him easily the current NBA leader. You would have to be the stupidest boomer possible to take Thibs' side on this. The Knicks had actually had one of the very healthiest seasons of any team this year but that was because Jalen Brunson was smart enough to ask them bring in former two decade legendary Mavs medical trainer Casey Smith who I bet is also butting heads with Thibs right now

[jbk1234]

This is what the JB Bickerstaff truthers said about the Cavs bench last year. But with a new coach who won’t yank around minutes or bench guys for missing 1-2 threes, all of a sudden Wade, Okoro, Merill, Niang, and Levert were able to play at a considerably higher level this season. Jerome being healthy obviously helped a ton, but we had 4 productive bench players that weren’t properly utilized last season with a budget Thibs type coach

I'm not a JBB truther, but we didn't have Ty Jerome for the entire year and Mobley, Mitchell, and Garland missed so many games, the starters barely played together last season. Our second units always have Mitchell/Mobley or Garland/Allen in them. When our starters miss extended periods, it impacts both units. We still don't have a legitimate backup 5 on the roster.

Even though Atkinson is running deep rotations, guys like TT or CPJ aren't getting real run. Bates is still stuck in the G League. Players like Niang got real run despite it hurting in January when Mobley went down.

But jb coached the Cavs more than just the 2023-24 season and he sucked his entire 5 seasons as head coach, when it came to rotations.

It was 4 seasons (not counting the Beilen fiasco where he coached 11 games) and only three where we weren't rebuilding. Who are the players who should've gotten run but didn't?

The first season we were good (when no one thought we'd be), Rubio and Sexton had season ending injuries a couple months in. We were so bereft of ballhandlers besides Garland that we had to overpay for LeVert at the deadline (he promptly got injured). Mobley got injured in March. Allen got injured with two weeks left in the season.

Second season we ship out Lauri, Sexton, and Agbaji (who we drafted to fill a glaring 3&D hole) for Mitchell two weeks before training camp. Rubio is unavailable the first half of the season and a shell of his former self when he comes back. Love starts fading in the second half of the season, and Wade, who was supposed to fill his role, promptly gets injured.

I covered last season, so I'll ask again, who was he supposed to give run to who was on the roster? All I'm seeing are guys who are no longer in the NBA or are bouncing between the 15th man and the G League. All of Rondo, Danny Green, and Morris got real playoff minutes and we picked them up of the waiver wire (or in Rondo's case, for a fake second).

Altman is a better coach for this team and likely a better overall coach, but the idea that JBB had untapped potential waiting on his bench is just fantasy.

[SkyBill40]

Thats the joke. He is tied with his teammate for minutes played...

Except... Bridges has more. So nah.

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/nba-leaders-in-total-minutes-played

You know what, I tried. Total minutes? Thats where your going? Not MPG? On an obvious joke?

Good grief.

Wasn't an obvious joke at all. Use the green font next time if you really want to allude to sarcasm rather than trying to weakly pass it off as such when called on a lack of factual basis.

But do you. It's cool. Tis the general board after all.

Sent from my SM-F936U using RealGM mobile app

[zeebneeb]

Except... Bridges has more. So nah.

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/nba-leaders-in-total-minutes-played

You know what, I tried. Total minutes? Thats where your going? Not MPG? On an obvious joke?

Good grief.

Wasn't an obvious joke at all. Use the green font next time if you really want to allude to sarcasm rather than trying to weakly pass it off as such when called on a lack of factual basis.

But do you. It's cool. Tis the general board after all.

Sent from my SM-F936U using RealGM mobile app

It is factual. Right on nba.com he is listed 2nd in mpg, under his teammate.

Holy hell. Don't get the joke, and incorrect.

[SNPA]

Olajuwon, during his back to back titles, averaged 40 minutes a game and 42.5 during the playoffs lol.

Olajuwon AVERAGED 36 MINUTES A GAME OVER AN 18 YEAR CAREER.

While fasting.

Thibs should send this post to Bridges.

Embarrassing.

Ask for balance with less physical practices or something but don’t complain about having to play basketball for half an hour.

[NZB2323]

They don't make em like they used to.

Go look at Stockton and Malone's minutes while playing 82 virtually every year lol.

Stockton had 2 seasons where he averaged 37.8 mpg or more, which is how much Bridges is averaging this year. For his career he averaged 31.8 mpg.

[Handlez]

They don't make em like they used to.

Go look at Stockton and Malone's minutes while playing 82 virtually every year lol.

Stockton had 2 seasons where he averaged 37.8 mpg or more, which is how much Bridges is averaging this year. For his career he averaged 31.8 mpg.

Stockton averaged 34.7+ minutes 10 times in his career. He played 82 games 12 times.

And of course his career average mpg went down in his 35-40 playing years.

He was a tough SOB. Built far different than players today. Just be honest.

[Art Vandelay]

I love Thibs. He's the best Bulls coach since Phil. But..

He runs brutal practices. He puts players through hard workouts in the summers. He runs short rotations. He gives heavy minutes to the guys who are in the rotation. He coaches an aggressive style.

Make no mistake: This combination gets results. Guys play hard under Thibs, they don't take plays off, they seem to get stronger. They win awards, win games, and get homecourt advantage. They give fans a REALLY fun team to root for. Thibs teams are the most fun I had watching basketball since I was a little boy.

But when every starter on your team is getting worked so hard and long in games, in workouts, and in practice, you'll see increased injuries, as you do with Thibs teams. I wish it weren't true, but it is.

I denied the too-many-minutes argument as a Bulls fan. After a while, I noticed guys like John Lucas III, Nazr Mohammed, Marquis Teague, and Tony Snell were logging minutes -- even starting. And it's because the Bulls' best players were frequently dinged up. Then, when the best players came back, they came back to heavy minutes (see: Luol Deng). This kind of grind both got guys paid and shortened their careers (again, see: Luol Deng, also Joakim Noah).

Some years, the problem didn't present itself in the regular season. Thibs coaches AMAZING regular season teams. The problems came in the playoffs.

I want to see Thibs and the Knicks win a title -- they're a group of fun players and he's an amazing coach. But I've watched a lot of Thibs teams in April and May. I'm guessing I'll watch another one with similar results this year. I hope I'm wrong.

[NZB2323]

They don't make em like they used to.

Go look at Stockton and Malone's minutes while playing 82 virtually every year lol.

Stockton had 2 seasons where he averaged 37.8 mpg or more, which is how much Bridges is averaging this year. For his career he averaged 31.8 mpg.

Stockton averaged 34.7+ minutes 10 times in his career. He played 82 games 12 times.

And of course his career average mpg went down in his 35-40 playing years.

He was a tough SOB. Built far different than players today. Just be honest.

LeBron is averaging more than 34.7 mpg this season, and he’s 40.