Revived wrote:Bridges is still a very good defender. But I think his effort has slightly decreased because of him trying to take on more responsibility on offense.
Something he really needs to do in the offseason is get stronger. I was hoping he did this in the last off season but strength wise he looks about the same as he did in the bubble. Defensively he has issues with the players that have strength and power on him. Ben Simmons used this to his advantage couple games ago and Zion is another one.
Bridges is super lengthy but players just use their body to create contact which in turn creates space because Bridges goes flying and they get space. Sometimes it gets called an offensive foul, sometimes it doesn’t.
Bridges is listed at 210 lbs. A lot of the elite wings like Bron, Giannis, Kawhi, Butler are at or close to 240 lbs. Then Luka, Durant, Tatum, George are all around 220 lbs. For reference, Crowder is at 235 lbs and PJ Tucker’s at 245 lbs. If Bridges can at least get to that 225 lbs then he’ll be fine in the long run.
Right now though Bridges play isn’t really a concern imo he’s fine.
And as for the other comments on the game thread about him being a very overrated defender and more avg to slightly above avg, that's way off, especially for his age. And then the other statement about being very overrated on this board I don't know is accurate...and I think some overall context is missing which I will explain below the defensive part below...I think the main thing is he's a lot of people's favorite player due to the IQ, zero ego, chemistry with teammates, and likability.
Bridges is a great versatile defender. He's not among the best in the league, but he is the best on our team at guarding multiple positions (Paul may be better on just guarding 1 position) and one of the best of the league at his age. You have Simmons, OG and a few others up there.
But what makes Bridges so special is his overall IQ...on defense this is on ball/off ball, but his IQ and chemistry with people on offense..he always knows what to do..he is consistently our best finisher at the rim...this year he is slightly ahead of Ayton at 74.6% compared to 73.8% from Ayton, and that exceed every other starter by quite a bit. Cam is up there too but doesn't do it as much. Now I know a high % of these are assisted, but often times he just straight drives from the corner and dunks.
Then he is our best 3pt shooter, at least among guys with over 45 attempts (he has 134 attempts).
These are the two most valuable shots at the NBA and he takes 74% of this shots from these areas.
He has also added some nice iso moves this year.
So given the fact he is our best defender, 3 pt shooter and rim finisher with probably the highest bbiq outside of Paul makes him a very good player particularly at his age.
And I think another things about him that people love is that he seems to have no ego and is a great team and glue type player who is generally very likable.
