Is Mikal Bridges a bad fit for the Knicks?
Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O'Connor is joined by Casey Powell - a.k.a CP 'The Fanchise' - to discuss the 7-year veteran's role in New York's offense and why Tom Thibodeau may need to do more to implement him into the gameplan. Hear the full conversation on 'The Kevin O'Connor Show' and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
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Miel Bridges, his role in this offense is not as amplified as perhaps I thought it would be as a secondary creator next to Brunson.
And I'm a little bit surprised that Tibbs hasn't put Bridges more on ball, more in those creation situations when we saw he can do that in Brooklyn, but that's Tibbs, like Tibbs, he, he plays his guys who he trusts for 40 minutes a game.
He runs Brunson.
Into the ground because Brunson's dominant.
Why would you not?
He's one of the 10 to 15 best players in basketball right now this season.
So I get it, but at the same time, it's like, damn, I wish they could get even more out of Bridges to have more variety in their half-court offense.
It's been disappointing.
You saw it in the Christmas Day game when he went off against the Spurs, when he has the ball in his hands and good things happen.
And so, uh, it falls on tapes to create more opportunities for him to create optimal rotations and lineups that can feature Macau Bridges.
And this is the thing, when you, when you're in New York, this is a different beast.
This isn't Brooklyn, this isn't Phoenix.
When you're attacking the basket and you're fading away from contact all the time and not hitting.
The Knicks fans are gonna take you to task, man.
The guy does not get to the free throw line.
He doesn't get rebounds.
It's, that's not New York brand of all, even those, those guys weren't the best finishers.
Julius Rand on RJ Barrett, they were going to the cup.
That was one thing about those guys, especially RJ Barrett.
That, that was his bread and butter because his jumper wasn't fluid.
Mal Bridges, every time he breaks out a defender and he's driving into the paint, he's going backwards.
We're gri grinding.
New York, man, you can't do that, especially if you're not getting the intangibles either.
So it's been a rough goal and it's, it's been a rough sell in terms of this trade package to the fan base.
A lot of these guys are sour on the Macau Bridges trade.
Tibbs, I think, has his flaws as a coach.
But at the same time, as great as this front office has been in building this thing out, the Bridges deal does look like it may have been a mistake.
The Knicks gave up a ton for Bridges, but nobody could have seen like his shot entering the season the way it looks.
There's shared blame across the roster, and that's where it's like, you look at them, I feel like they're just, I don't view them as a contender.
I don't.
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Associated Press
16 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Belmont Stakes at Saratoga is a Kentucky Derby rematch
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Newspaper seeks public release of Centennial Park feasibility study
Niagara Falls City Council Chairman Jim Perry has talked with Mayor Robert Restaino about the unreleased feasibility study for the proposed Centennial Park arena and events campus and said he's encouraged by what he's been told about it so far. In response to questions from the Niagara Gazette on Thursday, Perry did not say whether he would support releasing the study to the public in response to a Freedom of Information Law request filed by the newspaper. Instead, Perry said he spoke to city attorney Tom DeBoy who acknowledged receipt of the newspaper's formal request for the document and was assured that the city's legal department is working on it. 'I'm not part of that process, but (DeBoy) assured me it's being done,' Perry said on Thursday. Restaino confirmed in an interview with the members of the local press on May 13 that he received what he described as an incomplete version of the study, which was prepared by the private Florida-based consulting firm Sports Facilities Advisory, LLC at a cost of $140,000, plus expenses. While he has since indicated that the study results support the city building Centennial Park, he has declined to release the contents publicly. In an interview with the Gazette earlier this week, Restaino said he intends to do so by the end of the month after the results are shared with 'stakeholders,' namely representatives from New York's lead economy development agency Empire State Development Corp. and National Grid, the two entities that covered the city's cost for the study. 'One of the things we will do is meet with the stakeholders who paid for the study and show it to them,' Restaino told the Gazette in an interview earlier this week. 'And then we'll release it to the public. This month everything is going to be out in the open.' During an appearance on Monday on 'Your Community Accountability with Sam and Jon,' a Falls-based social media program aired on Facebook and YouTube, Perry said he has had a 'lot of discussions about it' and that it 'looks positive.' On Thursday, Perry told the newspaper he hadn't seen the study but had talked to the mayor about it. 'I can't share everything because this will be up to the mayor to unveil, but this project should be one of the more positive advancements to our local economy I've seen in my 70-plus years here in the city if everything falls into place,' Perry said. On Thursday, the newspaper filed a formal Freedom of Information request with the city's legal department and clerk's office, requesting a copy of the study from Restaino's administration. The newspaper's request cited two opinions from the New York State Committee on Open Government that indicate state law allows public agencies to release documents in their possession even in instances where they are considered to be drafts or incomplete. 'Draft records are subject to FOIL,' said Paul Wolf, a Williamsville attorney and founder of the government transparency group, the New York Coalition for Open Government. The city clerk's office acknowledged the newspaper's request on Thursday afternoon. Under state law, public agencies are allowed up to 20 business days to either grant or deny requests for information. In its initial response, the city clerk's office indicated that should 'circumstances arise' that prevent the delivery of a response within 20 business, the newspaper would be contacted with a 'new response date.' 'Examples of circumstances that may lead to extended response times include staff shortages, requests for a large volume of records and requests that require significant document redaction and/or seek documents that are not maintained electronically,' the response from the clerk's office notes. The results of the feasibility study are expected to more clearly define elements of the Centennial Park project and shed light on whether it would, as proposed, be viable in the Falls. A previous arena study, commissioned by Niagara County in 2017, concluded that the city lacked a sufficient number of hotel rooms needed to support such a project at that time. City officials, including Restaino and Perry, are seeking to acquire, using the city's power of eminent domain, 10 acres of land currently owned by the private firm Niagara Falls Redevelopment for the purposes of building Centennial Park. The courts have sided with the city's argument that it has the right to forcibly acquire the property — located off John B. Daly Boulevard at the intersection of 10th and Falls streets — for the purposes of developing the 'park.' The city is currently engaged in litigation, arguing that 5 of those 10 acres are actually still owned by the city as NFR failed, more than a decade ago, to properly obtain permission from the state to annex what was at the time public parkland formerly known as 10th Street park. NFR is disputing the city's position in court. The company also insists it intends to use the 10 acres for the first phase of a project of its own, a proposed $1.5 billion data center it says it intends to build in partnership with the Canadian firm, Urbacon. 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New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
What should the Buffalo Sabres do with JJ Peterka? 4 key questions
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The NHL offseason began in earnest this week in Buffalo with general managers, agents and other league personnel descending upon Western New York for the annual NHL Scouting Combine. And it feels like the Sabres will be at the center of a lot of the NHL's offseason chatter. This is a high-stakes summer for general manager Kevyn Adams as he enters his sixth season on the job. The weight of their league-record playoff drought is getting heavier with every season. But this offseason is about more than just the pressure from the fan base. The Sabres have six restricted free agents, and Alex Tuch is eligible for a contract extension on July 1. That's a lot of moving pieces for a team that hasn't lived up to expectations the last two seasons. Advertisement Of those restricted free agents, JJ Peterka is the one whose situation is most intriguing. The 23-year-old is fresh off a career-best 68-point season one year after he had 50 points. 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If anything, the interest in Peterka has intensified since his name has started to pop up in more trade rumors from league insiders. The Sabres' preferred outcome is getting Peterka locked up to another contract. The key, as The Athletic's Chris Johnston wrote last week, is whether Peterka is willing to make that same commitment to the organization. If he's not, the Sabres' decision-making gets a bit more complicated. Speaking on Sportsnet 590 The Fan this week, Elliotte Friedman said, 'Peterka is clearly trying to make noise to force them to make a move.' If that's the case, Adams has a trickier situation on his hands, and he needs to keep his options open. So, what are the Sabres' options? Peterka is a dynamic player. He would have significant value in a trade, especially because outside of Mitch Marner and Nikolaj Ehlers, the free-agent pool isn't deep with goal-scoring wingers. But the Sabres won't be interested in making their team worse this summer. 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If Peterka doesn't want to be in Buffalo, signing an offer sheet would be a risk, especially if it's long-term. The Sabres have the cap space to match even an aggressive offer sheet. They would like to have him here long-term. He's a known favorite of owner Terry Pegula. If another team wants to do the negotiating for the Sabres, it would make Adams' life easier. The one caveat to that is if a team gets creative and signs him to a short-term offer sheet with a big cap number. That could make Buffalo's decision a bit more complicated and be a risk worth taking for Peterka. If the Sabres match a short-term offer sheet, Peterka is not locked in long-term and has a bit more control over his future. According to AFP Analytics' latest projections, Peterka could command just about $7.8 million per year on a seven-year deal or $4.6 million per year on a two-year deal. Peterka could have the leverage to negotiate bigger numbers, but that's the ballpark the Sabres will be dealing with. Adams already acknowledged the Sabres need to sell Peterka on the team's vision. Maybe that opens the door for a short-term deal that allows Adams to prove to Peterka that the Sabres can become a winner. It's not an ideal outcome for the Sabres because Peterka would be due for another contract when the cap continues to climb. But it might be a necessary compromise depending on how much Peterka is willing to dig in. The Sabres have four more years of team control with Peterka before he becomes a free agent, so they don't have to move him. Advertisement Central to all of Buffalo's decision-making when it comes to Peterka is properly evaluating the type of player he is and the type of player he can become. His goal-scoring and playmaking ability have been evident during his first three NHL seasons. He had 27 goals and 41 assists last season after 28 goals and 22 assists the season before. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Sabres had 46 percent of the expected goals when Peterka was on the ice at five-on-five, so his two-way game still needs improvement. Peterka also noted toward the end of the year that he's striving to be more consistent and wants to make sure his body language is better during frustrating moments. Peterka has already proven he's a capable top-six winger. He has spent plenty of time on Buffalo's top line and power play, and there's still plenty of upside in his game. After investing so much time and energy into his development, the Sabres wouldn't be eager to see him leave just as he's beginning to enter his prime. But like the rest of Buffalo's offseason, it's complicated.
