Mike Brown not ready to make a Mikal Bridges role change despite offensive struggles

Mikal Bridges is basically a starter in name only at the moment. His minutes and production both resemble a bench player so far this season.It’s really only his inclusion in the pregame introductions that represents his status as a starter. But Knicks coach Mike Brown is not yet ready to make a change. “Mikal is a starter, so it’s not a question of that,” Brown said.

“Like a lot of players, they’ve had their good moments and their not-so-good moments.Mikal has a proven track record of playing at a pretty high level as a starter in this league.

So for me to make a quote-unquote panic decision and change it, right now we’re [11] games in or whatever we are, I’m not feeling it.” Bridges played just 17 minutes in the Knicks’ 115-107 loss to the Cavs Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden and only recorded two points.He was on the bench for the entirety of the fourth quarter. For the season, Bridges is averaging 24.4 minutes per game — notably fewer than Landry Shamet’s 25.9 minutes per game despite Shamet coming off the bench eight of the Knicks’ 11 games. Bridges’ offensive struggles to start the year have resulted in Brown increasingly opting to go with Shamet or Miles McBride on the court, particularly to close games.

Shamet and McBride have played 69 and 43 fourth-quarter minutes this year, respectively, compared to Bridges’ 41.Bridges’ 5.9 points per game are eighth most on the team, and he is shooting a woeful 32.9 percent from the field and 26.5 percent from 3-point range. He has scored just four total points in fourth quarters this year — fewer than bench-warmers Pacôme Dadiet and James Wiseman, who usually only play in garbage time, have produced.

It’s half of what Dalton Knecht, who has played in just three games this year, has delivered in fourth quarters. Brown’s changing sentiment is telling.He began the year saying that his starting five was entrenched and that everyone else on the roster was fighting f...