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Michigan State Basketball: Miles Bridges is the real deal

By Carmine Carcieri

Mar 30, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; From left to right McDonald's All-Americans Miles Bridges (0) and Joshua Langford (25) who both will be attending Michigan State pose for a group photo before the McDonald's High School All-American Game at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 30, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; From left to right McDonald's All-Americans Miles Bridges (0) and Joshua Langford (25) who both will be attending Michigan State pose for a group photo before the McDonald's High School All-American Game at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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Michigan State basketball’s dynamic freshman forward is off to a solid start.

It’s only one exhibition game, but five-star freshman forward Miles Bridges showed off his full arsenal on Thursday night.

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Bridges dropped 33 points on 12-of-14 shooting, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out three assists in Michigan State’s 93-69 win over Northwood.

Northwood is a Division II team, so this game certainly won’t be an indication of what is to come during the season. However, it gives us a chance to talk about Bridges and his game headed into the 2016-17 campaign.

The biggest question mark regarding Bridges is how he will play on the offensive end of the floor. After a successful high school career, we know about his ability run the floor, his versatility on defense, his insane athleticism and his skills on the offensive and defensive glass.

But with Denzel Valentine and Bryn Forbes gone, the Spartans need all the scorers they can get. Senior guard Eron Harris should be the team’s top scorer with a larger role this year, but he also struggled with consistency in the Big Ten in 2015-16.

Hurting Bridges’ case is the fact that he doesn’t exactly have the most consistent jump shot, instead, thriving on attacking the rim and finishing with ferocity.

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Let’s get this straight: Bridges is very rarely (if at all) going to score 33 points in a single game this season. In fact, Bridges is very unlikely to average more than 15 points per game this year.

What Michigan State does need from him though is 11-to-13 points a night and for him to consistently impact the game in other areas. Bridges will need to carry over his elite rebounding and athleticism from high school. He must make plays in transition, score easy baskets and help guard numerous different positions, whether it’s in the post or on the perimeter.

Most importantly, Michigan State needs Bridges to create mismatches. With Gavin Schilling and Ben Carter out indefinitely (who knows how long they will be gone), Bridges must play a lot of small ball four and even some five.

If Bridges can start hitting threes from the perimeter and constantly start making plays off the dribble, it will help space the floor for the other three or four guards.

The Spartans will basically be playing 4-on-5 on the offensive end due to Lourawls ‘Tum Tum’ Nairn’s limited range and overall offensive game, so that makes Bridges that much more important.

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The 33 points is just a start. Again, it’s only an exhibition, thus we are certainly not saying that Bridges is going to be the next Draymond Green or Michigan State star. But it’s the beginning of what could be a monster season for the freshman. And the Spartans aren’t going anywhere without Bridges playing his A-game.

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