OT: Miles Bridges declares for NBA Draft
Per official MSU basketball Twitter:
A true #SpartanDawg through and through.
— Spartan Basketball (@MSU_Basketball) March 28, 2018
Thank you for everything, @MilesBridges01!#GoGreen pic.twitter.com/O7GgqNx4ox
March 28th, 2018 at 10:50 AM ^
Great comment
March 28th, 2018 at 10:48 AM ^
Izzo had two years with a sure-fire first round pick and did absolutely nothing with him. Bridges is built like a linebacker and would be a great stretch 4 but spent his time at MSU playing on the wing. Wasted talent. Tom Izzo is garbage
March 28th, 2018 at 10:49 AM ^
That face when you have all the memories to look back on
March 28th, 2018 at 10:58 AM ^
did get what I can only imagine was an average to slightly above average steak at the Redwood Lodge. So there is that.
March 28th, 2018 at 10:50 AM ^
Cost himself a year of income. Leaving with a losing record against Michigan. Hope he advised Jackson to leave as well.
March 28th, 2018 at 10:51 AM ^
Possibly Ward. Ward/Izzo do not like each other. Reminds me of Speight/Pep.
March 28th, 2018 at 10:54 AM ^
I know he doesn't want to sit a year but I feel like he is lucky to go in the upper half of the first round if he leaves for the draft. No polish and a bit of a head case.
March 28th, 2018 at 10:59 AM ^
The kid needs to stay and get his shit together.
March 28th, 2018 at 11:02 AM ^
ddn't really think "staying" and "getting his shit together" are synonymous at Michigan State right now.
March 28th, 2018 at 12:05 PM ^
March 28th, 2018 at 11:55 AM ^
I'm not sure what you mean there. I think he's a pretty good player and has just about reached his ceiling as a college player. He's not going to get taller or more athletic. If he loves college he should stay, but in basketball terms I doubt it would make much difference in his pro stock.
March 28th, 2018 at 11:01 AM ^
I'm sure Ward knows he's pretty much a 3-4 year college player. But he's a very good one when he's on the floor. He's just upset that Izzo doesn't realize he's a good player.
If Jackson and Ward leave, MSU will go from having the best depth at frontcourt that I can remember in recent CBB history, to incredibly thin. I know people made fun of Carter, but he and Goins were serviceable players. Izzo's problem was that he didn't realize that the players in front of them were far superior.
March 28th, 2018 at 11:16 AM ^
March 28th, 2018 at 12:14 PM ^
March 28th, 2018 at 12:47 PM ^
and he probably will never be an NBA player.
He's a throwback post player type which the NBA doesn't have much use for (will clog the lane). He doesn't protect the rim well enough for the NBA, doesn't defend the perimeter/pick and roll (see anklebreak.gif) and doesn't have an outside shot.
His only hope of getting to the NBA is developing an outside shot, because he's stuck with his subpar length and athleticism (maybe that's the motivation for Europe - to play for a team that'll let him develop on outside game?). And even then, he'd be a bench/role player at best.
He's not an NBA prospect right now and I don't think he's close.
March 28th, 2018 at 12:04 PM ^
You know, watching those two interact courtside, I honestly wondered about that - there always seemed to be some tension when those two were talking. If Ward leaves, I wonder if it is simply because of that, which wouldn't necessarily be the best reason to declare for the draft. It probably is a good reason to seek a transfer, if you were so inclined.
March 28th, 2018 at 12:25 PM ^
First I've heard it stated with any sort of clarity.
They stay under the radar. Speight and Pep do NOT like each other. Part of the reason Speight is gone and part of the reason Drevno is gone. I have a laundry list of details that I will not share on the open forum.
March 29th, 2018 at 12:17 PM ^
March 29th, 2018 at 11:09 PM ^
I can't think of one since Kelvin Torbert and I only remember him because MSU people still bring him up.
March 28th, 2018 at 10:53 AM ^
But at the same time I am skeptical.....he seems to play soft for a kid with his skills. Would love to see him banging inside instead of floating aorund the 3 point line.
I think Jackson will be back.....he seems to need more meat on his bones. But gaain I've heard that his parents were unhappy with his PT at the end of the year. Gotta beleive they could have beaten Syracuse with him on the floor in place of carter.
March 28th, 2018 at 10:58 AM ^
Some have him as high as 4th taken before Bridges. I think he leaves, but who knows, Bridges stayed an extra year.
March 28th, 2018 at 11:09 AM ^
guy is a multi-sport talent!
March 28th, 2018 at 11:19 AM ^
and everything that went down there this year - not to mention the $ that come with being a top 5-7 lottery pick - I would be absolutely stunned if he stays.
I was surprised Miles stayed last year - but probably thought 70% chance he goes, 30% he stays for another year w Sparty. At that time, in addition to potential development to move up his potential stock to a top 5 lottery pick, also felt like he had a chance to lead Sparty to a national championship. JJJ is probably already a top 5-7 lottery pick, don't think he envisions the team being a national champion next year, and they are in the middle of the Nasser thing, with Izzo aging a year as each week goes on.
Whether he values education/likes college or not - will be completed shocked if he stays, given the overall situation.
March 28th, 2018 at 11:04 AM ^
JJJ will be more likely to put meat on his bones as a full time professional than in college. He won't turn 19 until the NBA season is about ready to start. He's younger than most one and dones. He's got so much potential. He's not going to develop under Izzo though. He doesn't utilize his best strengths and is horrible at his time management.
March 28th, 2018 at 11:33 AM ^
March 28th, 2018 at 11:33 AM ^
March 28th, 2018 at 12:12 PM ^
If Jackson is smart he'll leave. I think he is actually graded higher on most draft boards than Bridges, and if there was going to be a year to come back because the following year was when MSU would have enough pieces to win it all, this past year was it.
That being said, as much as I think Izzo is over the hill at this point in his career, he has an uncanny ability to convince players to come back who should by all rights high tail it off to the NBA and never look back.
What Izzo knows they got away with while they were on campus.
March 28th, 2018 at 11:01 AM ^
I know the term Michigan Man often rubs people the wrong way, and at times, it’s been downright misused, overused, etc.
But SpartanDawg? Really? With the “awg” spelling? I have so many questions. Where the hell did that come from, what does it mean, and who honestly thinks it’s a good idea?
If I was an alum of that school, I’d want that term to die in a fire immediately. But I’m guessing they love it over at RCMB.
March 28th, 2018 at 11:23 AM ^
March 28th, 2018 at 11:35 AM ^
Every Spartan I know won't shut up about spartan Dawgs... when they cover as a dog in the fall, it sounds cool. the rest of the time they sound like idiots.
jdon
March 28th, 2018 at 12:07 PM ^
March 28th, 2018 at 12:44 PM ^
When I created my first (and only) AOL account, my user name was "cdawg." I was also 11 at the time. And this was more than 20 years ago.
March 28th, 2018 at 11:10 AM ^
March 28th, 2018 at 11:11 AM ^
Hope coming back was worth it to you, Bridges. All you really got out of it was getting swept by Michigan and a whimpering first-round tourney exit by losing to literally the last team to make it in.
March 28th, 2018 at 12:05 PM ^
Give them credit. They took down a scrappy Bucknell team in round 1.
March 28th, 2018 at 12:06 PM ^
Whoops, meant to say first weekend exit.
Good catch.
March 28th, 2018 at 11:16 AM ^
As a Syracuse alum, count me unimpressed by Miles Bridges.
March 28th, 2018 at 11:35 AM ^
can't blame you, but I don't really think those kids were getting coached by the end of the season. At all. If you could pick one player to put at the free throw line of that zone in all of college basketball, it could very likely be Miles Bridges. The fact that Izzo did not do that tells me that he simply was not paying attention by the end of the season.
Miles Bridges is a very impressive athlete and seems to be a good kid. As a basketball player, there was zero improvement from year 1 to 2 (directly related to poor coaching), and his performance against Syracuse was dreadful.
March 28th, 2018 at 11:16 AM ^
He could find his way to be a Tobias Harris-type player or he could be a Josh Smith or Marvin Williams.
He'll have a couple contracts, probably finish with a career average of around 13 points per game, and he will always live with the fact that Michigan beat him 3 straight times at 3 different venues.
March 28th, 2018 at 11:22 AM ^