Flint product and five-star hype train, Miles Bridges, will play all five positions on the floor this season and has the trust from a Hall of Fame coach to do so.
“(Tom) Izzo has me doing everything. Iso, stretching, basically a point forward,” said Bridges after Tuesday’s open practice “It’s going to test me. And I know Izzo has a lot of trust in me and I have a lot of trust in myself to make plays for the team. Plus there’s a lot of great players on this team that I can pass to.”
The freshman is going to be asked to produce a lot on the offensive end with Spartan mainstays Denzel Valentine and Bryn Forbes gone. The pair accounted for 1,110 of the team’s 2,727 points, or 40 percent, last season. He will even be called upon in the waning seconds of the shot clock to get a bucket. This has lead Bridges to work on scoring from all areas of the court.
“I got to get to the rim if we need a point,” Bridges said.
And although there will be a lot asked of him, Bridges likes the comfort of knowing scoring threats like Eron Harris, Alvin Ellis and Matt McQuaid are by his side.
“My game is way more mature. I don’t try to force things and I’m always looking for my teammates now,” said the former Huntington Prep star. “In high school I was really only doing iso plays. This is a sigh of relief for me.”
Between losing a lot of offensive production, freshmen still trying to figure out their roles, Izzo trying to figure out who plays well together and who comes off the bench well, the exhibition game against Northwood University has more weight than it might in years past.
“Thursday’s a big game because exhibition games are never a big deal or aren’t usually a big deal,” Izzo said. “But when you lose eight guys, or whatever it was, from last year’s team it is a big deal. There might be a lot of freshmen thrown into the tuba section.”
Bridges is likely to get the start in the contest, and said the exhibition game will help him discover how he’ll be used.
“I’m playing one through five. Whatever coach puts me at, I’m not complaining. I know he has to do that because the injuries we have,” Bridges said. “Get used to me playing around the floor against different guys.”
