Smallwood: Defensive-minded Mikal Bridges has earned Wildcats' trust

VILLANOVA COACH Jay Wright said he did not have to guess as to when he could put more trust in redshirt freshman guard Mikal Bridges.

He knew his other players would let him know.

"More so than the coaches trusting Mikal, the players trusted him," Wright said Monday as the Wildcats were beginning preparation for the NCAA Tournament's Final Four this weekend. "I trust guys when I know their teammates trust them. Those guys trust him.

"The evolution has to start with the player. You can believe in him all you want, but he's still got to prove himself before you really trust him.

"Our goal coming in was, let's just get him out there, get him experience and see what he will do. By the halfway point in the year, he'd developed everyone's trust."

On Saturday, that will likely be on display when South Region champion Villanova (33-5) faces West champion Oklahoma (29-7) in a national semifinal in Houston.

Bridges, who played at Great Valley High School in Malvern, will be a key player in the Wildcats' rotation. The 6-7 guard with a wing span of about seven feet won't know for sure how many minutes he'll play, but it's a sure bet that, for a good portion of them, he will be matched up defensively against Sooners national player of the year candidate Buddy Hield, the high-scoring senior wing who is projected as a top-five pick in the 2016 NBA draft.

Nobody has any concern that Bridges will be overmatched.

"He brings something special to our defense," senior forward Daniel Ochefu said. "The main thing that stands out on defense is that, when he is at the top of our press, he's a pest.

"People don't want to see a 6-7 guy with a 6-11, or whatever his wing span is. He's so active, and he gets steals. He gets us going with his defensive style and really acts as our spark plug."

An 18.5-point scorer as a senior in high school, Bridges had to adjust to being redshirted for the 2014-15 season, then earn minutes on an experienced team this season.

There's the adage that the best way for a young player to earn minutes is to demonstrate he can consistently play tough defense. Bridges took that to heart during practices last year, and that continued into this season. It earned him the respect of his teammates.

"He's just shown everyone his level of commitment to Villanova basketball throughout the season," senior Ryan Arcidiacono said. "It's been terrific to see him grow and show how much he can affect a game on the defensive end."

The Wildcats pride themselves on being a gritty defensive team, and always have room for another guy who is going to get up in an opponent's jersey and make him work for everything.

"I just look at it as I have to bring positive energy in the time that I am out there," said Bridges, who played 26 minutes and had five steals in 'Nova's win on Saturday over No. 1-seeded Kansas in the South Region final. "My confidence is high, because I know coach and the other players trust me when I'm out there.

"On defense, it's really a lot about trust, and knowing that my teammates have faith in me has really helped me to be confident to be able to go out and do what I am supposed to."

Villanova does a lot of rotation on defensive assignments, but Bridges seems to end up playing a lot against the opponent's primary ballhandler.

"We do our three-quarter press all the time, but it's really good when (Bridges) is at the top of it," Wright said. "He's so long and he really likes playing defense.

"He brings us a different identity. As a coach, you need to come up a couple of different kinds of press, but just by putting him at the top makes our basic press different."

Bridges said he does not yet know what his role will be against Oklahoma. He played 27 minutes when the Sooners hammered the Wildcats, 78-55, in December in the Pearl Harbor Classic, handing Villanova its first loss of the season.

Hield had 18 points, but Oklahoma's other senior guard, Isaiah Cousins, scored 19. Bridges says he recalls being matched up against both. He said his approach is to be prepared to guard any player he comes up against.

"Coach has confidence in all of us to be able to play hard defense," Bridges said. "Coach hasn't told us who is going to be on whom. It doesn't matter.

"You have to know the scouting report of each player, because, (at) some point, you are going to be switched on everybody and asked to guard them.

"My mindset is to just be ready to defend against anyone, and not just one particular person."

Wright and the Wildcats have complete trust that Bridges will be able to accomplish that.

@SmallTerp