John-Blair Bickerstaff: Currently The 6th Longest Tenured Head Coach

[Cavatt]

He should absolutely should be right?

Leading a young team to more wins - check. Creating an identity and infectious culture - check. Literally taking the team from last to first on defense - check (Koby deserves credit here too, and ofc the all the guys themselves). Effective adjustments, good handling of minutes. It's the complete package. Plus he's dealing with a huge number of injuries and not much continuity yet this season, yet the effort is the same.

To think how disappointed I was when he was appointed after Beilein... It's like he was actually the perfect man for this job. Huge kudos. Don't think there is a single person who isn't a fan now.

My favorite thing though from it all is the creativity with lineups. 3 bigs, 2 centers, no point guards. Just a bunch of fun, unusual but working(!) lineups.

Yeah I love that he is willing to experiment, and he seems to put lineups out there just to get data on them. His in game adjustments are about the best I can recall from any coach we have had in my memory. He has an underrated ability to see what is happening in the game and makes changes. You don't see those timeouts where he talks to his guys and they go do the same dumb shit they did before the TO.

I am very very curious about in between game adjustments and how he is able to influence the play of his guys. A couple of big problems he has seemed to address and gotten his guys to buy in.

Drummond was handling the ball a lot in traffic starting out in the paint. That seems to have been eliminated. He has instead been putting it on the floor farther out where he has more space against single coverage by a slower footed center. That seems to work quite well and I think that is a much more effective look than any Drummond post up.

It may have been necessity with Cedi, but I hope JB talked to him and got him to alter his game. He has been handling waaaay less in the half court. It seems like he has almost stopped doing it. His ballhandling isn't strong enough. He is still pushing off a rebound or turnover, which is fine because he is fine in the open floor. His passing though. A lot of us thought originally that he could be more of point forward type and should be passing more. His trouble really comes when he forces a shot off the dribble or waves Sexton/Garland off and tries to create in the half court. Instead lately he has been passing instead of dribbling and it is has been great. He seems to be passing first and then getting the ball back, which is just so important and really adds to the cohesiveness of the team.

I think it is a little underrated how JB has been putting guys in position to succeed even when he doesn't have the right personnel. This was actually supposed to be Beilein's strength, but to see it from JB is more than I could have asked.

He's the right guy right now for sure. If they can make it to the playoffs I will be very interested to see what he does. He has a very good handle on what his guys are capable of and he really gives them a lot of confidence.

 

[Muffinalt]

Yeah I love that he is willing to experiment, and he seems to put lineups out there just to get data on them. His in game adjustments are about the best I can recall from any coach we have had in my memory. He has an underrated ability to see what is happening in the game and makes changes. You don't see those timeouts where he talks to his guys and they go do the same dumb shit they did before the TO.

I am very very curious about in between game adjustments and how he is able to influence the play of his guys. A couple of big problems he has seemed to address and gotten his guys to buy in.

Drummond was handling the ball a lot in traffic starting out in the paint. That seems to have been eliminated. He has instead been putting it on the floor farther out where he has more space against single coverage by a slower footed center. That seems to work quite well and I think that is a much more effective look than any Drummond post up.

It may have been necessity with Cedi, but I hope JB talked to him and got him to alter his game. He has been handling waaaay less in the half court. It seems like he has almost stopped doing it. His ballhandling isn't strong enough. He is still pushing off a rebound or turnover, which is fine because he is fine in the open floor. His passing though. A lot of us thought originally that he could be more of point forward type and should be passing more. His trouble really comes when he forces a shot off the dribble or waves Sexton/Garland off and tries to create in the half court. Instead lately he has been passing instead of dribbling and it is has been great. He seems to be passing first and then getting the ball back, which is just so important and really adds to the cohesiveness of the team.

I think it is a little underrated how JB has been putting guys in position to succeed even when he doesn't have the right personnel. This was actually supposed to be Beilein's strength, but to see it from JB is more than I could have asked.

He's the right guy right now for sure. If they can make it to the playoffs I will be very interested to see what he does. He has a very good handle on what his guys are capable of and he really gives them a lot of confidence.

Yes I love that he doesn't pigeon hole any guy into certain things. He lets guys play to their strengths, while eliminating detrimental tendencies. They have freedoms to try anything, as long as it's within the team concept.

A very nice characteristic as a coach, and an amazing one for a young team looking to grow.

 

[foucault87]

If I have one complaint, I worry he doesn't go deep enough into the bench. I understand we are limited bc of the injuries but we can't have our starters playing 36+ mpg anymore

 

[kidduck]

JB postgame comments, lots of good stuff:

Got to do it every single game. Watch how hard guys are playing, the defense on the floor, everyone is buying
in to getting better, every play, every game. Heading in the right direction, room for improvement.

Dominant performance on the glass. Second half Nets had only 4 3 pointers.

70 points in the paint for the Cavs. Allen is a heckuva player, very efficient, knows who
he is.

Played with great pace and shared the ball.

Nets did more switching and brought more bodies guarding Bull. When the big came to
him, it opened up the floor for his assists.

Cavs are doing the right thing more often than not. Most important thing for us is to keep
doing things the right way and that will give ourselves a chance.

Awesome having Dylan on the floor. Keeps things moving on both sides of the floor. Similar
to Larry.

Okoro is unique at his age but his desection of things on the defensive floor is something
I have rarely seen in a young player. Freakish ability mentally and physically. He has a
high, high, high basketball IQ on the defensive end.

We're giving our guys pace and opportunities to use their skills.

Without the ball in his hands on the offensive end of the floor, Allen makes
us better. His ability to track the ball and the big on the defensive end
helps us very much.

 

[MirORich]

One thing I remember JBB saying either during the mini camp bubble or during training camp was that the Cavs were going to very slowly work in schemes or plays. His reasoning was that if all 15 guys on your roster don’t fully know everything you do, that it can cause breakdowns when you have to add guys to the rotation due to injuries, foul trouble, or a different lineup due to a unique matchup. It didn’t stand out to me much then, but given the circumstances and results of the first 15 games, it really pops.

If you are more ambitious with the number of schemes and plays you run to start a season, how are the guys on the lower end of the roster supposed to get enough real practice and game reps to be up to speed?And then when injuries hit, or in the Nets case, when you trade away most of your quality depth, those guys who can only run half the plays and half the schemes cause a regression and slow down of what your team has been used to doing.

But in the case of the Cavs, so far it seems like no matter who we had to plug in to lineups together on the fly, they’ve generally been on the same page about what they were supposed to do.

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

Perfect coach for this roster and team. Doing a great job at developing our young guys and putting them in positions to succeed. So impressed with what he's done with our defense. The offense will come, especially once Garland makes the leap like Sexton has(I fully believe it is coming this year or next)

 

[bleedwineandgold03]

Perfect coach for this roster and team. Doing a great job at developing our young guys and putting them in positions to succeed. So impressed with what he's done with our defense. The offense will come, especially once Garland makes the leap like Sexton has(I fully believe it is coming this year or next)

I can already see the leap from last year to this one. This team if they continue to improve they will be scary in a year or 2.

 

[ansatsusha80]

Bickerstaff has done a magnificent job so far this season. Even,with the wacky lineups the team played well.

It feels great to have an elite defense.

We also gotta give Gottlieb and the rest of the coaches for developing these players. I know the players speak very highly of Gottlieb.

 

[Cavatt]

One thing I remember JBB saying either during the mini camp bubble or during training camp was that the Cavs were going to very slowly work in schemes or plays. His reasoning was that if all 15 guys on your roster don’t fully know everything you do, that it can cause breakdowns when you have to add guys to the rotation due to injuries, foul trouble, or a different lineup due to a unique matchup. It didn’t stand out to me much then, but given the circumstances and results of the first 15 games, it really pops.

If you are more ambitious with the number of schemes and plays you run to start a season, how are the guys on the lower end of the roster supposed to get enough real practice and game reps to be up to speed?And then when injuries hit, or in the Nets case, when you trade away most of your quality depth, those guys who can only run half the plays and half the schemes cause a regression and slow down of what your team has been used to doing.

But in the case of the Cavs, so far it seems like no matter who we had to plug in to lineups together on the fly, they’ve generally been on the same page about what they were supposed to do.

This is a great post. Just shows how the whole team is on the same page. Drummond, Collin, and Darius all said they had fun playing defense tonight.

Confidence goes a long way in the NBA and this team is consistently being rewarded for playing D

 

[J_J]

Very impressed so far with his in-game adjustments, timeouts, and communication skills. The team believes in him and it shows. Starting from defensive identity and he has the players bought in.

 

[BodegaBayCav]

I see a lot of similarities between JBB and the Brown's Stefanski. They both have an excellent intellect, calm demeanor, trust their coaches, and they have a plan which they follow. The regular interviews on youtube give us an excellent insight into why they are successful.

 

[J_J]

Good article about JB

Lewis: Cavs demanding attention, show they have bought into Bickerstaff after weathering injury storm

The Cavs have survived a brutal injury stretch and are now 8-7 with two signature wins over the Nets in back-to-back games.

www.dispatch.com

“J.B. is a defensive-minded coach first. So when he showed me his schemes before we started the season and what he was trying to do, I looked at him crazy," Drummond said on a Zoom call. "I was like, 'I don't know if this s*** is gonna work.' But I was like, 'I believe in you. I trust in everything that you have.' I mean, he'd been in the NBA for a long time, and you know the game and you know what it takes to be a good defensive team. And the better we got at it, the more we got confident with our defense and knew that we're all on one string defensively."

 

[Jordan]

Good article about JB

Lewis: Cavs demanding attention, show they have bought into Bickerstaff after weathering injury storm

The Cavs have survived a brutal injury stretch and are now 8-7 with two signature wins over the Nets in back-to-back games.

www.dispatch.com

“J.B. is a defensive-minded coach first. So when he showed me his schemes before we started the season and what he was trying to do, I looked at him crazy," Drummond said on a Zoom call. "I was like, 'I don't know if this s*** is gonna work.' But I was like, 'I believe in you. I trust in everything that you have.' I mean, he'd been in the NBA for a long time, and you know the game and you know what it takes to be a good defensive team. And the better we got at it, the more we got confident with our defense and knew that we're all on one string defensively."

Cavs are basically doing what the Lakers did last season. I think what people don’t realize is how much mental energy it takes to be a successful big in this scheme. Because the defense is ultra aggressive on the perimeter - going over ball screens, steal poaching, prioritizing pressure over worrying about fouls, etc. - the big needs to be aware of what’s going on around them at all times.

It’s pretty old school and reminds me of the 2014 Spurs. They had Duncan as the centerpiece of that defense, and while Drummond, McGee, nor Allen are as good, it’s asking very similar things of them.

Point being, I think they will trade one of Drummond or McGee this season, but I really don’t see them trading both. I imagine they’ll prioritize familiarity with the system over potential assets, especially if they’re still in the playoff race.

 

[rastamon87]

I see a lot of similarities between JBB and the Brown's Stefanski. They both have an excellent intellect, calm demeanor, trust their coaches, and they have a plan which they follow. The regular interviews on youtube give us an excellent insight into why they are successful.

They are also both son if NBA executives... I was unsure of him because I thought he was a product of NBA nepotism, glad to see that he really has the stuff and the players seems to enjoy playing for him and respects him....

 

[Muffinalt]

Very impressed so far with his in-game adjustments, timeouts, and communication skills. The team believes in him and it shows. Starting from defensive identity and he has the players bought in.

Yeah. Game was on the verge of slipping away, he calls a timeout and the guys respond with a 20-5 run?

About all the proof we need he's getting his messages through (not like we needed more after seeing the defense lol).