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

[CavsKermit]

I think he cost the Cavs the game. Bad game plan on both ends. Lineups were not ideal either. You needed to attack Kyrie and Seth. All day. You didn't do it. You didn't even put the best lineups on the floor to try to do it. It sucks.

A lot to be optimistic about once they add shooters and a new coach. I applaud Garland for growing so much this season. He actually looks like a leader and a Giga chad. A lot of flexing and alpha vibes coming from him. You can see that the is getting stronger and more mature, and he is going to become a lot stronger and his game is going to be beautiful.

JBB, I don't like you one bit.

I have no idea what game you watched or what you think the game plan was. I saw LeVert, Cedi, and Garland do nothing but attack early. I'd argue they pressed or forced the issue when it wasn't there and it resulted in a lot of bad shots that were missed/blocked and turnovers. In fact, TNT showed footage of Bickerstaff admonishing them to slow down and exploit the mismatches on the switches. Also, the other team has a say in terms of who you get to attack and who they get to double or help onto defensively. It's why Bickerstaff admonished them to slow down and see what the defense was doing. With the exception of when Love was in the game (Durant actually kept track of Love including all the way out to the three point line) they had Drummond and Durant, or Drummond and Claxton, helping at the rim all game long.

In terms of the constant lineup gripes, there's really not any answers on the bench and that's been clear since Allen went down.

Okoro played all of 13 minutes last night and netted out at -9.

Stevens was worse in that he went -12 in 6 minutes (mostly due to his defense being insanely overrated by Cavs fans and him being a poor rebounder for his size).

Cedi was -4 in 21 minutes and only scored 2 points on 0 for 4 shooting.

While Rondo did some good things (9 assists, good defense, +2), he was 1/5 from 3 and 3/8 on the game.

LeVert ended at 4/12 and even worse, he started off 1/9. His heavy usage, and dumb forced shots, was a big factor as to why the Cavs dug themselves that hole early.

K. Love, who isn't attacking either Kyrie or Seth, was +10 for a team high on the game (due almost entirely to the fact that he can space the floor and rebound).

The reason people are being so vague about what were the right lineups, that JBB should've used, is because those lineups exist mostly in their imagination. If we didn't have a good big men and Garland, we'd be one of the worst teams in the NBA again. I mean we didn't get a good game out of a single wing last night, due in no small part to the fact that not one of them is a reliable shooter. Allen didn't even play and our spacing issues won't get better when he returns. Maybe Bickerstaff needs an offensive coordinator. I don't know whether that's true, but neither does anyone else here because there's no coach who can *fix* what the current problem is. They're coaches not magicians.

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

I haven't caught up on the responses....as I want a quick vent...and it's likely already been said.

Why in the hell did Garland sit 8 minutes in the 2nd qtr, coming in at the 4:15-ish mark? That first half of the quarter Brooklyn was down...and we gained some of the deficit back....but they had 8 points with 2 mins left in the quarter. If we had scored 25 points up to that point, which is entirely reasonable, the lead would have been 3!!!! Instead, Rondo and Cedi are tossing bricks. JB and his shit plan lost us that game.

 

[chuck0609]

I have no idea what game you watched or what you think the game plan was. I saw LeVert, Cedi, and Garland do nothing but attack early. I'd argue they pressed or forced the issue when it wasn't there and it resulted in a lot of bad shots that were missed/blocked and turnovers. In fact, TNT showed footage of Bickerstaff admonishing them to slow down and exploit the mismatches on the switches. Also, the other team has a say in terms of who you get to attack and who they get to double or help onto defensively. It's why Bickerstaff admonished them to slow down and see what the defense was doing. With the exception of when Love was in the game (Durant actually kept track of Love including all the way out to the three point line) they had Drummond and Durant, or Drummond and Claxton, helping at the rim all game long.

In terms of the constant lineup gripes, there's really not any answers on the bench and that's been clear since Allen went down.

Okoro played all of 13 minutes last night and netted out at -9.

Stevens was worse in that he went -12 in 6 minutes (mostly due to his defense being insanely overrated by Cavs fans and him being a poor rebounder for his size).

Cedi was -4 in 21 minutes and only scored 2 points on 0 for 4 shooting.

While Rondo did some good things (9 assists, good defense, +2), he was 1/5 from 3 and 3/8 on the game.

LeVert ended at 4/12 and even worse, he started off 1/9. His heavy usage, and dumb forced shots, was a big factor as to why the Cavs dug themselves that hole early.

K. Love, who isn't attacking either Kyrie or Seth, was +10 for a team high on the game (due almost entirely to the fact that he can space the floor and rebound).

The reason people are being so vague about what were the right lineups, that JBB should've used, is because those lineups exist mostly in their imagination. If we didn't have a good big men and Garland, we'd be one of the worst teams in the NBA again. I mean we didn't get a good game out of a single wing last night, due in no small part to the fact that not one of them is a reliable shooter. Allen didn't even play and our spacing issues won't get better when he returns. Maybe Bickerstaff needs an offensive coordinator. I don't know whether that's true, but neither does anyone else here because there's no coach who can *fix* what the current problem is. They're coaches not magicians.

You can’t make the shots go in nor stop guys from shitting their pants (LeVert and Okroro).
To win that game the role players needs to be spectacular, they we not. In fact the were horrible and rushed everything.
Friday is at home. Basically game 2. I suspect the team as a whole will play much better.

 

[CavsKermit]

You can’t make the shots go in nor stop guys from shitting their pants (LeVert and Okroro).
To win that game the role players needs to be spectacular, they we not. In fact the were horrible and rushed everything.
Friday is at home. Basically game 2. I suspect the team as a whole will play much better.

I'm going to watch the game and root for the Cavs to win, the heart wants what the heart wants, but it would be better if we kept the pick and used it to draft a shooter, or a backup PG. You're not getting both with the MLE and you're probably getting neither if you match an offer on Sexton that takes you into the tax.

 

[chuck0609]

I'm going to watch the game and root for the Cavs to win, the heart wants what the heart wants, but it would be better if we kept the pick and used it to draft a shooter, or a backup PG. You're not getting both with the MLE and you're probably getting neither if you match an offer on Sexton that takes you into the tax.

They had the backup PG with Rubio, and Sexton (who was also a scorer).
LeVert has not filled either of those roles.
Injuries really decimated this team- the more I think about it the more shocking it is they even made the playoffs (testament to Garland, Allen, Mobley and Love).
I still think they can win Friday.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

I have no idea what game you watched or what you think the game plan was. I saw LeVert, Cedi, and Garland do nothing but attack early. I'd argue they pressed or forced the issue when it wasn't there and it resulted in a lot of bad shots that were missed/blocked and turnovers. In fact, TNT showed footage of Bickerstaff admonishing them to slow down and exploit the mismatches on the switches. Also, the other team has a say in terms of who you get to attack and who they get to double or help onto defensively. It's why Bickerstaff admonished them to slow down and see what the defense was doing. With the exception of when Love was in the game (Durant actually kept track of Love including all the way out to the three point line) they had Drummond and Durant, or Drummond and Claxton, helping at the rim all game long.

In terms of the constant lineup gripes, there's really not any answers on the bench and that's been clear since Allen went down.

Okoro played all of 13 minutes last night and netted out at -9.

Stevens was worse in that he went -12 in 6 minutes (mostly due to his defense being insanely overrated by Cavs fans and him being a poor rebounder for his size).

Cedi was -4 in 21 minutes and only scored 2 points on 0 for 4 shooting.

While Rondo did some good things (9 assists, good defense, +2), he was 1/5 from 3 and 3/8 on the game.

LeVert ended at 4/12 and even worse, he started off 1/9. His heavy usage, and dumb forced shots, was a big factor as to why the Cavs dug themselves that hole early.

K. Love, who isn't attacking either Kyrie or Seth, was +10 for a team high on the game (due almost entirely to the fact that he can space the floor and rebound).

The reason people are being so vague about what were the right lineups, that JBB should've used, is because those lineups exist mostly in their imagination. If we didn't have a good big men and Garland, we'd be one of the worst teams in the NBA again. I mean we didn't get a good game out of a single wing last night, due in no small part to the fact that not one of them is a reliable shooter. Allen didn't even play and our spacing issues won't get better when he returns. Maybe Bickerstaff needs an offensive coordinator. I don't know whether that's true, but neither does anyone else here because there's no coach who can *fix* what the current problem is. They're coaches not magicians.

Good post.
I'll come out and say that I waste no time trashing JBB. I think he is trash. So I don't need a lot of reasoning.

I think the issue is not just about attacking. It's how they choose to attack. It's a lot of freelancing and iso. Our PnR action is terrible. Our sets are non-existent. Garland is so gifted that he can force the issue despite bad spacing and bad offensive actions. He creates stuff. But even then, he is being forced to create against collapsing defence that has no issues with leaving certain players open and our scheme can't do anything about it. It's unheard of to have a guy break down the defence via dribble penetration and then still struggles to have an open look for himself or the team. Why is that? For one, we have no cutting actions. We have no movement. The other issue is the lineups that are on the floor and our soft, soft screening. Don't they coach them how to fucking screen? god damn.

Okoro shouldn't have started. It doesn't matter how many minutes he played. Every minute/momentum lost is a huge hit to this team. Stevens was not worse. And it's not Stevens fault that the coach doesn't have clear, defined roles or gameplay to utilise certain players. When the Nets start two scrawny, absolutely terrible defenders in Curry and Kyrie, you have to think of a plan to attack them with Stevens. HE is a dog and he can bulldoze his way in many ways.

I don't like those Garland/Rondo lineups honestly. I don't know. Cavs are lacking a big man, but honestly, I think Moses Brown could have played some minutes. Against Drummond or something.

LeVert struggles like that with iso. He may get hot, but his dribble is sluggish and high and he doesn't have much burst. His best way to attack is to attack in the PnR and he mostly took the scraps that Garland was giving him and took upon himself to attack via broken plays or isolation.

Honestly, the sooner the Cavs free themselves of JBB, the better. He just doesn't do anything to put his team in a position to succeed. His timeouts are late, his game plan is non-existent (he just never exploits the other team), and so on.

Happy for the Cavs future, but i'm just really, really down on the coach.

 

[CavsKermit]

Good post.
I'll come out and say that I waste no time trashing JBB. I think he is trash. So I don't need a lot of reasoning.

I think the issue is not just about attacking. It's how they choose to attack. It's a lot of freelancing and iso. Our PnR action is terrible. Our sets are non-existent. Garland is so gifted that he can force the issue despite bad spacing and bad offensive actions. He creates stuff. But even then, he is being forced to create against collapsing defence that has no issues with leaving certain players open and our scheme can't do anything about it. It's unheard of to have a guy break down the defence via dribble penetration and then still struggles to have an open look for himself or the team. Why is that? For one, we have no cutting actions. We have no movement. The other issue is the lineups that are on the floor and our soft, soft screening. Don't they coach them how to fucking screen? god damn.

Okoro shouldn't have started. It doesn't matter how many minutes he played. Every minute/momentum lost is a huge hit to this team. Stevens was not worse. And it's not Stevens fault that the coach doesn't have clear, defined roles or gameplay to utilise certain players. When the Nets start two scrawny, absolutely terrible defenders in Curry and Kyrie, you have to think of a plan to attack them with Stevens. HE is a dog and he can bulldoze his way in many ways.

I don't like those Garland/Rondo lineups honestly. I don't know. Cavs are lacking a big man, but honestly, I think Moses Brown could have played some minutes. Against Drummond or something.

LeVert struggles like that with iso. He may get hot, but his dribble is sluggish and high and he doesn't have much burst. His best way to attack is to attack in the PnR and he mostly took the scraps that Garland was giving him and took upon himself to attack via broken plays or isolation.

Honestly, the sooner the Cavs free themselves of JBB, the better. He just doesn't do anything to put his team in a position to succeed. His timeouts are late, his game plan is non-existent (he just never exploits the other team), and so on.

Happy for the Cavs future, but i'm just really, really down on the coach.

I mean JBB told them to stop attacking that way. It was broadcasted on national TV. If the players aren't doing what's being asked, then that's not on the coach.

You can say Stevens wasn't worse than Okoro, but his -12 in 6 minutes was by far the worst on the team. In an 8-man rotation with a legitimate playoff team, I'm not sure Stevens gets minutes. He's has a role off the bench, especially against uber physical teams, but he's not the versatile defender people think he is. He can't stay in front of quicker players, especially guards.

Also, Stevens likes to get his points within 15 feet of the basket - just like every other wing on the roster. On a roster that is going to start Allen and Mobley for the foreseeable future, that's not a minor problem, it's a fundamental problem. There isn't a coaching fix to shrinking the court down to 15 feet for the other team to defend. That's a personnel issue.

 

[Cassity14]

Good post.
I'll come out and say that I waste no time trashing JBB. I think he is trash. So I don't need a lot of reasoning.

I think the issue is not just about attacking. It's how they choose to attack. It's a lot of freelancing and iso. Our PnR action is terrible. Our sets are non-existent. Garland is so gifted that he can force the issue despite bad spacing and bad offensive actions. He creates stuff. But even then, he is being forced to create against collapsing defence that has no issues with leaving certain players open and our scheme can't do anything about it. It's unheard of to have a guy break down the defence via dribble penetration and then still struggles to have an open look for himself or the team. Why is that? For one, we have no cutting actions. We have no movement. The other issue is the lineups that are on the floor and our soft, soft screening. Don't they coach them how to fucking screen? god damn.

Okoro shouldn't have started. It doesn't matter how many minutes he played. Every minute/momentum lost is a huge hit to this team. Stevens was not worse. And it's not Stevens fault that the coach doesn't have clear, defined roles or gameplay to utilise certain players. When the Nets start two scrawny, absolutely terrible defenders in Curry and Kyrie, you have to think of a plan to attack them with Stevens. HE is a dog and he can bulldoze his way in many ways.

I don't like those Garland/Rondo lineups honestly. I don't know. Cavs are lacking a big man, but honestly, I think Moses Brown could have played some minutes. Against Drummond or something.

LeVert struggles like that with iso. He may get hot, but his dribble is sluggish and high and he doesn't have much burst. His best way to attack is to attack in the PnR and he mostly took the scraps that Garland was giving him and took upon himself to attack via broken plays or isolation.

Honestly, the sooner the Cavs free themselves of JBB, the better. He just doesn't do anything to put his team in a position to succeed. His timeouts are late, his game plan is non-existent (he just never exploits the other team), and so on.

Happy for the Cavs future, but i'm just really, really down on the coach.

Your point about the Cavs' pick and roll sets is spot on.

I have no issue with the frequency at which the Cavs use a PnR as the primary action. They have a multitude of players who thrive in that action, so it makes sense.

My issue is that when there's a pick and roll going on, there is literally 0 planned movement away from the ball. That results in a heavy helping of 2 things:
-Guys standing around and watching on flat feet.
-Guys improv cutting and interfering with spacing with the roll man.

The auxillary guys have talents that can blend extremely well into a pick and roll set, which is what's most frustrating to me. Okoro is a legitimate threat as a cutter. Lauri and Love can both drift into 3 point shots and knock them down. LeVert or Garland, whoever is not handling the ball, can move in ways that attract defensive attention.

And what do we see? Fucking statues. Energy is sapped, they're on flat feet and not getting back as well as early in the year, and it's repeated ad nauseum. The big to big passing out of this set is gone - maybe that will come back when Allen returns.

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

I have no idea what game you watched or what you think the game plan was. I saw LeVert, Cedi, and Garland do nothing but attack early. I'd argue they pressed or forced the issue when it wasn't there and it resulted in a lot of bad shots that were missed/blocked and turnovers. In fact, TNT showed footage of Bickerstaff admonishing them to slow down and exploit the mismatches on the switches. Also, the other team has a say in terms of who you get to attack and who they get to double or help onto defensively. It's why Bickerstaff admonished them to slow down and see what the defense was doing. With the exception of when Love was in the game (Durant actually kept track of Love including all the way out to the three point line) they had Drummond and Durant, or Drummond and Claxton, helping at the rim all game long.

In terms of the constant lineup gripes, there's really not any answers on the bench and that's been clear since Allen went down.

Okoro played all of 13 minutes last night and netted out at -9.

Stevens was worse in that he went -12 in 6 minutes (mostly due to his defense being insanely overrated by Cavs fans and him being a poor rebounder for his size).

Cedi was -4 in 21 minutes and only scored 2 points on 0 for 4 shooting.

While Rondo did some good things (9 assists, good defense, +2), he was 1/5 from 3 and 3/8 on the game.

LeVert ended at 4/12 and even worse, he started off 1/9. His heavy usage, and dumb forced shots, was a big factor as to why the Cavs dug themselves that hole early.

K. Love, who isn't attacking either Kyrie or Seth, was +10 for a team high on the game (due almost entirely to the fact that he can space the floor and rebound).

The reason people are being so vague about what were the right lineups, that JBB should've used, is because those lineups exist mostly in their imagination. If we didn't have a good big men and Garland, we'd be one of the worst teams in the NBA again. I mean we didn't get a good game out of a single wing last night, due in no small part to the fact that not one of them is a reliable shooter. Allen didn't even play and our spacing issues won't get better when he returns. Maybe Bickerstaff needs an offensive coordinator. I don't know whether that's true, but neither does anyone else here because there's no coach who can *fix* what the current problem is. They're coaches not magicians.

Lamar Stevens scored 7 points in 7 minutes. He’s shown to be the most effective Durant defender on the team. He played SEVEN MINUTES!!!

The players can only try to execute the gsme
Plan given. The game plan itself was inherently flawed from the start. The way he overreacts to great offense beating great defense is laughable. Irving made about 5 straight TOUGH shots with a hand directly in his face. JBBs adjustment was to bring our only rim protector up on the screen and roll which led to multiple Drummond dunks and Bruce Brown layups. We were within 12 and back down 20 in minutes.

When we consistently get beaten badly coming out of halftime, consistently get rocked after most game stoppages. And almost never score on an ATO play, we turn it over more than anyone in the league out of timeouts, and when other teams call timeout we regularly give up easy baskets and are unable to anticipate or prevent any counters to our base defense.

The fact is JBBs entire defensive philosophy is reliant on having 3 mobile 7 footers on the floor as much as possible. He has no backup plan and when we get into coaching a “normal” game where we have to go small at times, he looks entirely out of his depth.

Cedi was benched at the end of the season with multiple DNP-CDs, did nothing new after being given another chance, and played triple the minutes that Lamar Steven’s did.

We needed toughness, grit, we needed to get 50/50 balls and win tough rebound battles between guards/wings. We needed somebody to get into Durants body and physically try and bother him, PJ tucker style. Length is useless on KD. Everyone is longer than he is. So you need physicality. Push him around off spots. Battle with him. Frustrate him.

Lamar Steven’s can actually attack a close out strong and get to the rim.

Steven’s never got a chance to play with a Garland/Mobley/Rondo or LeVert/Love lineup. It was just a PISS POOR coaching failure.

The Cavs played the same schematic game they played in the prior loss to the Nets. We made no adjustments except to play our most effective perimeter wing defender 7 minutes. SEVEN!! We could have played Moses Brown to counter Drummonds minutes or at least some of them. He got a DNP-CD. But Cedi played 21 mins. He fucking sucked. Okoro played 13 but nothing was game planned for him to be effective. No special plays or screens to get him going to the hoop with momentum to use his strength to finish…none.

Markannen was ineffective offensively but when you ask him to guard Durant half the game and switch onto Kyrie for stretches when he’s not even a good defender to begin with…of course his offense will be affected. No surprise he played better last game with Steven’s out there bothering KD and giving him a break.


The coach is miscasting guys, making unforgivable rotation decisoons, not able to draw up a decent ATO play or anticipate how to defend a different teams ATO.

Then he had an opportunity to hack Clayton and throw the Nets off their game. Didnt do itZ

Even at the end of the game…we have uo two easy buckets because we decided to trap everyone instead of foul as soon as a poor FT shooter got the ball. Let them waste 20+ seconds twice in a row and they still got layups. We needed to extend the game and make some
Wild threes and he’s just letting them dribble it out. Not calling for a foul jntol there was under 20 seconds left and we were down like 6-8.

JBB has strengths as a coach. Players love him. Will run through a brick wall for him. And he seems to have a decent developmental approach with some young guys.

But as a playoff coach, guys like Nick Nurse, Spoelestra, and Kerr and Monty Williams…even Budenholzer and Nash just will tear this dude into pieces over and over and over.

You can’t put it ALL on him but you can’t not put any on him either. He’s a big reason for our collapse. Good coaches adjust to their new roster after injuries and scheme a new way of playing to be most effective. JBB hasn’t changed a single thing since training camp.

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

I mean JBB told them to stop attacking that way. It was broadcasted on national TV. If the players aren't doing what's being asked, then that's not on the coach.

You can say Stevens wasn't worse than Okoro, but his -12 in 6 minutes was by far the worst on the team. In an 8-man rotation with a legitimate playoff team, I'm not sure Stevens gets minutes. He's has a role off the bench, especially against uber physical teams, but he's not the versatile defender people think he is. He can't stay in front of quicker players, especially guards.

Also, Stevens likes to get his points within 15 feet of the basket - just like every other wing on the roster. On a roster that is going to start Allen and Mobley for the foreseeable future, that's not a minor problem, it's a fundamental problem. There isn't a coaching fix to shrinking the court down to 15 feet for the other team to defend. That's a personnel issue.

You can’t have it both ways with +/- cherry picking.

If Steven’s -12(which was entirely done at the end of the first quarter when JBB went to one of the most ridiculous lineups of the night when he put the bench in…) means he wasn’t good enough to play, then how can you go off on Caris LeVert like you did in your last post when he was a +2 in 40 minutes of game time and the only + on the team besides Rondo?

Single game +/- is useless statistical noise that doesn’t even tell the story of that single game very well as it relates to an individuals performance.

 

[CavsKermit]

Lamar Stevens scored 7 points in 7 minutes. He’s shown to be the most effective Durant defender on the team. He played SEVEN MINUTES!!!

The players can only try to execute the gsme
Plan given. The game plan itself was inherently flawed from the start. The way he overreacts to great offense beating great defense is laughable. Irving made about 5 straight TOUGH shots with a hand directly in his face. JBBs adjustment was to bring our only rim protector up on the screen and roll which led to multiple Drummond dunks and Bruce Brown layups. We were within 12 and back down 20 in minutes.

When we consistently get beaten badly coming out of halftime, consistently get rocked after most game stoppages. And almost never score on an ATO play, we turn it over more than anyone in the league out of timeouts, and when other teams call timeout we regularly give up easy baskets and are unable to anticipate or prevent any counters to our base defense.

The fact is JBBs entire defensive philosophy is reliant on having 3 mobile 7 footers on the floor as much as possible. He has no backup plan and when we get into coaching a “normal” game where we have to go small at times, he looks entirely out of his depth.

Cedi was benched at the end of the season with multiple DNP-CDs, did nothing new after being given another chance, and played triple the minutes that Lamar Steven’s did.

We needed toughness, grit, we needed to get 50/50 balls and win tough rebound battles between guards/wings. We needed somebody to get into Durants body and physically try and bother him, PJ tucker style. Length is useless on KD. Everyone is longer than he is. So you need physicality. Push him around off spots. Battle with him. Frustrate him.

Lamar Steven’s can actually attack a close out strong and get to the rim.

Steven’s never got a chance to play with a Garland/Mobley/Rondo or LeVert/Love lineup. It was just a PISS POOR coaching failure.

The Cavs played the same schematic game they played in the prior loss to the Nets. We made no adjustments except to play our most effective perimeter wing defender 7 minutes. SEVEN!! We could have played Moses Brown to counter Drummonds minutes or at least some of them. He got a DNP-CD. But Cedi played 21 mins. He fucking sucked. Okoro played 13 but nothing was game planned for him to be effective. No special plays or screens to get him going to the hoop with momentum to use his strength to finish…none.

Markannen was ineffective offensively but when you ask him to guard Durant half the game and switch onto Kyrie for stretches when he’s not even a good defender to begin with…of course his offense will be affected. No surprise he played better last game with Steven’s out there bothering KD and giving him a break.


The coach is miscasting guys, making unforgivable rotation decisoons, not able to draw up a decent ATO play or anticipate how to defend a different teams ATO.

Then he had an opportunity to hack Clayton and throw the Nets off their game. Didnt do itZ

Even at the end of the game…we have uo two easy buckets because we decided to trap everyone instead of foul as soon as a poor FT shooter got the ball. Let them waste 20+ seconds twice in a row and they still got layups. We needed to extend the game and make some
Wild threes and he’s just letting them dribble it out. Not calling for a foul jntol there was under 20 seconds left and we were down like 6-8.

JBB has strengths as a coach. Players love him. Will run through a brick wall for him. And he seems to have a decent developmental approach with some young guys.

But as a playoff coach, guys like Nick Nurse, Spoelestra, and Kerr and Monty Williams…even Budenholzer and Nash just will tear this dude into pieces over and over and over.

You can’t put it ALL on him but you can’t not put any on him either. He’s a big reason for our collapse. Good coaches adjust to their new roster after injuries and scheme a new way of playing to be most effective. JBB hasn’t changed a single thing since training camp.

This cannot be a choose your own reality discussion.

Stevens checked in at 3:52 left in the 1st. The score was 14-23.

At 3:24 Durant converted a turnaround jumper.

At 3:03 Durant was fouled by Stevens and converted both free throws.

In the last minute of the quarter, Durant had three assists, each resulting in a three point conversion. The quarter ended 20-40.

Second quarter Stevens checks in with 2:39 and the Cavs are down 35-48.

Durant is fouled converts both free throws (they gave it to LeVert, but that was suspect).

Durant assists to Kyrie on a made three.

End half. Cavs down 43-57.

Durant scored 6 of 24 points and had 4 assists resulting in 12 more points for the Nets, during the 7 minutes when Stevens was the *most effective* defender on him. It bears repeating, Durant scored or assisted on 18 points in those 7 minutes. Stevens also managed zero rebounds.

As for the rest, you're wishing casting. In the postseason, opposing defenses will play the personnel you put out there. If you put four non-shooters on the floor, enjoy the box and one defense. This is a professional league. Opposing teams aren't stupid. They know who they can leave alone and who they can help off of. Our biggest advantage all night was the Nets switching small defenders on to our big men and two of our big men being able to shoot from range well enough that we enjoyed minimal spacing. Guys like Cedi and Stevens aren't that good and should have a hard time getting minutes in an 8-man playoff rotation. Every one of our wings likes to operate within 15 feet of the basket, and not only does it make us easier to defend, it makes it harder for guys like Lauri, Mobley, Allen, and even Garland to operate. This isn't coaching problem.

 

[CavsKermit]

You can’t have it both ways with +/- cherry picking.

If Steven’s -12(which was entirely done at the end of the first quarter when JBB went to one of the most ridiculous lineups of the night when he put the bench in…) means he wasn’t good enough to play, then how can you go off on Caris LeVert like you did in your last post when he was a +2 in 40 minutes of game time and the only + on the team besides Rondo?

Single game +/- is useless statistical noise that doesn’t even tell the story of that single game very well as it relates to an individuals performance.

Love was +10.

 

[nolookpass]

Against great players, you can NOT allow them to get going scoring-wise AND allow them to get others involved. JBB’s plan let that happen. Kyrie and KD combined for 59 points, which is fine, but they also assisted 23 times (and probably hockey assisted many more). 23! These guys aren’t even elite playmakers (like say, LeBron or Jokic). Props to Kyrie and KD for being patient and sticking to the game plan, but all they had to do was just dump it off to the roll man or another open man when the same ole loose double team came over and over again. Reminded me of the Mike Brown hard hedges over and over again that opponents were able to adjust to fairly easily. They let Nic Claxton get easy dunks when they desperately needed stops late 4th quarter. Kyrie/KD fadeaway is a lower percentage shot than a free dunk.

This has been a problem for awhile now with JBB. Good teams can destroy your overhelping with timely passes.

If the Hawks win tonight, and assuming JBB doesn’t do anything about his scheme, Trae Young will toy with this defense on Friday, like he has past 2 games vs Cavs.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

Against great players, you can NOT allow them to get going scoring-wise AND allow them to get others involved. JBB’s plan let that happen. Kyrie and KD combined for 59 points, which is fine, but they also assisted 23 times (and probably hockey assisted many more). 23! These guys aren’t even elite playmakers (like say, LeBron or Jokic). Props to Kyrie and KD for being patient and sticking to the game plan, but all they had to do was just dump it off to the roll man or another open man when the same ole loose double team came over and over again. Reminded me of the Mike Brown hard hedges over and over again that opponents were able to adjust to fairly easily. They let Nic Claxton get easy dunks when they desperately needed stops late 4th quarter. Kyrie/KD fadeaway is a lower percentage shot than a free dunk.

This has been a problem for awhile now with JBB. Good teams can destroy your overhelping with timely passes.

If the Hawks win tonight, and assuming JBB doesn’t do anything about his scheme, Trae Young will toy with this defense on Friday, like he has past 2 games vs Cavs.

Cavs give up an absurd amount of open corner 3's for no good reason at all. it's insane. It's a scheme problem.

 

[RchfldCavRaised]

This cannot be a choose your own reality discussion.

Stevens checked in at 3:52 left in the 1st. The score was 14-23.

At 3:24 Durant converted a turnaround jumper.

At 3:03 Durant was fouled by Stevens and converted both free throws.

In the last minute of the quarter, Durant had three assists, each resulting in a three point conversion. The quarter ended 20-40.

Second quarter Stevens checks in with 2:39 and the Cavs are down 35-48.

Durant is fouled converts both free throws (they gave it to LeVert, but that was suspect).

Durant assists to Kyrie on a made three.

End half. Cavs down 43-57.

Durant scored 6 of 24 points and had 4 assists resulting in 12 more points for the Nets, during the 7 minutes when Stevens was the *most effective* defender on him. It bears repeating, Durant scored or assisted on 18 points in those 7 minutes. Stevens also managed zero rebounds.

As for the rest, you're wishing casting. In the postseason, opposing defenses will play the personnel you put out there. If you put four non-shooters on the floor, enjoy the box and one defense. This is a professional league. Opposing teams aren't stupid. They know who they can leave alone and who they can help off of. Our biggest advantage all night was the Nets switching small defenders on to our big men and two of our big men being able to shoot from range well enough that we enjoyed minimal spacing. Guys like Cedi and Stevens aren't that good and should have a hard time getting minutes in an 8-man playoff rotation. Every one of our wings likes to operate within 15 feet of the basket, and not only does it make us easier to defend, it makes it harder for guys like Lauri, Mobley, Allen, and even Garland to operate. This isn't coaching problem.

Willfully obtuse

Does it factor into your breakdown that Lamar Stevens was part of a sub pattern that took Mobley, Okoro, Markk and Levert OFF THE FLOOR?

Nah, ok then

How about the fact that the foursome was replaced by Love, Osman, Rondo and Stevens while Garland who was the entire offense for the first 9 minutes of the game was the lone tired starter on the floor.

When Durant was getting those assists at the end of the first quarter, you are aware that he's making a pass to a teammate who is scoring on their defender either by scheme (JBB schemed hard doubles and abandoned cutters leading to assist opportunities for patient offensive players, but lets not consider that since it doesnt show up on play by play breakdown) or will, right? But by all means, let's discard what Stevens was able to do playing him straight up individually with Mobley and Brown behind him in game 81 against Durant, and let's instead cite what Durant was able to do with no Mobley or Brown on the floor and a defensive schematic adjustment that forced him to pass to wide open teammates instead as a indicator that Stevens was just playing terrible D in two 3 minute stints against Durant last night.