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

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Has JBB Turned the Corner?

  • Yes

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No

    Votes: 9 37.5%
  • The Playoffs are the True Test

    Votes: 11 45.8%
  • Injuries forced his hand, but he learned from it

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • People are way too hard on him

    Votes: 1 4.2%
  • He needs to play CPJ more

    Votes: 3 12.5%
  • What's not to like?

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Jim Chones' wall-to-wall counseling session with JBB worked

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    24
With the Cavs recent success, how are we feeling about JBB? Is he coming into his own or is the team doing well on their own without him? As someone who has only watched a handful of games this year, I'm interested to know what everyone thinks.
 
With the Cavs recent success, how are we feeling about JBB? Is he coming into his own or is the team doing well on their own without him? As someone who has only watched a handful of games this year, I'm interested to know what everyone thinks.

Historically, a coaching move is a really good way to boost your win totals from the prior year. It's natural, over time, that star players start hearing white noise.

Kerr and Nurse most recently boosted win totals from the prior year.

I think JBB is in a prime position to be replaced in a couple of years, but he has done a decent enogh job developing the talent given to him. All of our complaints are minor. I see him sticking around through the end of the 22-23 season, and then the fans / front office moving on to an up and coming analytics based guy (or gal).
 
With the Cavs recent success, how are we feeling about JBB? Is he coming into his own or is the team doing well on their own without him? As someone who has only watched a handful of games this year, I'm interested to know what everyone thinks.
Players love him and play hard and compete every single night.

Defensively, this team has done a complete 180. A lot of that is due to the addition of Mobley, but it can't be understated how much effort is involved in actually playing good defense.

On the down side, his rotations sometimes leave something to be desired. In particular, he's been terrible about using short rotations on the second night of a back to back. Many posters don't agree with the minutes allocation that Okoro has received this year. Also, his out of bounds plays (or lack thereof) have drawn criticism as well.

I'm in no rush to move on from him, and I think he at least deserves the opportunity to lead this team to the playoffs and continue to grow with this roster unless he does some really indefensible/boneheaded shit.
 
Players love him and play hard and compete every single night.

Defensively, this team has done a complete 180. A lot of that is due to the addition of Mobley, but it can't be understated how much effort is involved in actually playing good defense.

On the down side, his rotations sometimes leave something to be desired. In particular, he's been terrible about using short rotations on the second night of a back to back. Many posters don't agree with the minutes allocation that Okoro has received this year. Also, his out of bounds plays (or lack thereof) have drawn criticism as well.

I'm in no rush to move on from him, and I think he at least deserves the opportunity to lead this team to the playoffs and continue to grow with this roster unless he does some really indefensible/boneheaded shit.
I get that players are playing hard for him, and that can't be undersold.

But it seems too many people are willing to ignore the years of evidence we have about his problems.

You've got mounds of evidence that running short rotations leads to injuries/tired players/players retiring early. Just look at the Thibs Bulls teams for proof.

The idea that we're trying to Grit N Grind in 2021 is a bit ridiculous, even if it's working. My assumption is that's where the Okoro obsession for JBB comes from. He sees Okoro as Tony Allen.
 
I get that players are playing hard for him, and that can't be undersold.

But it seems too many people are willing to ignore the years of evidence we have about his problems.

You've got mounds of evidence that running short rotations leads to injuries/tired players/players retiring early. Just look at the Thibs Bulls teams for proof.

The idea that we're trying to Grit N Grind in 2021 is a bit ridiculous, even if it's working. My assumption is that's where the Okoro obsession for JBB comes from. He sees Okoro as Tony Allen.
I agree, but I also don’t think we’re quite to Thibs-level wearing down of the roster quite yet.

He does need to lengthen his rotations, though. Wade and Stevens are both playable. Ed Davis has shown that he can be productive. You don’t have to play these guys for 25 minutes a night, you just need to get them out there to spell the big guns for a few minutes at least. That kind of time adds up, especially when you take the playoffs and national team obligations into account.
 
The big goal this year is to make the playoffs so JBB is going with his best guys. After years of sucking management wants wins.

Once the schedule eases up we should get some games where they can afford to give more minutes to guys like Davis, Stevens, and Wade.

The guy whose minutes I'm concerned about is Mobley, but with Love and Wade healthy JBB should be able to reduce his minutes if we get some big leads.
 
I agree, but I also don’t think we’re quite to Thibs-level wearing down of the roster quite yet.

He does need to lengthen his rotations, though. Wade and Stevens are both playable. Ed Davis has shown that he can be productive. You don’t have to play these guys for 25 minutes a night, you just need to get them out there to spell the big guns for a few minutes at least. That kind of time adds up, especially when you take the playoffs and national team obligations into account.

We're not even close to Thibs-level.

Just more hyperbole from people who just don't like JBB as a coach at the moment.

Thibs leaned on Rose and Deng, 2 of the more prominent guys I am sure we are talking about with being "rundown" by his rotation, for 37+ minutes a game for 240 and 201 respective games across 3 seasons, on top of heavy playoff usage. Shit, Deng had a 3 year stretch where he averaged 39 minutes a game over 211 games, not including the playoffs.

JBB doesn't even have a single guy in his rotation seeing more than an average of 35 minutes a night right now. Barely had one over 35 a night last season too (Sexton at 35.3).

If you lineup up Thibs MPG numbers from those Bulls teams he ran into the ground and the Cavs current MPG numbers and last seasons you wouldn't even begin to try and compare the usage.

The argument about minutes and running guys into the ground/getting them hurt/retiring them early to avoid a Thibs like health crisis isn't being based on anything factual right now. Especially when we are trying to compare JBB to Thibs when it comes to managing your rotation and their workload.
 
We're not even close to Thibs-level.

Just more hyperbole from people who just don't like JBB as a coach at the moment.

Thibs leaned on Rose and Deng, 2 of the more prominent guys I am sure we are talking about with being "rundown" by his rotation, for 37+ minutes a game for 240 and 201 respective games across 3 seasons, on top of heavy playoff usage. Shit, Deng had a 3 year stretch where he averaged 39 minutes a game over 211 games, not including the playoffs.

JBB doesn't even have a single guy in his rotation seeing more than an average of 35 minutes a night right now. Barely had one over 35 a night last season too (Sexton at 35.3).

If you lineup up Thibs MPG numbers from those Bulls teams he ran into the ground and the Cavs current MPG numbers and last seasons you wouldn't even begin to try and compare the usage.

The argument about minutes and running guys into the ground/getting them hurt/retiring them early to avoid a Thibs like health crisis isn't being based on anything factual right now. Especially when we are trying to compare JBB to Thibs when it comes to managing your rotation and their workload.

For shits and giggles, pooling their players yearly seasons together here is the top 15 season MPG numbers in Thibs 5 seasons in Chicago and JBBs 2 so far in Cleveland:

11-12 Luol Deng - 39.4
10-11 Luol Deng - 39.1
12-13 Luol Deng - 38.7
13-14 Jimmy Butler - 38.7
14-15 Jimmy Butler - 38.7
13-14 Luol Deng - 37.4
10-11 Derrick Rose - 37.4
12-13 Joakim Noah - 36.8
13-14 Joakim Noah - 35.3
20-21 Collin Sexton - 35.3
11-12 Derrick Rose - 35.3
21-22 Darius Garland - 34.5
14-15 Pau Gasol - 34.4
21-22 Evan Mobley - 33.8
21-22 Jarrett Allen - 33.4


Can we stop with the Thibs comparison, or using him as an example, until it actually merits it?
 
For shits and giggles, pooling their players yearly seasons together here is the top 15 season MPG numbers in Thibs 5 seasons in Chicago and JBBs 2 so far in Cleveland:

11-12 Luol Deng - 39.4
10-11 Luol Deng - 39.1
12-13 Luol Deng - 38.7
13-14 Jimmy Butler - 38.7
14-15 Jimmy Butler - 38.7
13-14 Luol Deng - 37.4
10-11 Derrick Rose - 37.4
12-13 Joakim Noah - 36.8
13-14 Joakim Noah - 35.3
20-21 Collin Sexton - 35.3
11-12 Derrick Rose - 35.3
21-22 Darius Garland - 34.5
14-15 Pau Gasol - 34.4
21-22 Evan Mobley - 33.8
21-22 Jarrett Allen - 33.4


Can we stop with the Thibs comparison, or using him as an example, until it actually merits it?

Seems like a narrative that began when he was riding Evan pretty hard. I think he has improved the minutes allocation. I like that he is continually adjusting.
 
Seems like a narrative that began when he was riding Evan pretty hard. I think he has improved the minutes allocation. I like that he is continually adjusting.

If people would just say "I wish the rotation was extended to see what we have with Wade/Stevens/Windler" as opposed to "the rotation is going to get guys hurt and burn them out like Thibs in Chicago" I would be agreeing with them 100%.

One of those is a true and legit reason to gripe about the rotation, the other is just flat out BS based on nothing but personal opinion.

Yet after every game I read how the rotation is going to wear guys down. Playing a bunch of 20 to 24 year olds 28-34 minutes a night is going to wear them down? Good lord, give me a break.
 
I agree that Windler is JBB's lone blind spot, but I wonder if it's positional. Can Windler play anything beside the SF? Otherwise he's got Cedi in front of him. (Doesn't explain the last couple games, granted.) He doesn't bring much on offense--though his shooting is better this year--but he adheres to the Hippocratic Oath on defense: do no harm.
I think Windler is RCF’s blind spot. IMHO he’s not a rotation player for a good team. My guess is we’ll include him as filler in a trade. Maybe some other team can do something with him but I don’t believe he fits our current team.
 
I've been as critical of JBB as anyone, but I think hes earned the right to keep his job. Yes, he's got his faults, but the team is playing well, competing every night and showing improvement. I'd still love to see him get an "offensive coordinator," and/or an inbounds coach, though...
 
I've been as critical of JBB as anyone, but I think hes earned the right to keep his job. Yes, he's got his faults, but the team is playing well, competing every night and showing improvement. I'd still love to see him get an "offensive coordinator," and/or an inbounds coach, though...
Good to know the current odds on favorite to win the NBA Coach of the Year award is doing well enough to "keep his job" LOL.
 

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