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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
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.
Expecting guys to play 20 straight minutes without a rest is stupid and reckless, regardless of how much you trumpet that they aren't overplaying people. 40 minutes a night of Tony Snell is enough for me to turn off this team. Watching yet another timeout that leads to a shitty play/turnover is getting old, despite the winning.

Maybe I'm just tired of Garland and Rubio looked gassed at the end of every game.

Grit N Grind isn't sustainable and I think that's proven by the number of championships they managed to win. Zagging back to it because JBB couldn't draw up an offensive scheme for a Y league youth team, let alone an NBA team.

As soon as Mobley went down, the team immediately started looking like Sidney Lowe's trash Grizzlies, which illustrates just how bad JBB is at drawing up an offense.

This team is winning in spite of coaching.
 
Guys overmatched. They will want a better coach by the 2023-24 season most likely.
 
Expecting guys to play 20 straight minutes without a rest is stupid and reckless, regardless of how much you trumpet that they aren't overplaying people. 40 minutes a night of Tony Snell is enough for me to turn off this team. Watching yet another timeout that leads to a shitty play/turnover is getting old, despite the winning.

Maybe I'm just tired of Garland and Rubio looked gassed at the end of every game.

Grit N Grind isn't sustainable and I think that's proven by the number of championships they managed to win. Zagging back to it because JBB couldn't draw up an offensive scheme for a Y league youth team, let alone an NBA team.

As soon as Mobley went down, the team immediately started looking like Sidney Lowe's trash Grizzlies, which illustrates just how bad JBB is at drawing up an offense.

This team is winning in spite of coaching.
At the time Mobley went down, Sexton, Markannen, Allen, and Stevens were also out for those first two losses.

Then as they started to trickle back into the lineup(still w out Mobley) the next two games were Brooklyn and GS

I think that had far more to do to how they looked than the effects of ANY coach that could have been coaching them.

I mean, you are using some examples with 4 of the teams top 6 players missing as a knock against the coach. Pick a roster around the league. Especially one that doesn't have the continuity of the same coach/system in place 4+ years. Then remove 4 of their best 6 players from the starting lineup. None of those teams are going to look good, no matter who their coach is, no matter what their system is.

That's not a surprise, though, you've had a hate hard on for JBB for a long time.

Now, if you still even have the smallest amount of love for me, knowing that you are an X-Men aficienado, I just bought a year of Marvel Unlimited, what is the best era/run of X Men comics for me to start on?
 
At the time Mobley went down, Sexton, Markannen, Allen, and Stevens were also out for those first two losses.

Then as they started to trickle back into the lineup(still w out Mobley) the next two games were Brooklyn and GS

I think that had far more to do to how they looked than the effects of ANY coach that could have been coaching them.

I mean, you are using some examples with 4 of the teams top 6 players missing as a knock against the coach. Pick a roster around the league. Especially one that doesn't have the continuity of the same coach/system in place 4+ years. Then remove 4 of their best 6 players from the starting lineup. None of those teams are going to look good, no matter who their coach is, no matter what their system is.
Got years of evidence of the same problems before he got to coach a generational talent.

Evan Mobley being able to cover 8 feet in one stride is not JBB's coaching prowess.

I just think people are giving far too much credit to a coach that looked atrocious for seasons leading up to this
 
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.

Considering the Cavaliers fired a reigning COY, and another that lead them to the NBA Finals, I'd say keeping a job is as good as it gets.
 
Got years of evidence of the same problems before he got to coach a generational talent.

Evan Mobley being able to cover 8 feet in one stride is not JBB's coaching prowess.

I just think people are giving far too much credit to a coach that looked atrocious for seasons leading up to this
Our talent level here in the roughly 100 games he coached prior to this year was atrocious.

Talent is a massive ingredient for any coach. Adding Mobley, Markannen, and Rubio + key continued development from Allen(also not here when JBB took over) and Garland is significant. That doesn't take away from a coach. There are no coaches winning without good talent.

I also don't see eye to eye with you on the definition of atrocious. He took over in HOU as an interim with probably the worst roster of the Harden era and went 37-34 as interim coach. Lights out? Probably not. Atrocious? Don't see that.

His worse year in Memphis they set an NBA record for most players to ever play on a roster due to massive injuries. it was also 4-5 years ago.

Coaches can grow and develop just like players can. What he did at 33 or 37 for 1-2 years as an interim coach doesn't mean much to me. And not all superior tactical coaches are great holistic coaches either. Right now, the team is growing, developing, like each other, like JBB, and are building an identity slowly that they can then stack more nuances on top of with continuity.

I don't think he's a great coach. I think for the most part the "great difference maker coach" is a myth. I just think from a large overview, he is doing enough positive things with the group that the trendiness say "allow them to build continuity" rather than "fire the coach that they respect, play hard for, and are going with".

I know we don't see eye to eye on that so I'l try to keep responses on the topic to a minimum barring any significant new large scale evidence.

Still hoping you lend me your Xpertise on best Xmen run to start with.
 
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.
Pretty much agree with you. The thing that is sort of convincing for me isn't the minutes, but the intensity these guys play with. They really are playing hard as hell out there even on back to backs when they are gassed.

More blowouts have meant more rest for the starters. I see more of like that coming, so it will help the guys stay fresh.
 
Our team culture is outstanding. JBB rightly prioritized individual and team defense. As the season goes on I think we’ll see more development of offense.
 
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?

13-14 Jimmy Butler?

Was it really that long ago? Doesnt seem like it.
 
Love that we're having our most successful non-Lebron season since Shawn Kemp and 4 rookies made the playoffs 24 years ago and this is the discussion being had.
 
Love that we're having our most successful non-Lebron season since Shawn Kemp and 4 rookies made the playoffs 24 years ago and this is the discussion being had.
Going to take a stab and try to guess the four without using google.

Brevin Knight
Derek Anderson
Zydrunas Ilgauskas

That leaves a SF or a SG if they had Anderson playing SF

And I am drawing a complete blank. Who was the 4th rookie?
 
Going to take a stab and try to guess the four without using google.

Brevin Knight
Derek Anderson
Zydrunas Ilgauskas

That leaves a SF or a SG if they had Anderson playing SF

And I am drawing a complete blank. Who was the 4th rookie?

Cedric Henderson
 
poor Ced.. a good year and then off the cliff. Labor dispute really ruined the trajectory of that squad.
Looking at the stats alone both Cedric and Brevin Knight's best seasons in the league were their rookie years. But yeah, Cedric didn't make it past year 5. That whole team only shot 10 3P per game and 5.5 of those were Wes Person shots.
 

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