The biggest knock against JB Bickerstaff over the years is that he is great for the regular season but isn’t as good in the playoffs.
Bickerstaff’s lack of offensive creativity takes most of the blame for his failings in the postseason, something that emerged in Detroit’s playoff series against New York last year.
Bickerstaff is just 9-19 in the playoffs in his coaching career and will have to turn that around if he wants a long-term gig with the Pistons. Bickerstaff coached some very good teams in Cleveland, but it was his shortcomings in the playoffs that eventually cost him his job.
Now that Detroit made the playoffs, they will be expected to win, make it further next season and eventually compete for titles.
They are set up with the young talent and flexibility to get there within a season or two, so there will be pressure on Bickerstaff to prove he’s more than just a bridge coach who can make a bad team good but not get them over the hump.
Coach Bickerstaff does have a few things going in his favor.
JB Bickerstaff, Cade Cunningham and patience
Sometimes a coach just needs to find the right team and situation and Bickerstaff may have found that in Detroit, a city whose fans will always appreciate a team that defends well, which his teams always do.
Bickerstaff also has a young superstar in Cade Cunningham who seems to have clicked with his coach last season and the two should continue to grow together. Cunningham is a smart player, almost like having another assistant coach on the floor, so his basketball IQ will make it easier for coach Bickerstaff to be creative.
I do think JB will get some patience from the organization as well, as they know his team is young and they also know that continuity matters.
There’s also the little matter that Tom Gores is already paying Monty Williams a boatload of money to coach high school basketball and probably doesn’t want to pay two coaches to work for someone else.
Coaches also grow and change just like players, and coach Bickerstaff is surely addressing some of his own weaknesses and mistakes, trying to learn from them and will hopefully be ready to lead this team on a deep run in the playoffs to prove all of his critics wrong.