As soon as the Detroit Pistons lost game seven against the Cavs, I knew there would be a large portion of the fanbase that would blame head coach JB Bickerstaff, as that’s how these things always work.
Coaches are expendable, while star players are not, so it’s often a shortcut to thinking to just scapegoat the coach, who is the easiest person to get rid of. You can also lob nebulous criticisms at them like, “he doesn’t make adjustments!” when there is often evidence to the contrary and many of these people wouldn’t understand them anyway.
A contingent of Pistons fans was ready to fire Bickerstaff before he even got to Detroit, declaring him a “bridge” coach because of his lack of success in the postseason. Bickerstaff’s playoff record is certainly grounds for critiques, but those who are taking their victory laps right now are ignoring reality.
JB Bickerstaff did a tremendous job with a flawed roster
While social media amplifies his loudest and most boorish critics, those of us who paid attention this season know that JB Bickerstaff was a huge part of the success.
Was he perfect? Of course not, and I have no problem if people want to criticize specific things about his coaching, but if your big argument is “adjustments!” or “schemes!” and you can’t point to any examples or alternatives, you can kick rocks.
For the “adjustment” crowd: How do you adjust to having a two-way player forced into the starting five? How do you adjust to your two best bigs forgetting how to play basketball? How do you adjust to having no shooting outside of a guy who can’t defend? How do you adjust to your team missing layups?
There is only so much in a coach’s control, and I thought JB Bickerstaff made the most of what he had this season. Not one person expected the Piston to win 60 games, and Bickerstaff did it while instilling a winning culture.
So, the roster is garbage, but Bickerstaff should have done more with it?
Another popular contradiction is how terrible the Pistons’ roster was outside of Cunningham, yet Bickerstaff was supposed to do more and adjust his way out of a clear talent disparity.
If the roster is so bad, doesn’t that make his coaching performance even more impressive? You can’t have it both ways.
JB Bickerstaff needs to be evaluated with a better team
I was impressed at the way coach Bickerstaff squeezed the most out of his role players all season, but let’s face it, the Pistons had too many of them. With no second star, or even guy who can get his own shot outside of Cade, he still had his team five wins from the NBA Finals.
Trajan Langdon has to give his coach more to work with, otherwise it’s tough to evaluate the job he is doing. If Bickerstaff has a roster with fewer glaring playoff flaws, and still flames out in the second round, then we can talk after next season.
Most of those killing Bickerstaff are just fans lashing out at the easiest target, and I get it, but he wasn't the reason the Pistons lost in the playoffs, and was one of the main reasons they were there in the first place.
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