JB Bickerstaff is known for coaching defense, and he showed that in his first season with the Detroit Pistons, but the knock against him has always been that he lacks the offensive creativity to match.
Coach Bickerstaff has a strong history of coaching defense. His Cleveland Cavaliers went from 25th in the league to 7th in one season, jumping from 22 to 44 wins in a similar path as last year’s Pistons, who went from 26th in the league in defensive rating to 10th and made a monumental jump from 14 wins to 44.
Bickerstaff’s Cavaliers were 1st in the league the season after that and then had a modest fall to 6th, both years ending in early playoff defeats.
That’s the area where coach Bickerstaff will have to quiet those who criticize his lack of offensive creativity, as it shows up in the playoffs when the games slow down and teams have more focused game plans against the same opponent.
We saw some of these issues pop up for the Pistons, though in coach Bickerstaff’s defense, he was limited offensively after Jaden Ivey went out and he lost his only secondary playmaker, a problem that hurt the Pistons in their playoff loss to the Knicks.
But there were signs of an expanding offensive game for the Pistons and hope that Bickerstaff will be more than a bridge coach that gets Detroit close but can’t get over the hump.
JB Bickerstaff reset the culture, but what is next for the Pistons?
There is no doubt that coach Bickerstaff was a big part of the Pistons’ historic turnaround. He got the players to buy in defensively and to buy into defined roles that played to their strengths.
He changed what had been a losing culture into a winning one, but now that he’s dragged this team out of the bog, there are expectations of taking the next step.
The Pistons were hampered at times by a predictable half-court offense that was reliant on Cade Cunningham’s brilliance to survive.
This was clear in the playoffs, as the Knicks were able to stifle the Pistons’ half-court offense and make things tough for Cade, daring anyone else to beat them.
It might have come too late, but coach Bickerstaff did make some adjustments that opened up the Pistons’ offense in the half court.
He started using Jalen Duren as a passer out of the short roll and was able to take advantage of Ausar Thompson as a cutter.
He moved Cade off the ball at times to make it more difficult to double him, allowing him to catch the ball on the move several times for easier looks.
It’s tough to judge coach Bickerstaff’s first playoff series with the Pistons, as they didn’t have all of their weapons and things might have been different had Jaden Ivey and Isaiah Stewart been able to play.
But he will be judged by next season’s performance and needs to show he has the offensive creativity for a deep playoff run. The same criticisms are going to be there until he does.