JB Bickerstaff has the Detroit Pistons in 1st place, meanwhile, his former team the Cleveland Cavaliers are just 15-14 and sitting in a surprising 7th after being picked by many to win the Eastern Conference.
Bickerstaff was ousted even though he was successful in Cleveland, but their playoff failures eventually made him into the scapegoat, which is often the case with coaches.
The Cavaliers went with a more dynamic offensive coach in Kenny Atkinson, who took the Cavs to 64 wins last season but suffered the same disappointing fate in the playoffs. The Cavs very much felt like a “Finals or Bust” team coming into this season and have so far been the most disappointing team in the East for a variety of reasons.
Now, according to Marc Stein (subscription), Atkinson may already be on the hot seat as his very expensive 2nd-apron team is not living up to expectations.
Meanwhile, coach Bickerstaff applied his defense-first approach to the Pistons, and it has been a perfect fit, as he took them from the worst team in the league to the playoffs, and they are now sitting atop the East with a 22-6 record.
Coach Bickerstaff doesn’t get all the credit, just as he shouldn’t have gotten all the blame when the Cavaliers came up short in the playoffs, but it’s the nature of the business and he’ll be facing the same criticisms if he comes up short with the Pistons.
JB Bickerstaff wants to prove he’s more than a bridge coach
JB Bickerstaff has shown that he can make a bad team good, as he’s done it in Cleveland and now in Detroit.
He’s also proven he can build a top defense, as his teams have always been among the top 10 and they are again this season. The Pistons are 2nd in defensive rating behind the Thunder (who are a mile ahead of everyone) and are playing a brand of bully ball, dominating the paint on both ends, which has been very effective in the regular season so far.
The question is whether the Pistons will have enough offense in the playoffs, as they still don’t have a consistent second scorer next to Cade Cunningham and still lack 3-point shooting as a team.
This could all change at the trade deadline if Trajan Langdon makes upgrades at certain spots, but some of their offensive success will rely on JB Bickerstaff making adjustments and figuring out how to squeeze offense out of the team he has.
A lot of the Pistons’ offense comes organically from their defense when they get easy shots on fast breaks and on secondary breaks in transition, but it’s the half-court offense that will be under a microscope, as teams are already finding effective ways to stop the Pistons and we’re not even halfway through the season.
JB Bickerstaff will get the next few seasons to prove he’s the guy to get them over the hump, as the Pistons are still in their honeymoon stage as a consistent playoff contender, but that won’t last forever.
Bickerstaff will get a chance to put his playoff demons to rest with this group and has the ideal situation to evolve into a championship coach.