Looking At Bickerstaff’s Experiences…

What do we know about Cavs’ coach J.B. Bickerstaff? Yes, we know his father was a long time coach in the NBA with the Sonics, Hornets, Nuggets, and Washington (both Bullets and Wizards, actually), making five playoffs appearances.

But how has he coached style-wise? We only got to see him for 11 games before the season ended abruptly due to the pandemic. The Cavaliers looked much better under his leadership, going 5-6 after he took over for John Beilein, who guided (?) the squad to a 14-40 mark.

Bickerstaff’s first head coaching gig was with Houston in 2015-16 taking over for Kevin McHale 11 games into the season. The Rockets made the playoffs, losing in five games to Golden State, who of course, lost in the Finals that season to the Cavs.

That Houston team was a veteran group, led by James Harden, who was the youngest of the top five in minutes for the team at 26 years old. Although the Rockets were 21st in defensive efficiency, Bickerstaff gave a lot of minutes to solid defenders like Trevor Ariza and Patrick Beverly, and he started Dwight Howard.

They were 7th in pace.

He then went to Memphis after being let go in favor of Mike D’Antoni as associate head coach under David Fizdale. He took over for Fizdale after 19 games (taking over during a season is a common theme), and the Grizzlies played at a slow pace, ranking 29th.

Memphis’ best players were two veterans, Marc Gasol (33) and Mike Conley (30), and the other leaders in minutes were Tyreke Evans (28), Dillon Brooks (22), and JaMychal Green (27).

The following season was Bickerstaff’s only complete season in the NBA, going 33-49 with a team that was last in the Association in pace, and their top eight in minutes per game were all over 25 years old.

It was the season in which Memphis moved Gasol, along with other veterans Green and Garrett Temple, getting Jonas Valanciunas and Avery Bradley.

Again, Bickerstaff gave minutes to some good defensive players, and the Grizzlies ranked third in the league in points allowed.

In the 11 games he was the man in charge last season, he most certainly paid attention to the defensive end. The wine and gold allowed more than 130 points in three of their last five games under Beilein. They allowed over 125 points in a game under Bickerstaff just twice, and one of those was an overtime contest.

One other thing Bickerstaff did was increase the minutes for his best players. Before he took over, Collin Sexton led the team in minutes with 32, followed by Kevin Love at 31, Tristan Thompson, Darius Garland with 30 and Cedi Osman at 29.

With the new coach, Sexton, Love, and Garland increased their minutes per game by four, while Osman played two more. The biggest jump was for Larry Nance Jr., who went from 25 to 31 minutes, and started getting some time at small forward. No doubt Nance’s ability to defend was a reason for the increased time.

So, we feel we can conclude that Bickerstaff is going to emphasize defense, which is good because it’s been a long time since that end of the floor has been a strong point for Cleveland. It could be a big factor as to why Isaac Okoro was the first round pick.

Now, the question is whether or not he is on the same page as GM Koby Altman? For example, let’s say a Darius Garland or Kevin Porter Jr. aren’t working hard enough on that end of the floor (speculation)? Does the coach cut their minutes and does Altman support that, or does he want the players he drafted to be on the floor.

In his past, Bickerstaff hasn’t played a lot of young players, but that could be due to the rosters he has had. But, we feel he will lean on players like Drummond and Love as his anchors.

Also, based on his past records as a head coach, he will want to win, and will probably coach that way. It will be interesting to see how this plays out once training camp and the regular season starts.

Is A Revamped Cavs’ Roster On The Horizon?

It will be interesting to see what the Cleveland Cavaliers’ roster will look like when training camp opens December 1st.

First, the trading period opened up yesterday, and with the draft coming up tomorrow, will the Cavs be involved in any of the transactions which take place.

Also, Tristan Thompson and Matthew Dellavedova, heroes of the title team in 2016 are eligible for free agency, and we would place better odds on Delly returning to the organization than Thompson, who would seem to attract a lot of attention from contending teams.

Then, you have the fates of big man Andre Drummond, who will pick up his player option for 2020-21, but it is doubtful he will be looking to sign long term with Cleveland, and Kevin Love, who has a huge contract, but has seemingly been on the market since his first season with the team in 2014-15.

Another player who has been involved in the trade speculation is Larry Nance Jr., which we think makes sense because Nance is a real good player, and will turn 28 years old on New Years Day. Nance’s game is perfect for a playoff contender because he does everything well, and he’s coming off a career high in scoring (10.1), adding a three point shot to his repertoire.

It would seem to us that he is also the kind of player GM Koby Altman and coach JB Bickerstaff would want around to help a very young basketball team.

Cleveland was said to be interested in some free agents as well, players like Memphis’ Josh Jackson, who is 24 years old, and can play either wing spot at 6’8″, and Miami’s Derrick Jones Jr., also 24 years old, and is more of a small forward, and averaged a career high 8.5 points per game last season.

You would have to think since Jones played for Erik Spoelstra in south Florida that he has some idea about defense, which should appeal to the Cavs.

We know we are a broken record (dated reference, we know), but if Thompson leaves, and with Ante Zizic already going back to Europe, the Cavaliers need big people. We wouldn’t mind taking a shot at Nerlens Noel, another free agent who averaged 7.4 points, five rebounds, and 1.5 blocked shots with the Thunder last season.

Finally, Altman needs to sort out his backcourt, which is cluttered with the drafting of two smallish guards in Collin Sexton and Darius Garland in the top ten the past two seasons. Add in last year’s 30th overall pick in Kevin Porter and another top five overall pick in Dante Exum, and it will be a struggle to get them all decent playing time.

Will one or more of them be moved before camp starts?

Altman is in a tough spot. The Cavs have won less than 20 games in each of the last two seasons, albeit one of them in a 65 game season, and they need to start showing improvement in the win total area.

Trading for more potential lottery picks doesn’t seem like a good idea, getting young players with experience would seem to be a better option.

The biggest thing, though, is finding players who fit together, who complement each other’s game, and can contribute on both ends of the floor. And that’s where Bickerstaff’s influence should come in. It’s his deal, and he should have players he feels comfortable with.

What will the roster look like at the end of the month? Our first clues should reveal themselves this week.

All Kinds Of Ways To Win In The NBA, You Don’t Have To Play Small

Doing things differently is what separates the good from the great, particularly when it comes to sports.

The NBA is no different, many teams copy the system that works, instead of looking at their roster, their talent, and doing what is best with the players at hand.

In 2013-14, the Golden State Warriors finished 51-31 under Mark Jackson, an improvement from the prior season (47-35), and a huge improvement from Jackson’s first year as coach, when they had a 23-43 mark in a shortened season.

That Warriors team was 4th in the league in three point shooting percentage (38%) and was sixth in pace.

Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were the stars of the team, and Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes, and Draymond Green were already in place.

Jackson was let go, and Steve Kerr took over, and quickened the pace of play, as Golden State ranked first in that category. They also led the league in three point shooting, and won the NBA title.

The pace slowed a bit the next season, and even more when Kevin Durant joined the team, and even though the Warriors had plenty of big men on the roster, the “small ball” movement was in full swing, and many teams followed.

Including the Cleveland Cavaliers.

When the Cavs won the title in 2016, they won the last three games by slowing the pace, playing their speed. After winning, it seemed to us they felt like playing at the Warriors’ pace, which we felt was the wrong move, because that was Golden State’s game, and they were better at it than Cleveland.

There is no rule that says every team in the NBA has to play like Golden State, and here’s hoping GM Koby Altman understands this.

Perhaps the wine and gold’s two best players are big men, Kevin Love and Andre Drummond. If you adapt to your talent, and we think J.B. Bickerstaff is a smart coach, it would seem playing smaller, like many NBA teams are, would not be the way to go.

You can’t win that way, you say?

The Milwaukee Bucks have the sport’s best record at 53-12, and they usual starting lineup featured a 7 foot center, forwards that were 6’11” and 6’7″, and guards that were 6’1″ and 6’4″.

The Lakers have the best record in the west, and their lineup consists of a 7 foot center, a pair of forwards measuring 6’10” and 6’9″, and a backcourt of 6’3″ and 6’6″.

Toronto has a smallish set of guards (6’1″ and 6′), but their starting frontcourt measures 6’11”, 6’9″, and 6’7″.

The Clippers? 7 foot center, forwards and 6’7″ and 6’8″, and guards at 6’1″ and 6’4″.

Our point is there are a number of ways to win in today’s NBA despite the talking heads telling everyone teams have to play like Golden State and Houston to do so, and the Cavaliers should be paying attention to that.

This year, the team tried to win with a very small squad, statistically the smallest in the league, and it didn’t work for a variety of reasons, inexperience being one of them.

However, it didn’t help that rookie Darius Garland and his 40.1% shooting was taking the third most shots on the team, because the coaching staff gave him the green light. He was taking one less shot per game than Love, and that can’t happen.

It’s about maximizing the talent you have and adapting a style in which they can thrive.

That’s what Kerr did, and that’s what Bickerstaff is charged with in the upcoming season.

It’s the definition of coaching.

Looking At Cavs’ Free Agents

Now that the Cleveland Cavaliers’ season is officially over, the speculation and planning for the 2020-21 season can officially begin.

The first order of business is decided which, if any of the pending free agents will return to wear the wine and gold (or whatever jerseys they will be wearing on a given night) when the league starts up again in December.

First there is the Andre Drummond situation. Drummond has a player option worth over $28 million for the ’20-’21 campaign, and it is widely thought the big man will exercise that option and remain a Cavalier.

No matter how the game is played today, with the emphasis on smaller players and shooting, there is a place for a 6’10” player who averages 17.7 points and 15.2 rebounds per night.

And he will be 27 years old.

He has a career 54.2% shooting percentage from the floor, and has improved his free throw percentage which was once dismal (38.6% in 2016-17) to 57.5% this past season.

He’s not a big shot blocker, but he gets a lot of steals, which is weird, but nevertheless, he’s creating turnovers.

Will he ever get another $28 million per year multi-year deal again? That’s up for debate, but the Cavaliers don’t have to worry about that for next season.

Tristan Thompson is another big man who will be a free agent this fall, but he is unrestricted, and we doubt he will be back in Cleveland when next season begins.

It is hard to believe Thompson will be 30 years old when next season ends, having spent nine years in Cleveland, and was a key member of the 2016 NBA Champions.

He had a very good season too, averaging a career high 12.0 points per game, grabbing 10.1 rebounds, and is a very good post defender.

Our guess though, is having experienced the winning seasons here, Thompson would like to be part of that once again, and his skill set should make him a much coveted piece for teams with title aspirations.

He’s also received his big pay day, so he will look for the best situation for him to advance deep in the playoffs, and perhaps get back to The Finals.

If Thompson wanted to stay and the dollars made sense, he’d be someone we’d be interested in keeping, but we just feel he thinks it’s time to move on.

Which brings us to Matthew Dellavedova. Delly will be 30 when next season starts, and his shooting declined last season to the dreadful level. However, it would be interesting to bring him back as an end of the bench guy because of his experience and feel for the game.

Don’t forget the Aussie was tied for second on the Cavs in assists in ’19-’20 despite playing an average of only 14 minutes per night. When he got extra time due to injuries at the end of the season, he averaged seven helpers per game over an eight game span.

If he’s willing to be the “old head” on a very young team, and the price is right, why not bring him back. Plus, he’s a crowd favorite and a link to the great teams over the last decade.

Yet a third big man, Ante Zizic picked the wrong time to have injury issues, and his numbers regressed from a year ago. It has been reported he would like to return to Europe to continue his career.

Quite frankly, we like his offensive game, but doubt if he has the lateral quickness to be an effective defender in today’s NBA.

Matt Mooney and Dean Wade are also free agents, and if the Cavs want them to compete for a roster spot in training camp, whenever that starts, we are sure they will be welcome. Wade is a stretch four, so he may be able to help if he can show he can defend a bit.

Apparently, we will know what happens with these players around Halloween. As we have said before though, the wine and gold still need to get bigger, and if Thompson and Zizic leaves, that just means the need is even greater.

Even With Drummond, Cavs Need To Find More Big Men

When the Cleveland Cavaliers traded for Andre Drummond at the trade deadline, we were thrilled because it was the first time in a long time the Cavs addressed the lack of height on their roster.

Since Timofey Mozgov left as a free agent, Cleveland either didn’t have legitimate big men (read traditional center) on the roster or didn’t use those people.

When the wine and gold went to The Finals in 2018, the last season LeBron James played in Cleveland, the Cavs had three players taller than 6’9″: Channing Frye, Kendrick Perkins, and Ante Zizic.

That trio played a combined 774 minutes. COMBINED.

The Golden State Warriors, known for their long range shooting and small ball lineups, had four players 6’10” or taller: Kevin Durant, Zaza Pachulia, JaVale McGee, and Damian Jones.

Pachulia alone played more minutes than the Cavaliers trio.

Let’s look at the two best teams in the NBA this season, the Lakers and Bucks.

Los Angeles has three big men getting over 15 minutes per night: Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard, and McGee.

Milwaukee uses three tall people more than 14 minutes per contest: Brook and Robin Lopez, and of course, Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The point is, size is still important even in today’s professional basketball where positions are fluid and the scoring has drifted to the perimeter.

So, getting Drummond was an important step in remedying this situation, but the Cavs could have a problem in this regard this off-season.

Drummond can be a free agent at the end of this season, albeit with a player option, with the situation the world is in right now, he seems unlikely to decline because he figures to not see as much money on the open market.

However, the other two big men wearing the wine and gold, Zizic and Tristan Thompson (who is 6’9″ but is most definitely a C/PF and provides interior defense) are also eligible to test the market, meaning GM Koby Altman could again have a roster devoid of size.

No doubt there will be some veteran free agents from other teams out there for the Cavs, but hopefully they will sign at least two of them, because Cleveland is already small in the backcourt, and at the start of the season, they were the smallest team in the NBA.

Should Altman take a big man in the draft? It wouldn’t hurt, but the team has needs in other area (not guard) and since big men take longer to develop, it would be doubtful a rookie such as James Wiseman (7’1″, 235 lbs) could make much of an impact in his first year, particularly on the defensive end of the floor.

In our opinion, Thompson staying in Cleveland is a long shot and we’ve seen rumors that Zizic is returning overseas, and we have doubts that he can play interior defense in the NBA due to lack of quickness.

That means beside the draft and solving the impending roster problems at guard, Altman needs to find some big people as well. Ideally, we would like to see three players over 6’10” added to the roster, but at the very least, two would do.

Height is still a requirement in the NBA. Good teams seem to have players who can provide defense around the rim. The Cavaliers can’t lose sight of that before the 2020-21 season begins.

Cavs Need To Adjust Their Style After The Break

The Cleveland Cavaliers enter the NBA All-Star weekend with the worst record in the Eastern Conference and second worst in the entire league.

They did make a splash at the trading deadline, acquiring two time All Star Andre Drummond from Detroit for pretty much a bag of balls and some warmups.

That’s not to disparage John Henson and Brandon Knight, but they were free agents to be at the end of the season, and weren’t coming back to play for the wine and gold.

With their roster set, what does the balance of the NBA schedule hold for the Cavs? What should they be trying to accomplish in the 30 or so games remaining on the slate?

GM Koby Altman was quoted as saying this season, yes, this one, has been a success because of the development of Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, and Kevin Porter Jr.

While we understand where he is coming from, no season in which a team wins just 26% of their games is a good one, particularly when they won only 23% last season, and supposedly added two first round picks.

These last 28 games should be about showing some progress on the court. No, we don’t think the Cavs should or will make the playoffs, but it would be nice if there were no more 41 point losses at home either.

And really, let’s say John Beilein’s group stunned the world and went 20-8 in the remaining schedule. Would people really be upset by that? That would be significant progress, no?

With the addition of Drummond, Cleveland is going against the grain in today’s NBA, going with more size. That’s not a bad thing, just different. But if you are going to go with it, you also have to change your style of play.

When Phoenix started the “small ball” movement, they didn’t line up and play the same style of all the taller teams in the NBA at that time, they started playing with pace and shooting more threes than the rest of the league.

The league average in 2004-05, Mike D’Antoni’s first year with the Suns, was 15.8 three point attempts per game. Phoenix took a league high 24.7.

If Beilein is going to feature Drummond, Kevin Love, Larry Nance Jr., and Tristan Thompson, the strategy should be play fast off of defensive rebounds, take advantage of fast break opportunities.

If that isn’t there, and the team is in a half court situation, the object should be to work inside out. Get the ball to Drummond or Love around the paint and surround them with shooters.

Thus, a greater emphasis should be put on defense, since the best way to fast break is to get stops, grab the rebound, and run.

That may also entail using a different rotation in the backcourt, maybe moving Garland to the bench and getting a little more size at guard by using Sexton and Porter, and occasionally Cedi Osman there.

We have said all season we would like to see Osman, Nance, and Love on the floor at the same time with Thompson at center, just to see if the Cavs can play that way.

This would be a good chance to experiment with that group together.

If you are going to play with size, then you have to use a style that doesn’t allow your bigs to be run off the floor, particularly with the way the game is played.

It’s going to take a new commitment from the coaching staff and the players. Will we see some progress in terms of team goals between now and the middle of April?

Getting Drummond For Virtually Nothing? Why Not?

We have commented for several years that the Cleveland Cavaliers’ organization ignored height in a sport where it matters a lot.

They addressed that yesterday in a huge way, trading impending free agents John Henson and Brandon Knight, and a second round draft pick to the Pistons for one of the best big men in the game, Andre Drummond.

Yes, we understand Drummond can be a free agent at the end of the season by declining his player option, but the Cavs have his “Bird rights”, meaning they can offer him more than any other team.

And even if he leaves via free agency, GM Koby Altman basically gave up the second round pick, because Henson and Knight were leaving anyway.

That’s what you call a win/win. He’s just 26 years old.

Quite frankly, Drummond is one of the game’s best big men. He leads the league in rebounding at 15.8, and has led the NBA in this category in three of the last four seasons. He’s also scoring 17.8 points per game.

Is he a guy who can be the best player on a playoff team? That’s doubtful, but he is a productive big guy and is a deterrent around the basket, averaging 1.7 blocked shots per game.

Does he make the wine and gold significantly better right now? Again, probably not, so any fear of a lengthy winning streak starting soon and putting the Cavs with lower odds of getting a top five pick in this June’s draft are probably unfounded.

However, no one should complain about adding a good player for virtually nothing, and Drummond is a very good player.

He isn’t like the flashy players today’s NBA seem to love, but you still need quality big men to win, even today.

How does he fit in with the current Cavs’ roster? That would be up to the coaching staff and the young backcourt players.

Beilein has talked about ball movement offensively, but we really haven’t seen it. And the young players (Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, and Kevin Porter Jr.) have had issues making entry passes to the low post, which is where you want Drummond to have the basketball.

If they don’t learn quickly how to do that, then the new big man won’t be much of a factor offensively.

On the other hand, Kevin Love and Larry Nance Jr. are very good passers, so perhaps some imagination getting the ball into the high post to either of them, and then playing off Drummond can work.

With Tristan Thompson remaining on the roster, you may be able to give Nance some minutes at the small forward spot, which we have also advocated.

That also makes you stronger defensively, and it goes without saying that is a huge need for this squad.

The point is this is a low risk move for the Cavs. They basically gave up a second round pick for a quality big man.

When in doubt, we are always in favor of adding good players to the team. That’s what Altman did yesterday.

Can’t complain about that.

Sizing Up Cavs Vs. Pistons

The Cleveland Cavaliers open the post-season Sunday afternoon at Quicken Loans Arena against the Detroit Pistons, and it doesn’t figure to be as easy as last season’s path to the second round.

As you well remember, the Cavs swept the Boston Celtics a year ago, in a series most known for the Celtics’ physicality. We all recall losing Kevin Love for the balance of the playoffs after his arm was pulled out of its socket by Kelly Olynyk.

We say it won’t be as easy because the conference as a whole is better. Boston was a below .500 team (40-42) in the 2014-15 season, and this year, the Pistons are 44-38, which would have given them the 6th seed a year ago.

That said, the two teams do have some similarities. Both are playoff newcomers, it has been since 2009 that Detroit has been in the post-season, while the Celts were very young a year ago.

Both squads are led in scoring by their point guards. Reggie Jackson leads the Pistons with an 18.8 average, and both Kyrie Irving and Mo Williams (when he was starting at the beginning of the year) had problems containing Jackson.

However, he is just a 35% shooter from behind the arc, so logic dictates that Cavs’ defenders make him knock down a few shots from outside and take away the drive initially. That will be something to watch early in the series.

Unlike Boston though, the Pistons have a dominant presence inside in Andre Drummond, who averaged 16.2 points and 14.8 rebounds per game. Detroit ranked second in the NBA in offensive boards throughout the season, so it is incumbent on the Cavs to limit the guys from the Motor City to just one shot.

Drummond’s achilles heel though is his free throw shooting. Making just 35.5% of his tosses, it is very likely we will see a lot of deliberate fouling on Cleveland’s part to force the big man to the line, or perhaps to the bench.

It is hard to see coach Stan Van Gundy keeping Drummond on the floor in a close game because of this problem.

Still, it seems like Drummond could be a factor if Tristan Thompson cannot handle him on the boards. We know Thompson is terrific on the glass as well, but the Piston is better.

And because Thompson isn’t really an offensive threat, it leaves Drummond free to contest shots around the basket, meaning the Cavs better have their perimeter game working.

When Channing Frye is in the game, he should get some open looks because Drummond doesn’t want to play outside.

This makes Lue’s handling of Timofey Mozgov more curious. The big man will be needed in this series and in a potential matchup with Toronto in the conference finals

Mid-season acquisition Tobias Harris has been very good for Detroit since coming over from Orlando, but he pales in comparison to LeBron James, who will be his match up.

As usual, the Cavs biggest opponent in this series will be themselves. If Irving and Kevin Love are scoring, it opens things up for JR Smith, and those four can put up 100 points between the quartet.

They also need to move the basketball and lock themselves in on defense. If they don’t forget that is their recipe for winning, it should be a short series.

But make no mistake, these Pistons have some weapons which have been problems for the Cavaliers. If they don’t pay attention to detail, Detroit could steal a game or two.