J.B. Bickerstaff Criticizes the Cavaliers’ Flailing “fat-cat Mentality”
Having started the year 8-1, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. The team’s attitude and defensive effort over the previous week and a half have been irking Bickerstaff, who vented his frustrations.
“At this point, getting a point across is less important than finding solutions. We’re not playing winning basketball right now, and it’s that simple,” After Wednesday night’s 113-98 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, Bickerstaff addressed the media. “We have a strategy in place that enables us to succeed or will enable us to succeed. We need to hold each other accountable for that, but we aren’t doing it yet. That’s all there is to it; it’s my job to look around and find the guys who are most eager to play the way we want to play and contribute to our collective success. So that’s what we’ll do.”
Bickerstaff openly discussed the locker room’s recent complacency while expressing his love for his players and the team.
“We seem to have a bit of a fat-cat mentality, in all honesty. We then started winning eight straight games. Everybody was giving us love and praising us, and we got really comfortable,” Bickerstaff said. “But we were the team that prevailed in those eight contests, right? Our basketball team is very strong. Here, the focus is on the team’s overall development and growth. Not a single guy is going to do it. Nobody is going to do it with two guys. [Understanding the difference between being pursued and being pursued, as well as how challenging it is to win the NBA when your team is one that other teams regard as good and capable of winning, is the focus of this article. [How each player interprets that as a sign of deference is what matters. However, they are your rivals and would like to steal your advantage. We’re still learning, regrettably, what it takes to compete and succeed every single night.
“It goes without saying that we still have a lot of season left to play, and we’ll do it correctly. This teaches us a very important lesson. My father, former coach and current front office executive for the Cavaliers Bernie Bickerstaff, once said to me, “The NBA will always humble you.” The NBA has a way of bringing you down as soon as you become too big for your boots, regardless of who you are.’ We’ll decide to act honorably toward one another after hopefully enough time has passed.”
In order to explain Cleveland’s poor play, Bickerstaff focused on the team’s apparent decline in defense.
“On our trip to the West Coast, it initially started. I first saw it on the defensive end of the floor,” said Bickerstaff, whose Cavs have played in five games with a league-worst defensive rating of 122.0. “We strayed from our true selves. We reached a point where, honorably so, we felt confident that we could score the ball. Nevertheless, we ought to be… if you want to win and win in this league at the level that we hope to, you can’t do it if you don’t guard,” Bickerstaff said. “And how well you defend depends on how much work you’re willing to put in. You should put forth your second, third, and fourth best efforts. And right now, there aren’t enough guys giving it their second, third, and fourth best.
“I see us saving ourselves for unidentified reasons far too frequently. However, the fact that you allowed 21 second-chance points to Milwaukee tonight demonstrates to us that you are underperforming. Once more, it is our duty as coaches to identify the teams of players who will consistently carry out our instructions. Is my opinion of our team impacted by this? No, I adore each and every one of these guys equally. However, it is our duty to look for players who will play the way we need them to play and to act in the team’s best interest.”
In recent games, the Cavaliers have left opponents feeling far too at ease outside the paint. In this losing streak, they’re letting their opponents make 68.8% of their right-corner threes (48.9% on 9.4 attempts from both corners combined) and 42.5% of their above-the-break long-range shots. The closeouts haven’t been carried out nearly well enough, as Bickerstaff stated. Even if they weren’t, the other squads’ shooting confidence was increased as a result, so it didn’t matter. (Visit the Sacramento Kings game to watch Trey Lyles play.)
The fact that Jarrett Allen has missed the last two games due to an ankle injury and an illness unrelated to COVID isn’t helping matters. While Evan Mobley plays a risky weak-side defender role, he serves as the defensive interior’s anchor. However, bigger players often bully Mobley on the block when he switches to the 5. Additionally, security personnel attack less timidly and, as a result, kick the ball out to shooters’ arcs. Dean Wade’s absence hasn’t received enough attention, either; he is essential to Cleveland’s perimeter defense and spacing.
However, because it is a next-man-up league, the games continue. A four-game homestand that includes games against the Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks, and Portland Trail Blazers is set to begin on Friday against the Charlotte Hornets.
The Cavaliers will right the ship, Bickerstaff insisted as he concluded his postgame press conference remarks.
“I believe in those guys in that locker room, and that hasn’t wavered,” Bickerstaff said. “Building successful teams isn’t easy, as history and experience have shown. Since we won eight straight games, I have to admit that was more of a surprise. What we’re going through right now is typical of the early stages of a team’s development and is a work in progress, based solely on history and experience. And that is what we are, let’s just be honest with ourselves.
“Do we think that team in the locker room is a good one? Do we think we have elite individual talent in that group? Hell yeah. Sure, but it takes more than that to develop a team. It requires patience and a combination of experiences. I still firmly believe in this group, and I always will… I’m confident that we will find a solution and that this time around, we will be stronger.”
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