It’s early, but Cavs’ players are buying into J.B. Bickerstaff as HC

The Cleveland Cavaliers have won three of four games with J.B. Bickerstaff leading the way, and while it’s early, the Wine and Gold are buying into Bickerstaff as their head coach.

I’m well-aware it’s been just four games, but the Cleveland Cavaliers are fully bought into their new head coach in J.B. Bickerstaff.

Groups are often galvanized after a midseason head coaching change, and after what transpired with John Beilein as their head coach this season up until last week, it’s not surprising that the Cavs are playing better.

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Cleveland has gone 3-1 with Bickerstaff taking over for Beilein, who was reportedly re-assigned to an unspecified role in Cleveland’s organization. Of those three victories under Bickerstaff’s direction, there’s been two big comebacks at the Washington Wizards and versus the Miami Heat in shocking fashion, both of which KJG’s Corey Casey broke down in detail.

Plus, even with the Philadelphia 76ers being without Ben Simmons (due to a reported nerve impingement in his lower back) and mostly without Joel Embiid (a reported shoulder injury), the Cavaliers took care of business on Wednesday. Cleveland beat Philly convincingly in a 108-94 W.

It’s clear that the Cavs are fully bought into Bickerstaff as their head coach, which has undoubtedly led to their recent success.

The young pieces, such as Darius Garland, Collin Sexton and Kevin Porter Jr. have really stepped up, and Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and Larry Nance Jr. have been huge on the glass on both ends, and have scored efficiently. Heck, we’re even seeing Love give multiple efforts defensively on rotations and closeouts.

Additionally, Matthew Dellavedova, who realistically played more due to rotational changes from Dante Exum spraining his ankle on Monday and likely being out for a while, actually had 12 points on five-of-five shooting in Wednesday’s win, reportedly hit on how the coaching change caused the Cavs’ players to take a hard look at themselves postgame. Delly even said “it’s a wake-up call” when your coach (head coach, really) is fired, via Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor.

Of course, as Fedor essentially noted, Beilein did step down, but it did feel like a firing, and at least now under Bickerstaff, the Cavs’ players seem more locked-in.

Delly alluded to that, too, via Fedor.

"“Everybody has to look in the mirror and think about what they could have done better to help the situation,” Dellavedova said. “Everyone I guess refocuses and picks it up.”"

Fedor also touched on how Love said how he deserved blame for his behavior and his role in Beilein stepping down and was empathetic.

Furthermore, Sexton, who had 28 points and was particularly active defensively against the Sixers, also had more to add in relation to how Cavs’ players needed to pick it up, via Fedor, who emphasized how Sexton is now on his fourth head coach in just his second season.

"“Was I as coachable as I could have been? Could I have been more coachable? Could I have received information and criticism better? Let me step back and survey,” Sexton said. “Was I as good of a player to coach when he was here?’ Had to just look myself in the mirror and ask myself those things.”"

This sort of self-correction and/or critique is encouraging to hear from both a veteran/locker room presence in Delly and young piece that looks like a key part of Cleveland’s future in Sexton.

Even with the Cleveland Cavaliers being at the early stages of a full-rebuild, these recent performances since Bickerstaff, whom the Cavs view as the full-time and not just interim head coach, took over have been really nice to see. It’s not shocking to hear that in an interview with The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears, Bickerstaff stressed how, based on a conversation between him and Cavs general manager Koby Altman, that he “will be back next season with a long-term deal.”

According to Fedor, Bickerstaff has made quicker adjustments in-game than Beilein did, and his prior experience as the Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies head coach has absolutely seemed to help.

He’s also been preaching energy and unselfishness, of which Fedor highlighted, and these postgame comments from Nance, who had 13 points and 15 rebounds Wednesday, in regards to that sort of thing demonstrate that through and through.

Granted, Beilein, who harped on the importance of ball movement constantly, should get some credit, too, though, and I’d imagine Nance would attest to that.

This message from Bickerstaff postgame also I’m sure struck a chord with Cavs’ players, and as a fan, they undoubtedly did with me.

Hopefully the Cavaliers can keep giving these multiple efforts in games, and the seemingly improved dynamic behind the scenes can carry over for them.

The Cavs protecting their home court in the last two contests against postseason squads has been really nice to see as well, and while Miami was without Jimmy Butler (reportedly due to personal reasons), the buy-in was there for the Cavaliers in an overtime victory where they overcame a 19-point fourth quarter deficit.

Most notably, that comeback was ignited by strings of stops on the defensive end of the floor.

Clearly, even with the sample size being small, this Cleveland Cavaliers squad has shown new life, and Bickerstaff’s even-keeled nature but also stressing of accountability has been just the right mix.

We’ll see how the Wine and Gold respond to their recent success on Friday on the road in a tough one going against Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Jrue Holiday and the New Orleans Pelicans.