Cavs: Recent interview with J.B. Bickerstaff reiterates how he’s right fit as HC

A recent interview with Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff reiterates how he’s the right fit as their head coach for hopefully the foreseeable future.

As we all know, the 2019-20 NBA season is on hiatus for the Cleveland Cavaliers and other teams until further notice due to precautions being exercised after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the novel coronavirus on March 11.

In terms of further updates on other players/NBA personnel that have tested positive for COVID-19, you can view those here and also here; it is uncertain at this point if the current NBA season will resume at some point. Albeit, on Monday, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne on ESPN’s Outside The Lines (and h/t Bleacher Report’s Joseph Zucker), said that “no matter what” NBA players and owners absolutely want to finish out the season.

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Whether or not it does, though, it was nice to see the Cavs post-All-Star break perform better under the direction of newer head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who took over at that point after prior head coach John Beilein stepped down, and Beilein has since been re-assigned to an unspecified role within the organization.

Post-All-Star, Cleveland was a respectable 5-6 under Bickerstaff, and while teams often play better and can be galvanized, to an extent, after a mid-season head coaching change, it’s clear that the Cavs players have really taken to Bickerstaff.

Moreover, a recent interview with Bickerstaff in Part II of a four-part interview series involving Bickerstaff talking with Cavs.com’s Joe Gabriele reiterates how Bickerstaff’s truly the right fit as Cleveland’s head coach, hopefully for the foreseeable future.

In the interview, Gabriele asked Bickerstaff about how Bickerstaff has been in touch with the Cavs players in this ever-difficult time in relation to the COVID-19, along with things such as Bickerstaff’s significant donation to the Cleveland Food Bank and the Children’s Hunger Alliance, in addition to Bickerstaff’s exposure to the NBA early on. His father, Bernie Bickerstaff, had a long-time NBA head coaching career, and Bernie is now a senior adviser for the Cavaliers as well.

What really stood out from the interview, again, though, was how Bickerstaff emphasized how crucial it is to connect with players during this time, and at all times, really, as that’s one of the main reasons why the team agreed to extend his deal for four years, of which was mutual, of course.

Anyhow, this response to me when he was asked about how important it is to be connecting with his player at this time reiterated that Bickerstaff was the right fit going forward as the Cavs head coach.

"“Very important, especially during this time when there’s so many people who are so isolated.Like, how do we make sure that we continue that we continue to bond as a team – because that’s what this is about. At the end of the day, we need each other. In order to be a good team, in order to just be the type of people that we want to be, we’re going to have to depend on one another. And how do you depend on people when times are tough, that’s what speaks volumes.So I think that’s the message to the guys: make sure you keep communicating with one another. Make sure you keep talking to your friends and family. Make sure everybody’s safe. But just give people an opportunity to have interaction.FaceTime and all that stuff is available, so don’t just text. (Let’s) make sure see each other’s faces, see each other laugh.”"

This sort of response from Bickerstaff is spot-on, and with how Beilein didn’t connect with Cavs players at all, it’s encouraging to hear how Bickerstaff is continuing to stress that seemingly for the Wine and Gold to get going in the right direction in this rebuild, bonding as a club, on and off the floor, is invaluable.

From there, another key part of the interview that resonated with me was J.B. hitting on the reasoning behind his recent donation to the Cleveland Food Bank and the Children’s Hunger Alliance, both organizations he is really passionate about helping.

Basically, he touched on how crucial it is for those without the means for it in this tough time get what they need, in terms of food on their plate, which highlights how in this difficult time, leadership goes way beyond basketball and Bickerstaff is going to do all he can to make a difference for others. Here’s some of his response when asked about the aforementioned donations.

"“So it’s just something that my family and I’ve been passionate about it for a while now. Just understanding how grateful we are to be in the position we’re in and we can’t take it for granted.Sometimes, having a meal on the table is overlooked as just normal. But in a lot of cases, and for some people it’s not. And times like these just kind of exasperate the fact that we really need to help one another.That’s why we decided to do what we did.”"

Larry Nance Jr., for reference, recently gave an incredible $50,000 donation to each of the Cleveland and Akron-Canton Regional Food Banks. In turn, that truly hammered home how Bickerstaff understands how essential it is for the Cavs to be actively involved in helping their surrounding communities.

Additionally, Kevin Love, who recently gave a $100,000 donation through his fund to help compensate employees/game event staff at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse that were affected by the NBA’s season suspension, which seemed to set quite a remarkable trend around the league, also has had a lasting relationship with Bickerstaff. Love also more recently said on an appearance on NBC’s TODAY that athletes need to be “community leaders” at this time in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic that’s had such a profound impact.

Gabriele also asked Bickerstaff about his relationship with the Cavs’ best player, and here was some of Bickerstaff’s response, some of which he referenced how the two worked closely together with the Minnesota Timberwolves back in Love’s rookie year in 2008-09, when there was a “learning curve” for Love. He highlighted how that was a positive thing, though.

"“But again, the best part about it that we built a great relationship through all the ups and downs. And I think that’s where he and I still have that bond: because it wasn’t always easy. It wasn’t like he came in and it was all sunshine and roses. We had to work together to get through some difficult times and from that point we just always had each other’s back.Sometimes you need some adversity in relationships and team-building because it stands out and you remember people’s actions in those tough times.So Kevin and I, we just always just would go to work. No matter what was happening, the losses were piling up but K. Love would always show up and go to work. You put him on the floor, he’ll always be productive.Obviously, a lot has changed for both of us from the last time that we worked together.But that’s the great part about the NBA. It is difficult at times, sometimes you do have to leave. People get traded, people get fired, move on to other jobs.But those relationships that you have – because you do spend so much time together – when you do get back together like we have in Cleveland, it’s like nothing ever changed.”"

In summation, this interview reiterates how Bickerstaff is the right person to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers in the right direction in this rebuild.

Now, it’s unclear as to whether or not the Cavaliers eventually, after the league unfreezes team transactions/potential for trades/etc., will look to trade Love. What is certain it seems, though, is that Bickerstaff and Love mesh really well, and the Cavs potentially letting that pair have ample time to help this squad become a winner is something that would be understandable, so long as the buy-in is there and he’s giving it his all every night.

Leading up to the NBA’s season suspension, Love had seemed to have been a great teammate and even when Beilein when was still the head coach, was noticeably more upbeat and engaged in-game, and since Bickerstaff had taken over post-All-Star break, Love’s statistics really reflected his full buy-in.

In that span of which Love played 10 games, Love had 17.5 points per game on 58.9 percent true shooting, to go with 9.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, according to NBA.com. He had a solid net rating of 3.9 in that stretch, too.

At any rate, this interview demonstrates that Bickerstaff is the right person, from an on and off the floor perspective with how he connects with players, has had ample experience as an assistant and some as a head coach before with the Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies, and is especially engaged with the community, to be the Cavs’ head coach hopefully for the foreseeable future.

He was making considerable strides in his second year in Memphis before he was fired, in my opinion, prematurely, and though it was a small sample size going into the league’s season suspension, we were beginning to see how Bickerstaff is going to do what it takes to win games in how he’s going to put players in the right position to be successful, but also young pieces to grow.

For instance, Collin Sexton and Kevin Porter Jr. (though his baseline stats weren’t close to as gaudy) continued to show more and more positive signs in regards to their progression as key young perimeter pieces for Cleveland.

Going forward, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert better give Bickerstaff at least three years (not including the current season that is suspended) to build this team back up to relevance.