The Cleveland Cavaliers open their season in about a week when they travel to play the Toronto Raptors on Oct. 19. While the season ahead looks very promising for a number of reasons including the blockbuster trade to get Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz, there are other reasons that this season could go south, and the team would be out of the playoff picture just as fast.
The team is stacked with young talent. They now carry at least three All-Stars in the starting lineup including Mitchell, Darius Garland, and Jarrett Allen. They also have Evan Mobley coming back for his sophomore campaign, and he should be in the mix to become an All-Star this season as well. Tack on veteran Kevin Love and you legitimately have an All-Star team in Cleveland.
But, the hype is just that – hype. The players still have to go out on the court and play the games and a lot can happen over the course of a season that stretches 82 games.
With that let’s take a look at three reasons that could stall the Cavaliers’ drive to a playoff berth.
Reason No. 1: Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff
I’ve never been a fan of J.B. Bickerstaff and I believe the Cavs struggles at the end of the last season were in part because of their head coach. His decision-making when it came to rotations, his game management, and use of timeouts and late-game substitutions were all very poor down the stretch.
Career-wise, Bickerstaff has lacked the stellar background that suggests a coach that knows how to coach at the highest level with success. In 381 games as a head coach, his record is 156-225. He’s only had two seasons where his teams finished with a winning record. That included last season with the Cavs, when they finished 44-38 and then back in the 2015-16 season when his team then, the Houston Rockets, finished 37-34 but then lost in the playoffs.
Many feel that Bickerstaff is a great coach because he’s coaching these young Cavaliers and because the team won many more games a year ago, especially early in the season, and because of that he should be given all the credit. Sure, he should be given some credit but inserting a difference-making talent like rookie Evan Mobley into the Cavs lineup probably had more to do with that shift in success than Bickerstaff’s coaching abilities.
With Donovan Mitchell joining the squad, the ability to see how Bickerstaff’s poor coaching has a bearing on what happens this season may be more difficult to see upfront, but don’t let the player talent on the team hide the coach’s flaws. Hopefully, those issues don’t factor into a playoff appearance, but we’ll just have to wait and see.