Many supporters of Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff point to the success of the team over the past two seasons and like to nullify any other idea that maybe the coach’s flaws have already led to losses that shouldn’t have occurred. They also don’t want to consider the idea that just maybe Bickerstaff’s mistakes have been a bigger part of the reason this team, again in the stretch run for the playoffs, is playing very erratically and with little consistency.
I’ve seen numerous Cavs fans comment on various social media platforms that it’s too bad that not all the players on the Wine and Gold, especially their starters like Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley haven’t been able to all come together as one and put together more team efforts and get more wins.
I’d like to remind everyone at this crucial moment, that part of that lack of putting together a more team effort falls on the shoulders of the head coach. This is what these high profile and well-paid NBA coaches get hired to do.
A year ago, this same group of Cavaliers players and coaches started their downward spiral and were eliminated from playoff contention after having a very similar record. If you’re a fan of the Wine and Gold today, you may be getting that same gut-wrenching feeling that the same thing may happen again. The one thing though that is very different with this team is they have Donovan Mitchell, who they acquired in a trade this past offseason. Because of this player and his cast of stars like Mobley and Garland this team should get into the playoffs.
The bigger concern though in all of this is the head coach. He is the common denominator from last year’s team and now that has had the biggest impact on how this team is playing. The players are obviously responsible for playing the game well but the head coach is also responsible in trying to get better in his decision-making and making the team run more smoothly.
With those things in mind, there are two key areas of concern Cavs fans should be worried about when it comes to the team’s outlook with Bickerstaff at the helm, of which we’ll detail here.
Concern No. 1: Benching of and buyout agreement with Kevin Love
The Cavs and Kevin Love just agreed on his contract being bought out after he was sat on the bench over the last 12 games. He was in the last year of the contract. Kevin Love was the “grandpa” of the team and was well-loved by his teammates. Something happened in this story that we may never know completely, and in fairness, Love was still dealing with a thumb injury.
But going from one of the biggest reasons for the team’s recent success these last two seasons to a bench warmer, speaks to a disconnect between player and coach. And far too often the problem lies with the coach and his perceived power.
Losing Love will hurt the Cavs the rest of this season. There will be many that will point out Love’s lack of defensive skills of late but again, playing defense has to do with motivation. And who is supposed to positively motivate his players? Well, that would be the coach. It’s a sad state of affairs, especially when you consider that Love was the last of the high-profile players from the past like LeBron James and Kyrie Irving that have stayed through the low lights of past Cavaliers seasons.
Beyond, the feel-good story of having Love still be in Cleveland, he is an excellent three-point shooter, which is what the Cavs need the most down the stretch now, especially if they want to win in the playoffs.
Cleveland has already been searching for a couple veteran players that could come in and help out in that three-pointer department; sure, Love had been off, but he’s more than capable of catching fire. So, now this team is worse off.
Concern No. 2: Not playing key bench players enough
If you start digging into the data, you’ll see that Bickerstaff has been running his starters into the ground and there won’t be much left if he keeps this strategy up. Recently, he’s been playing mostly essentially a seven-man rotation. That rotation includes Caris LeVert and Cedi Osman. It used to include Dean Wade and at times Lamar Stevens as well but they’ve both fallen out of favor with the head coach.
I believe an eight or nine-man rotation is much better and would relieve the starters of the pressure to score buckets. Some fans at this point will suggest that the bench of the Cavs isn’t very good. But that bench isn’t playing as well because they aren’t being given the time on the court to gel.
Dean Wade is an excellent case study of where Bickerstaff has a real problem in recognizing what’s working and what’s not with his team. Wade is a great defender for the Cavs and when he sees more than 20 minutes of playing time the team usually wins. They are 15-5 this season when Wade went over the 20-minute mark, and only 6-5 when he played less than 20 minutes.
Stevens brings energy and effort with every possession. He had 15 games before mid-January where he played for more than 20 minutes a game. But in the last 15 games, he hasn’t played more than 20 minutes in a single game.
It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to see what players like Wade and Stevens can help with, but it seems like Bickerstaff can’t see the value of some of his players.