Bickerstaff’s Doghouse: Bad move by Cavs HC to not play these 2 guys

Cedi Osman

Another player that has been mismanaged by Bickerstaff is Cedi Osman. When you look at Osman’s minutes by game over the course of this season, there is no rhyme or reason for any of it. As a player, that has to have an effect on your psyche. As I said earlier, these are NBA players and the very best but how Osman has been used all season has been a horrible coaching decision.

Osman has had 28 games of less than 20 minutes and 37 games of more than 20 minutes. You talk about a roller coaster, then look no further than this case study. How are players like Osman, a three-point specialist, supposed to knock down that three-pointer if they are being used in inconsistent ways. In the recent game against the Charlotte Hornets, Osman got a nice seven minutes in the first half and knocked down a three and then never saw the court again.

Since Feb. 15, Osman has played in seven games. In that time, he’s also been a DNP three other games and didn’t play at all. Of those seven games, he had two games where he had single digit minutes. You can’t do anything when given five minutes on the floor.

Osman isn’t known for his defense, and I can understand why he might not be used but he’s a good shooter and can produce points quickly, but he still needs like 15-20 minutes every night. The fact that many nights Cavaliers fans are pulling their hair out and complaining about the bench is a problem.

But, conversely, I believe more of the complaints should be directed to the coach, because he hasn’t shown all season long he knows how to manage that group. So, the fan excuse that it’s because the players are terrible doesn’t make much sense.