When you read that question if Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B Bickerstaff should feel the heat in this upcoming playoff series against the New York Knicks, you should probably be saying, “Yes!” Let’s be honest, if the head coach is not feeling the pressure, then he’s in the wrong business. Bickerstaff does not have much experience coaching successful teams, nor been in the playoffs but one time in his NBA career. Desperation tactics surfaced for the coach too this week when he reportedly sought playoff advice from a baseball coach.
Bickerstaff should be feeling the heat going into this Cavs series against the Knicks.
While the stories abound of the feel-good vibes of the current Cavs team, I believe that Bickerstaff still has much to prove. His team finished at 51-31 and earned the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. Those are good indicators of a team making progress, but Bickerstaff and many of his players have never been to this stage of the NBA season, at least not much.
I’ve shared my displeasure over the season with how Bickerstaff has utilized his players, often playing his starters into the ground and not using his bench players enough or in good combinations. While many that follow the Cavaliers as fans or in the media like to say that the bench of Cleveland has been lousy, some of that rests on the shoulders of the head coach, which many aren’t wanting to acknowledge publicly.
With the resting of the starters for the Cavs this week, that should help initially in this series. In the playoffs, the rotations of players becomes even more pinpoint and limited, so Bickerstaff will not likely change his ways in this series.
The heat should be on the head coach for several other reasons including that this team holds home court advantage and is the four seed. Bickerstaff is also going up against a very experienced NBA head coach in Tom Thibedeau. The former Chicago Bulls coach took those teams to the playoffs routinely, including taking his 2010-11 team to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat.
There’s already doubt about Bickerstaff’s play calling and decision-making when the pressure is on in clutch time situations. We’ve seen his teams make mistakes in closing moments of games and while they had a good season in general these pressure points will return in these playoffs. Will the coach be able to change things up in these big games coming up?
Bickerstaff got the luxury this season to have All-Star Donovan Mitchell leading his troops on the court. That will be the biggest advantage that the coach will have moving through this first series and hopefully Mitchell will be able to play at an elite level. With the other starters like Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen bringing their “A” games in these playoffs, then Bickerstaff may be able to get through this first round against New York.
I’ll be paying attention to see if Bickerstaff can draw up successful plays in these playoffs and manage his players on the court. I’ll be watching to see if he can handle the pressure and not be scrutinizing the refs all game long.
If he can maintain his composure and coach to his team’s strengths that revolve around their defense, then the Wine and Gold will be moving on in this postseason.