Ever since coach J.B. Bickerstaff took over Cleveland‘s young roster two years ago, he’s been constantly analyzing negative patterns along the way to improve his team’s performances year after year. The Cavaliers growth since then serves as a testament to their trainer’s vision, as they only won 22 games in the 2020/21 campaign.
The next year they accumulated 44 victories, but still didn’t make it to the playoffs, and this past season won 51 contests and finally broke through the postseason, only to lose in the first round after a five-game series against an inspired New York Knicks. So yes, their growth has been slow, but steady.
Now that they’ve traded in Max Strus from Miami and Philadelphia’s Georges Niang. the Cleveland coach is convinced they’re ready to take another leap this upcoming season.
The Cavs have the most talented roster of the JB Bickerstaff era. This will be a make or break year for him. #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/Ubti6ip6EG
— Its Cavalier (@ItsCavalier_Pod) September 25, 2023
“Just getting all the guys back together. That’s the fun part. Continuing to build ‘team.’ Showing the guys what it means to be a team, how you can contend, all the small things you have to do throughout the season that will help you at the end,” he said last week before his team’s training camp.
About his new signings, Bickerstaff revealed that he’s excited to get to know them, because there are a lot of qualities you can’t discover through film.
“You obviously studied and watched film of new guys, but you never know exactly what you have until you get to coach them,” he said. “So I’m excited to have Max and Ty [Jerome] and Damian [Jones] and Georges with us to see what they bring to the table and how they can help.”
This year the NBA will celebrate their very first In-Season Tournament, and the Cavaliers trainer believes it’s a positive opportunity, but can’t make a professional assessment until it’s been played.
“It’s game by game, like you prepare for every game,” J.B. said. “What will be interesting is if you advance. How do you handle a semifinal and a final in Vegas? Those are the things that will be new. I think you take the same approach with those games — you try to win every one. But it’s still something we’ve never done before, so we’ll learn on the fly.”
The Cleveland coach is aware that the team needs to improve to convince stars like Donovan Mitchell to sign a contract extension
As Donovan Mitchell‘s contract end is looming close by, Bickerstaff knows that the Cavaliers must build a stronger case to contend for the NBA title in order to motivate him to remain in Cleveland and sign an extension deal.
“You’ll see a change in our offensive system,” he explained. “Two years ago, we were predicated on a ton of ball movement and body movement. We’re going to try to get back to that, where everybody is moving more, the ball is moving more. Then he gets an opportunity after the defense has shifted to go do what he does best.
“It’s going to be asking everybody to be a little more dynamic, to be a little harder to find. When you’re chasing an elite player like Donovan, he’s got the advantage automatically. Now he’s just got to make the play.”
As for rising star Evan Mobley, who is about to enter his third year in the league, the coach believes he’s matured a lot after his first experience in the playoffs.
“Just what life is like in the trenches,” J.B. said about Mobley’s development. “The physicality that was there, the rules “changing” a little bit for you, as far as what guys are able to do and play through. The shift from regular season is real. It’s possession by possession, trying to win four times against the same team, understanding how they pick apart your skill set, how you can take advantage of things you learn about them, and how you can make them play more toward their weaknesses.”
