afarmenian wrote:JonFromVA wrote:JujitsuFlip wrote:It is JB's 4th season as the Cavs HC, I kinda think he is what he is at this point.
It's a possibility, but he's only 43 years old, the team is young, they all seem to like him, and reaching the goal for this season is not out of reach even if he doesn't adapt.
And while Koby Altman has created this neo-archaic roster, JBB has found a way to make it work by channeling his grit & grind experience. Some of his major decisions like starting Evan from the get go and using Lauri at SF have worked. Even his stubborn faith in Isaac when he was putting up little more than turnovers in the box score has been at least partially redeemed. JBB's willingness to use small back courts (especially the pairing of Garland and Rubio) likely fueled Altman's belief that Mitchell would work even better.
And my final defense of Bickerstaff, which I do - not because I want to do it, but because I'm an honest fan and I can do it is if you judge the man by what he preaches (which is mostly defense and effort); he's done an incredible job. The Cavs even after their sketchy play are still #2 in the league in defensive rating. The team is bought in and giving strong defensive effort up & down the lineup including players many tried to tell us couldn't play defense. Even Kevin had his moments due to primarily effort (certainly not foot speed), but Lauri, Darius, Caris, and Donovan all exceeded expectations on the defensive end.
See this is where I have to disagree and why I am have lost a ton of faith in JB. This team routinely gets off to slow starts and on most nights is clawing its way back into the game. To me that is more an effort issue than a talent issue and a mentality that should probably fall into the coach. We all know that the team plays down and up to competition. That mentality is baffling for a young up and coming team that should be hungry. The botched late game stuff I can understand, young teams do that but the slow starts are absurd.
Also I want to call out this continued pat on the back for the Cavs being a top defense. Yes they are a good defensive team, they have young legs and two dynamic shot blockers BUT....they also play the slowest pace in the league. I just can't help but feel like that inflates the rating (hello fratello cavs) somewhat where teams are bogged down by the pace more than the actual defense
Post Mitchell trade, our bench sucks. I'm sorry, but that's just the reality. Rubio injured and out, Wade injured and out, and now Love injured and out. We've got hustle guys, who are no longer hungry for minutes, and LeVert (depending on whether you're calling him or Okoro starter). I've actually gotten excited about Neto getting minutes, which should tell just how much our bench sucks.
Watching Stevens try to guard SGA tonight was lol ridiculous. It almost felt like JBB was trolling the front office ahead of the deadline (or his critics in the fanbase). Allen was clearly exhausted, but Rolo is our only backup. Wade is on a minutes restriction so he's got Mobley chucking 3s (I don't care if a couple went in those are bad possessions). Meanwhile, a segment of the fanbase finally got to see G League Diakite get outplayed by the Rockets third string last night.
*My leash is too tight with Cedi? Here, take a good hard look at what he adds when he's not hitting threes.*
i don't keep up with the guy, he sucked.