I should probably start by applauding Coach Bickerstaff. To turn the second worst defense in basketball into the current league leader in defensive rating is simply unheard of. Single season improvement like this is absolutely incredible and I don't think I've seen anything like it. It is unfathomable that this has seemingly gone under the radar. However, all despite all the praise I can give him, there's two sides to the court, and this team is heavily underperforming offensively.
As stated in the previous post, the Cavs have the second worst offense in the NBA. I give a lot of the blame for that to Bickerstaff. His offense is based around Drummond and McGee, and that is huge cause for concern. The Cavs have a talented young backcourt with competent shooters around them, yet our offense runs through two bigs that simply aren't good on offense, or at least not good enough to consistently look to them to create offense.
The other big issue I have with Bickerstaff is how many minutes he plays his players. Sexton is averaging 37.4mpg. Garland gets 35.8mpg, Okoro 35.5mpg, and Nance is at 34.4mpg. It’s getting worrying. I really hope he doesn’t become essentially another Tom Thibodeau. Thib’s heavy minutes led to a ton of injuries. Derrick Rose famously blew out his knee against the Sixers during unnecessary garbage time minutes. Luol Deng literally almost died (look it up) after playing absurd minutes. Joakim Noah was always injured. Zach Lavine tore his acl while playing 37mpg in his first season with Thibs. Jimmy Butler tore his meniscus in Minnesota under Thibs, averaging 37mpg. We’re already starting to see the effects of Bickerstaff’s heavy minutes on the cavs. Kevin Love came into the season nursing a calf injury. His first game back he played 37 mins. The very next game he reinjured it and is out for 3-4 weeks. Dante Exum played the most minutes he’s played since April of 2017 in game 6 and then not even a minute into the next game went down with the same injury as Love, a right calf strain. Even the young guys are already experiencing injuries. Okoro missed five games, Sexton missed a game for the first time in his career, and Garland’s out for at least week with a shoulder sprain. If something really bad happens to one of the young guys, and it’s a lower body injury that most likely resulted from extended minutes, I'll never forgive Bickerstaff.
Coach Bickerstaff is leading this team beyond all previous expectations. But he could still be better.
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