The problem now is that it hasn’t dissipated at all.
First off, all credit to the Knicks.
They took the Cavs manhood in this series.
The “Junkyard Dog” Cavs did absolutely fucking nothing about it.
The Cavs have coddled their young team for the last few years.
Preaching about learning curves and life lessons.
Be nice to the boys!
They’re trying their best!
Unfortunately, that’s just the start of how JB Bickerstaff failed.
And to his credit it worked.
Brunson went 5-17 from the field and the Cavs won going away.
But chess isn’t about the next move.
It’s about the three moves after that.
The best players in the world - and our eventual AI overlords - are always thinking multiple moves ahead.
The Cavs had to respect IQ as a shooter and thus left Brunson in ISO situations more often.
It’s time to react JB.
What he had was…nothing.
AND THEN THEY DIDN’T PLAY OKORO FOR ALMOST THE ENTIRE QUARTER!
Brunson dictated the pace.
Brunson dictated the tempo.
Brunson was the best player in this series.
Which led to them being out of position for rebounds over and over and over and over and over.
This isn’t me making an excuse for Jarrett Allen either.
Maybe a little less Pokemon and a little more Rocky before training camp my man.
Sack the fuck up.
And then there is Kevin Love.
The two things the Cavs desperately needed in this series were rebounding and shooting.
I wonder where they could have gotten some of that from?
Love averaged 7.4 rebounds and nearly 3 threes a game in that series.
And just look at his performance in Game 5.
So what does that have to do with JB Bickerstaff?
Dean Wade who was given a three-year $18.5 Million extension this season.
Dean Wade who was behind Danny Green and his paper mache knee in the rotation in the playoffs.
And then there is GM Koby Altman…
Talk about arrogance.
I understand not every move is easy to make and having patience.
Josh Hart averaged 12 points, 8 rebounds, and played stellar defense.
That doesn’t move the needle?
It sure as fuck seemed to move the needle for Knicks fans.
Congrats to the Knicks and their fans.
But no matter how much I dislike Knicks fans, I currently loath JB Bickerstaff’s performance even more.
Sure, he was great for what they originally needed him for.
To get young guys to play hard and believe.
To get them experiencing some regular season success and make it to the postseason.
But this series showed this needs to be the final stop on the Bickerstaff express.
His time should be over and it should be over sooner rather than later.
Go get Nick Nurse.
Go get a seasoned coach who can actually draw up an inbounds play and counterpunch in a series.
The time for learning and life lessons is over.
It’s winning time and there weren’t many bigger losers in the 2023 playoffs than the Cavs.
