Memphis Grizzlies: 3 Reasons Cleveland Should Steer Clear of J.B. Bickerstaff in NBA Rumors

Unjust Adjustments

J.B. Bickerstaff and the Memphis Grizzlies were true champions in the 2018-19 NBA season. They will not be the NBA World Champs, but they were reliable when it came to blowing leads in the second-half of games.

It did not matter if it was a single-digit lead or a a large 20+ point margin. The Grizzlies were almost guaranteed to kiss it goodbye regardless of opponent or home/away setting. Blame it on scoring in the third quarter. That is fine — Memphis had difficulty scoring in all quarters, though it was consistently at its worst in the third. It truly boils down to adjustments.

Bickerstaff was not one to stop the bleeding. He may call the necessary timeout when the opposition makes a big run, but even that was not a natural instinct. As previously mentioned, he placed all of his trust on his veteran players, and perhaps that was far too much trust.

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The Memphis Grizzlies ranked dead last in the league (30th) in third quarter points per game (24.9). Even with one of the most clutch players in today’s NBA — Mike Conley — the Grizz managed to rank last in fourth quarter scoring, too (24.4 points per game). Their struggles are exacerbated when considering their ranking of 27th and 28th overall in scoring margin of both the third and fourth quarters (-1.8 and -1.7, respectively).

While the Grizzlies were positioned 26th in first-half scoring (53.4 points per game), J.B. Bickerstaff failed to make adjustments season-in and season-out. If Memphis owned a lead at halftime, it was inevitable that they were going to give it up at some point in the next two quarters. It became laughable at how many times this story would play out over the course of the season as J.B. refused to make adjustments — especially if that meant turning to some of the team’s youngest members.

To make matters worse, Bickerstaff’s Grizzlies ranked 27th in the NBA in winning percentage (36%) in close games of the 2018-19 schedule. However, this was 4% greater than the 2017-18 season, where J.B. lead Memphis in the majority of those games.

For the NBA rumors listing J.B. Bickerstaff as a potential head coaching candidate for the Cleveland Cavaliers’ job opening, this is yet another aspect they should take with much caution. They clearly want to get back on the winning track in order to make noise in the postseason once again, but that will not happen with J.B. at the helm.

All in all, J.B. Bickerstaff needs more experience after he has gotten his feet wet a few times as an NBA head coach. He needs a roster with more veteran stability and leadership from the players’ side of things. If a team is requiring results via youth development — though it is just typical NBA rumors for now — they will need to look elsewhere than J.B. Bickerstaff. Just ask the Memphis Grizzlies.