J.B. Bickerstaff’s Poor Season with the Memphis Grizzlies Was a Fluke?
J.B. Bickerstaff has found his next gig in the NBA. You could say it makes the Memphis Grizzlies look bad.
The Memphis Grizzlies are one of two current head coach job openings in the NBA, with the Minnesota Timberwolves being the second. The ship has sailed for J.B. Bickerstaff to land a head coaching position for next season, but that does not mean that he did not generate a lot of interest around the league.
One week ago, ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Cleveland Cavaliers were hiring the Michigan Wolverines’ John Beilein, which was a total shock to the hoops world. As you could expect, plans to assemble a staff for Beilein were immediately underway. Oddly enough, Bickerstaff has become second-in-command in Cleveland.
Cleveland has hired JB Bickerstaff as associate head coach, league sources tell ESPN. Bickerstaff was a target of several teams, but Cavs were determined to pair him with John Beilein and made him one of league’s top paid assistants.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 19, 2019
This news comes three weeks after J.B. Bickerstaff interviewed with the Cleveland Cavaliers on what was expected to be their head coach vacancy. Monday’s news makes you wonder if Beilein was already penciled in at that point, or if the Cavs were somewhat interested in Bickerstaff but not fully sold on him to be the head man in charge. Regardless, J.B. maintained a large paycheck.
Fans of the Memphis Grizzlies must give credit to Bickerstaff for being persistent and pushing forward in his NBA coaching career. Yet, after such a brutal season where he demonstrated many lapses as a first-year, full-time head coach, it is surprising to hear of multiple teams showing interest in the 40-year-old.
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With the bad, there were a lack of in-game adjustments which came with plenty of blown second-half leads. There was also the favoritism of veterans over the Grizzlies’ young guns while on the brink of a rebuilding effort. Plus, we cannot forget the numerous times Jaren Jackson Jr. would pick up a third foul and would not return to game action, rather than allowing the youngster to learn to play through foul trouble.
The list goes on, but not all was terrible with J.B. Bickerstaff. Just take a look at the Memphis Grizzlies’ defensive ranking from the 2018-19 NBA season. These numbers speak volumes for Bickerstaff and his head coaching influence on this season’s squad. This area is the key that is catching the eyes of others around the association.
Bickerstaff coached his guys to being the NBA’s third-best team defense in 2018-19, allowing just 106.1 points per game. Within a such high-ranking team defense, Memphis also stood fourth in blocks and fifth in steals per game. If the Grizzlies had more consistent scoring threats — mixed with their stellar defense — they very well could have maintained their early-season success and made an interesting run at a postseason bid.
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For the Cleveland Cavaliers, they are assembling a solid coaching staff. While Beilein’s success on the professional level remains to be seen, having a former NBA head coach as a lead assistant is impressive. A similar situation has recently occurred with the Los Angeles Lakers’ hire of Frank Vogel with Jason Kidd taking the lead assistant role.
The Memphis Grizzlies are approaching the two-month mark without a head coach in place. While the head man is absolutely critical, they must fill their own coaching staff with solid names, especially since the Grizzlies have been a team with a high-quality crew of assistants from top to bottom over the years.
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Memphis needs to begin to finalize their decision on their head coaching vacancy so that they can fill out their coaching staff openings, too. Over the next couple of weeks, candidates will be scooped off the open market for the available roles within the Timberwolves, Lakers, and Cavaliers organizations. If the Grizzlies do not act fast, reality could really bite them regardless of who is selected to be their next head coach.