Bickerstaff had an All-Star duo of Mitchell and Garland – two key guards with the best hands on the ball. He led the Cavaliers to back-to-back playoff appearances, and Bickerstaff had to find ways to ensure both players were playing to their strengths.
Cunningham and Jaden Ivey haven’t reached that level of success yet, but they appear to be the Pistons’ backcourt of the future. Bickerstaff will take what he learned in Cleveland with him to Detroit as he figures out how to help Cunningham and Ivy move forward together.
“Anytime you get the privilege of working with elite basketball players, you’ve got to learn something from them,” he said. “Finding different ways to use them together, finding different ways to rotate them to give them a chance to play to their strengths. We always tried to have one of those guys on stage. We allow them to stop plays together, start plays together, but you create your rotation so you always have one of those dynamic players on the field.
“I want to take direct notes and get two of those guys together before we make any decisions or make any announcements to you guys about how we’ll use them and what we’ll do with them. But believing in his talent and his skills, there will be many ways in which we can use him to make it difficult for the opponents to counter him.
