4 Takeaways from JB Bickerstaff’s Introduction to the Detroit Pistons

It’s been an introduction-filled summer for the Detroit Pistons, who have held separate press conferences for their new president of basketball operations, Trajan Langdon, and fifth overall pick Ron Holland within the past three weeks.

On Wednesday, they introduced their new head coach, JB Bickerstaff. Langdon sat at the podium next to Bickerstaff, whom the team officially hired last week, at its practice facility at the New Center. Here is the biggest achievement.

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Bickerstaff’s experience elevates him in coach search

After being fired as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers in May, Bickerstaff initially discussed taking a year off to be with his family. Earlier, about a week before the draft, Langdon reached out around 11 p.m. and asked if he could interview for the Pistons’ vacant position.

Bickerstaff had a visit planned in two days, so he drove to Detroit the next day to meet with the Pistons’ front office. He checked off many of the boxes the Pistons wanted as he coached a Cavaliers team led by a trio of young players in Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen before trading for Donovan Mitchell in 2022.

Langdon saw a leader who had great communication skills and the energy and desire to create programs. The Pistons interviewed two candidates who could become first-time head coaches in Dallas Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney and Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nouri. Ultimately, Bickerstaff’s experience brought him to the top. Langdon did not officially take over as president until early June, and it was important to have a coach who understood the process.

“You want someone who can come here and hit the ground running and has done it before,” Langdon said. “Especially with a young team coming off a tough season, the positivity was important. When we started researching the different coaches we were looking at, we realized that experience was important. Players need to feel that the person coming here knows what he is talking about.

“I’m not saying other people haven’t done it, but it’s important to have the experience to lead a group, understand the ability to communicate and connect with players and at times it’s hard to do that as a leader If you have never done this before. Having JB come in really gave us a lot of confidence that he would be able to do this with our group.

After meeting with Pistons executives – including vice chairman Arne Tellem and owner Tom Gores – Bickerstaff said he walked away convinced he had a chance to be a part of something special.

“I thought overall this group had a great vision,” he said. “Tom has given every resource to go out and execute that vision. I was very excited about it. And obviously you study the team. I dived deeper as quickly as I could. Obviously the experience of planning against him four times for so many years. But I knew the players well and I believed in their ability, I believed in their talent. There’s a step process that we have to take and we’re really aware of it, and Trojan and I are united and aligned in that.

He sees big potential on both sides in Cade Cunningham

The Pistons clearly have high expectations for their former first-overall selection, who recently agreed to a maximum extension worth $224 million. The 22-year-old guard, who averaged 22.7 points, 7.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game in his third season last year, remains the focal point of the rebuild and has the tools to be elite on both ends of the floor, Bickerstaff said. .

“I think he’s a stud,” Bickerstaff said. “I don’t think there’s a lot he can’t do on the basketball floor because of his size, his ability to see the floor, his ability to make shots. Defensively with his length and size we can do a lot of things with him. Our focus is on developing him into one of the best two-way players in the league. In conversation with him, he is hungry. Obviously the past year was tough for everyone, including himself. He’s got fire, he’s competitive and he wants to be a part of a team that takes the Pistons to the next level.

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“The enthusiasm he brings helps keep my energy levels up and you’ll see us just keep picking each other up as the season goes on. No one will have a hard time because someone will always be there to pick them up. He has shown that leadership and will, and put his talent above all else and you’ve got a guy who is capable of being really special.”

Spending time with the Cavs will help him navigate the Cunningham-Ivey pairing

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.

Bickerstaff said he wants to find ways to get the ball to Ivey while he’s already on the move, and intends to sit down with him to find out what he wants to accomplish next season.

“There’s natural speed and athleticism in this league that’s hard to deal with,” Bickerstaff said. “The way the rules are set up, the way teams are spacing the floors, the pace with which guys want to play, it will be extremely difficult to defend. One of the things he has the ability to do is put a lot of nasty pressure on people. We know people don’t want to take fouls in this league. This will allow him to be able to get into the paint more, create layups for himself, kick-out 3s. To play modern NBA basketball, his speed and his speed give you the advantage to do that. ,

Adding veterans to the roster was a priority

Before he officially signed his contract with the Pistons, Bickerstaff was already recruiting on behalf of the team. On July 1, he and Langdon went to San Diego to meet with free agent Tobias Harris, with whom the team would agree to a two-year, $52 million contract later the same day. Bickerstaff was not officially announced as head coach until July 3.

This not only shows how eager he was to start, but also the importance of having players like Harris on the roster. The Pistons prioritized adding vacancies this offseason, and both of their new free agency acquisitions – Harris and Malik Beasley – along with their trade for Tim Hardaway Jr., added players with established track records as 3-point shooters.

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“You want to surround your people you’re developing with things that make them better,” Bickerstaff said. “The young guys we have, we’re trying our best to put them in positions for success, and success, especially on offense, often starts from that position.”

The Pistons also need more experience, as they will still have six players on rookie contracts next season.

“All the research we’ve done and Trojan and his crew have done on the day-to-day professionalism of these guys – how they eat, how they get in the weight room, their recovery – all these little things that seasoned players. Who have had a lot of success and have played a lot of sports, like Tobias has played a lot of sports, right? How do we get that and help pass it on to our young guys because it’s true, they And respect our veteran players. They respect those guys a lot, and they’re doing work behind the scenes that we haven’t always been a part of.”

Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. chase him @omarisankofa,