Unpopular Opinion - JB Bickerstaff is one of the best coaches in the NBA right now.

[Chuck Everett]

Guy is doing a great job this season and if nothing else, he has proved himself as being a competent head coach. I still contend the key to Cleveland's title chances revolve around Mobley leveling up, but to me, it's up to Altman and the front office to either go all in on win-now or continue to evaluate whether this group can be dangerous.

Cavs have a wide range of outcomes. Don't see Finals in their future, but if they stay away from Knicks/Celtics, they could run to ECF. Matchups will determine their fate without additional personnel moves.

[ThunderBolt]

Bickerstaff didn't become a better coach once Mobley and Garland got injured. I think it's more of a referendum on the roster construction preinjury.

[Johnny Bball]

I don't know why a lot of people call JB Bickerstaff one of the worst coaches. He was able to help the Cavaliers get better each year, and they are on a very hot stream, 4th in the East, a few games away from 76ers and Bucks. The Cavaliers have had a lot of injuries mainly to Garland and Mobley and somehow they are still in it and doing well. Give credit to JB and the coaching staff, Luke Walton is a lead assistant too. They been doing a great job with a mostly injured roster too. Mitchell and Allen haven't been healthy some games either.

Ewww. What?!

[JujitsuFlip]

Bickerstaff didn't become a better coach once Mobley and Garland got injured. I think it's more of a referendum on the roster construction preinjury.

100% this.

[DowJones]

I think it's more for a referendum on the roster construction of the team when healthy.

I think much is made of having 2 bigs that don't stretch the court, and that is all true, but I have been surprised at how much better the ball movement on offense has been without Garland. I don't think Garland is the problem, but when you have 2 guys that like to have the ball in their hands at all times then things can get bogged down. Garland also doesn't like to just launch 3's the way Mitchell, Strus, and Merrill do. Things tend to get sticky with him and he has a tendency to turn the ball over. The way Cleveland has played, and won, without Mobley and Garland needs to tell the Cavaliers something.

[DowJones]

Guy is doing a great job this season and if nothing else, he has proved himself as being a competent head coach. I still contend the key to Cleveland's title chances revolve around Mobley leveling up, but to me, it's up to Altman and the front office to either go all in on win-now or continue to evaluate whether this group can be dangerous.

Cavs have a wide range of outcomes. Don't see Finals in their future, but if they stay away from Knicks/Celtics, they could run to ECF. Matchups will determine their fate without additional personnel moves.

Mobley can't shoot very well and he isn't a great ball handler. Pairing him up with Allen has been a disaster when it comes to fit, but they are both so good that Cleveland has still been able to win. I think Mobley levels up when he starts to see consistent minutes at the 5 with shooters placed around him.

[Chuck Everett]

Guy is doing a great job this season and if nothing else, he has proved himself as being a competent head coach. I still contend the key to Cleveland's title chances revolve around Mobley leveling up, but to me, it's up to Altman and the front office to either go all in on win-now or continue to evaluate whether this group can be dangerous.

Cavs have a wide range of outcomes. Don't see Finals in their future, but if they stay away from Knicks/Celtics, they could run to ECF. Matchups will determine their fate without additional personnel moves.

Mobley can't shoot very well and he isn't a great ball handler. Pairing him up with Allen has been a disaster when it comes to fit, but they are both so good that Cleveland has still been able to win. I think Mobley levels up when he starts to see consistent minutes at the 5 with shooters placed around him.

So the question I have is, do you trade him or Allen?

[DowJones]

Guy is doing a great job this season and if nothing else, he has proved himself as being a competent head coach. I still contend the key to Cleveland's title chances revolve around Mobley leveling up, but to me, it's up to Altman and the front office to either go all in on win-now or continue to evaluate whether this group can be dangerous.

Cavs have a wide range of outcomes. Don't see Finals in their future, but if they stay away from Knicks/Celtics, they could run to ECF. Matchups will determine their fate without additional personnel moves.

Mobley can't shoot very well and he isn't a great ball handler. Pairing him up with Allen has been a disaster when it comes to fit, but they are both so good that Cleveland has still been able to win. I think Mobley levels up when he starts to see consistent minutes at the 5 with shooters placed around him.

So the question I have is, do you trade him or Allen?

They won't trade either now. Allen is playing too well, Mobley is still out with an injury (though his return appears to be sooner rather than later) and I genuinely think the team wants to make this pairing work. On top of that you have Mitchell's decision in the offseason that I think will come before anything.

My first thought is Allen would be the one more likely to be moved simply because Mobley's upside at the 5 is so high. Cleveland would need real value in order to move off of Allen. This wouldn't be a case where they trade him for a middling 1st or even 2. They would need a real rotation 3 and D wing in the 23-28 year old range. The Cavs won't trade Allen just to trade him.

[JujitsuFlip]

I think it's more for a referendum on the roster construction of the team when healthy.

I think much is made of having 2 bigs that don't stretch the court, and that is all true, but I have been surprised at how much better the ball movement on offense has been without Garland. I don't think Garland is the problem, but when you have 2 guys that like to have the ball in their hands at all times then things can get bogged down. Garland also doesn't like to just launch 3's the way Mitchell, Strus, and Merrill do. Things tend to get sticky with him and he has a tendency to turn the ball over. The way Cleveland has played, and won, without Mobley and Garland needs to tell the Cavaliers something.

The turnovers have been Garland's biggest issue this season. His assist to turnover ratio before was what you would want from a floor genral, this season, not so much.

[DLoMor]

I don't know why a lot of people call JB Bickerstaff one of the worst coaches. He was able to help the Cavaliers get better each year, and they are on a very hot stream, 4th in the East, a few games away from 76ers and Bucks. The Cavaliers have had a lot of injuries mainly to Garland and Mobley and somehow they are still in it and doing well. Give credit to JB and the coaching staff, Luke Walton is a lead assistant too. They been doing a great job with a mostly injured roster too. Mitchell and Allen haven't been healthy some games either.

Ewww. What?!

How did I not catch that, but if it isn’t obvious, I definitely meant streak.

[yoyoboy]

Bickerstaff had one of the absolute worst coaching performances in recent playoff history last year against the Knicks. I don’t feel I’m exaggerating or being biased in saying that. Thibs coached circles around him.

He’s good at motivating guys to play hard and I think his defensive schemes are generally really good. But from what I’ve seen so far, he’s a coach who does more with less, but once he has talent, he can’t take them to the next level. If anything the success post-injuries this year are an indictment on his failure to maximize the talent on this team. Guys like Merrill and CPJ should not have been buried on the bench, but he tends to not utilize guys (while favoring players like Okoro and LeVert even while they’re not contributing) until his hand is forced. And then the lack of a real offensive system and a reliance on archaic grind-it-out slow-pace and spamming of ISO/PnR with others standing around and watching has been a huge problem up until the recent stretch of free-flowing pace and space. So we’ll see if he keeps that up when Garland and Mobley return. He’s also terrible at deciding when to use challenges. I haven’t looked into it, but his record in that regard has to be up there with the worst. Down the stretches of games, it’s all Mitchell/Garland/LeVert ISO, and I don’t think he opts for the right lineups or crafts any creative sets/ATO plays.

It’s not without reason that most Cavs fans call for his head. He’s been an infuriating coach during most of the last two years, outside of this recent stretch of play which I’m not putting too much stock into yet and I’m waiting to see what happens in the playoffs.

[bmurph128]

Cavs fans are wild lol.

He's a solid coach. Just like Mitchell is a great player.

Weirdly a lot of other Cavs fans push back on these takes

Sent from my Pixel 6 using RealGM mobile app

Mitchell is a great regular season player. The issue with his only 2 efficient playoff runs is they were with covid conditions, the first time in the bubble, the second time in limited capacity arenas. So for sure great regular season guy but the Cavs didn't trade all those assets for great regular seasons.

Jb is a solid stepping stone coach and if they want playoff success, it's time to step past him.

Mitchell was pretty good against the Knicks, easily our best player in that series (again a take that some Cavs fans bizarrely push back on).

I disagree on JB - I mean, the Knicks beat us because of rebounding. JB started TWO 7 footers who just got their lunch stolen by Robinson.

[Iwasawitness]

Cavs fans are wild lol.

He's a solid coach. Just like Mitchell is a great player.

Weirdly a lot of other Cavs fans push back on these takes

Sent from my Pixel 6 using RealGM mobile app

Mitchell is a great regular season player. The issue with his only 2 efficient playoff runs is they were with covid conditions, the first time in the bubble, the second time in limited capacity arenas. So for sure great regular season guy but the Cavs didn't trade all those assets for great regular seasons.

Jb is a solid stepping stone coach and if they want playoff success, it's time to step past him.

Mitchell was pretty good against the Knicks, easily our best player in that series (again a take that some Cavs fans bizarrely push back on).

I disagree on JB - I mean, the Knicks beat us because of rebounding. JB started TWO 7 footers who just got their lunch stolen by Robinson.

Cavs fans push back on it because it’s simply not true.

[bmurph128]

Mitchell is a great regular season player. The issue with his only 2 efficient playoff runs is they were with covid conditions, the first time in the bubble, the second time in limited capacity arenas. So for sure great regular season guy but the Cavs didn't trade all those assets for great regular seasons.

Jb is a solid stepping stone coach and if they want playoff success, it's time to step past him.

Mitchell was pretty good against the Knicks, easily our best player in that series (again a take that some Cavs fans bizarrely push back on).

I disagree on JB - I mean, the Knicks beat us because of rebounding. JB started TWO 7 footers who just got their lunch stolen by Robinson.

Cavs fans push back on it because it’s simply not true.

I am so sick of the bias against Mitchell. How....how is that not true?

He had more points, more assists, more rebounds (against a team who we could not rebound against), more steal and more blocks. His game score on BBRef is 25% higher than Garlands.

How was he not the best Cavs player in that series?

[DowJones]

It worries me that Merrill played only 17 minutes 3 nights ago and then 7 minutes tonight. JB does some really odd things with rotations. Merrill needs to play and he needs to play 20+ minutes a night.

There isn’t a 0 percent chance that JB benches Merrill entirely once Garland comes back, and it is beyond frustrating to watch as a Cavs fan.

[JujitsuFlip]

Cavs fans are wild lol.

He's a solid coach. Just like Mitchell is a great player.

Weirdly a lot of other Cavs fans push back on these takes

Sent from my Pixel 6 using RealGM mobile app

Mitchell is a great regular season player. The issue with his only 2 efficient playoff runs is they were with covid conditions, the first time in the bubble, the second time in limited capacity arenas. So for sure great regular season guy but the Cavs didn't trade all those assets for great regular seasons.

Jb is a solid stepping stone coach and if they want playoff success, it's time to step past him.

Mitchell was pretty good against the Knicks, easily our best player in that series (again a take that some Cavs fans bizarrely push back on).

I disagree on JB - I mean, the Knicks beat us because of rebounding. JB started TWO 7 footers who just got their lunch stolen by Robinson.

Ehhhh idk about that. 43.3% FG: 28.9% 3FG: 72.2 FT% guys efficiency is doo doo butter.

The poster here Roger Murdock has already showed the flawed scheme by Jb in the Knicks series several times since last April. It's a lot more complex than Cavs had two 7 footers so must be their fault.

For a quick synopsis, they "got their lunch stolen" because Jb had the entire team closing out hard to bad shooters leaving no one in good rebounding position. Yet never made an adjustment all series.

What about the season before, you're happy with how Jb coached in the play-in? Nah.

[JujitsuFlip]

It worries me that Merrill played only 17 minutes 3 nights ago and then 7 minutes tonight. JB does some really odd things with rotations. Merrill needs to play and he needs to play 20+ minutes a night.

There isn’t a 0 percent chance that JB benches Merrill entirely once Garland comes back, and it is beyond frustrating to watch as a Cavs fan.

Guy sucks at rotations, it has to be in his top 3 largest weaknesses. Guy loves playing tight regular season rotations.

[DowJones]

It worries me that Merrill played only 17 minutes 3 nights ago and then 7 minutes tonight. JB does some really odd things with rotations. Merrill needs to play and he needs to play 20+ minutes a night.

There isn’t a 0 percent chance that JB benches Merrill entirely once Garland comes back, and it is beyond frustrating to watch as a Cavs fan.

Guy sucks at rotations, it has to be in his top 3 largest weaknesses. Guy loves playing tight regular season rotations.

I don’t get it. He completely botched Kevin Love last year and quit on Dean Wade—2 shooting bigs that we desperately needed. Merrill has been great off the bench, why the hell would you just stop playing him?

[JujitsuFlip]

It worries me that Merrill played only 17 minutes 3 nights ago and then 7 minutes tonight. JB does some really odd things with rotations. Merrill needs to play and he needs to play 20+ minutes a night.

There isn’t a 0 percent chance that JB benches Merrill entirely once Garland comes back, and it is beyond frustrating to watch as a Cavs fan.

Guy sucks at rotations, it has to be in his top 3 largest weaknesses. Guy loves playing tight regular season rotations.

I don’t get it. He completely botched Kevin Love last year and quit on Dean Wade—2 shooting bigs that we desperately needed. Merrill has been great off the bench, why the hell would you just stop playing him?

Sometimes I'm not sure Jb even knows why he benches guys.

The knucklehead said this recently, "Guys have earned minutes. It’s not gonna be easy [to find everyone playing time], obviously, but I’d rather have this problem".

https://www.si.com/nba/cavaliers/opinion/jb-bickerstaff-has-tough-decisions-to-make-with-cleveland-cavaliers-roster

It's almost like anytime this guy says something to the media just expect the opposite lol that is at least the 3rd time this season he has flat out lied about rotations/minutes. The guy just has zero idea about progressive fatigue, his god awful showing the past 2 post seasons is proof of that.

[Iwasawitness]

Mitchell was pretty good against the Knicks, easily our best player in that series (again a take that some Cavs fans bizarrely push back on).

I disagree on JB - I mean, the Knicks beat us because of rebounding. JB started TWO 7 footers who just got their lunch stolen by Robinson.

Cavs fans push back on it because it’s simply not true.

I am so sick of the bias against Mitchell. How....how is that not true?

He had more points, more assists, more rebounds (against a team who we could not rebound against), more steal and more blocks. His game score on BBRef is 25% higher than Garlands.

How was he not the best Cavs player in that series?

Check his efficiency, stop blindly looking at stats and pay attention to his defense in that series, and get back to me.