J.B. Bickerstaff | Cavs vs Hornets | 3.25.2024

J.B. Bickerstaff | Cavs vs Hornets | 3.25.2024

Coach is that what you were hoping for after last night yeah I mean our guys you know have done a really good job of responding throughout this season um you know again we’ve had our ups and downs and you know tough moments but you know you don’t sit where we’re sitting right

Now without being able to respond and I thought our guys did a great job of it uh what I was most pleased with is you know they the joy that they played with the level of competition the fun they were having competing uh the way they

Shared the ball I mean 41 assists on 46 field goals um I mean that’s phenomenal and uh you know that first quarter if we’ have made some shots we’d have had even more I was going to ask you that the ball really seemed to have energy was Finding guys was that deliberate

Coming in I mean was that really something you were harping on that’s who we are when we’re at our best uh when we’re at our best the ball is moving and we’re creating for others so uh again having fun doing that uh that was the point of it and you know when we’re

Enjoying each other’s successes and making each other better that’s with this team is having the most fun and that’s where we just got to keep working on and Coach it seemed like when Marcus went out it felt like the guys kind of rallied around him you talked a lot

About playing for each other did you feel the energy kind of up itself when he went out it changed the game um you know again it’s one of those things the game was kind of ugly and choppy and um you know Marcus you know little old school mentality uh impacted the game

And you know his teammates responded uh and we went on a run you know following that but I do think it brought energy to the group um you know and it’s you know again it’s it’s like those types of players who understand the game at that type of

Level understand how to impact the game in different ways um and what you know can trigger an eruption and I think that play did that for us Darius obviously had a little breakout in the last last couple of minutes and made the rocking board Outfield house kind of erupt what

Is he able to bring on the joyous side of the game when he’s playing at his best I mean his teammates love it like his teammates love when he takes shots his teammates love it when he makes plays they love it when he gets going um

And you know again each guy on our team leads in a separate and own way uh and Darius leads with his passion with his joy and with his selflessness so when he’s playing at his best he’s playing with a high Spirit um you know that’s uplifting everybody around him there

Charlotte tried to come come back at you there in the in the third quarter but Evan had those 11 points just what type of difference was that in that quarter for you to allow you to maintain that distance giving the opportunity in the fourth to put it away yeah I mean again

You know you’re in the NBA teams are going to make runs um you know I was I thought we could have been better defensively I think we could have stayed on edge a little bit more in that quarter you know we gave them opportunities but Evan was huge I mean

You look at his line uh and only being allowed to play limited minutes and what he was able to do you know set a career high and assist 17 points uh seven rebounds like um you know you players like that you know what I mean like they

Just get the game so naturally uh and Evan has always been a guy who impacts winning on a high level uh and he can impact it in so many different ways you know I think that’s the thing that people don’t appreciate about Evan you know everybody wants to talk about score

Score score but you know Evan is Elite all around and he just impacts winning by making the right play at the right time you know he needed those buckets and it was the right time so he went and got them and we you know since I think

December 23rd Jarrett now has like 31 double doubles what can you just say about the consistency you get from that guy each and every night yeah I mean he’s he’s Dependable um you know and I think that’s one of the things in this you know in a 82 Game season with you

Know whatever happens uh for me to be able to just roll out of bed and know that Jared Allen is going to be on the court uh that puts me at ease because I know like whatever he’s got in his tank he’s going to give it and leave it all out

There so much has been made J and Evan playing together at the same time whether it’s playing together on a qut or being in the LA at the same time what is the power of having both of those guys um to have to be able have

Two Elite I mean again we’ve been Elite defensively when those guys are on the floor for a reason um you know I think again this year it’s just been so different because it’s been so choppy you know Evans only played what 38 or 39

Games now I think it is uh you know and it’s like yeah it’s 40 now last night 39 was last night 40 tonight so he’s only played you know 40 games so they haven’t been able to have that same relationship on both ends of the floor and have that

Continuity of how they used to play together uh you know you think about the big to big plays that they’ve always been able to make offensively how they’ve been able to use vertical spacing and those types of things um you know so they are good together um and

It’s one of those things where you know we’re fortunate enough that we can always have one of them on the floor uh but when it’s winning time and you need to close it game to have two Elite Rim protectors who can switch one through five um you know teams aren’t fortunate

Enough to have that like we are avering career highs and assists this year as well because there some connection there between like being the only big on the floor and having more space to to find guys no it’s a little bit of change in what we’ve been trying to do uh and

We’ve been putting the ball in their hands more uh and they can work again together they can play Big to big but you know the ball in their hands they’re finding our guards more so just trying to get them involved uh so we weren’t just so pick and roll heavy so we could

Run two-sided action with those guys on the floor JB um going into this game you called it kind of to test a toughness for your guys I know you talked to Tom about it a little B before but can you what kind of grade would you give your

Guys performance um I mean again I thought we were really good I we thought we responded um and especially like after going through the first quarter where you know we just couldn’t buy a bucket I thought again we played the right way we got open shots for one

Another um they just wouldn’t go in the hole and you know again that could have led to frustration and that could have changed you know um you know we could have started try to do things on our own um and take it upon ourselves to be the

Hero but we stuck together and we kept playing the right way um and I thought again for the most part of the majority of the game we did a great job on both ends and actually you’re kind of leading me off I ask question here Charlotte

Seemed to make an effort to kind of wall off the interior for you guys in the first quarter and eventually you stretched them out on the Prem quite a bit and then you found a lot of easier looks were you pleased with how your guys were able to just read and react to

How the opposing defense was just playing them tonight yeah I mean we’ve got intelligent guys uh who are versatile in the plays and the way they can read the game uh you know I thought they were trying again to you know trap more of the ball screens early get the

Ball out of darius’s hands now the ball’s in our big guys hands and they were running in to kind of take away the paint and our big guys had to make you know the right read and I thought they did that early I just thought you know

The shots just didn’t go but uh we kept doing it and then working out for it last one Jim George 17 tonight game high plus 19 I think he shoo like 46% three over last 10 or 11 um what do he found in the ABS of some of these other guys

What he found in his offensive uh I mean I think every time guys are out there’s more opportunities but again George came in 42% career three-point shooter um you know learning a new system playing with new guys trying to figure out where your shots are going to come um you know just

Takes a little bit of time but you know we knew knew uh the more George was on the floor um you know the more opportunities he was going to get the more comfortable he got like the ball’s going to go in for George because uh he’s Elite at his job

Cleveland Cavaliers Head Coach J.B. Bickerstaff spoke with the media following a 115-92 win over the Charlotte Hornets on March 25, 2024 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.