J.B. Bickerstaff | Cavs at Jazz Post Game | 4.2.2024

J.B. Bickerstaff | Cavs at Jazz Post Game | 4.2.2024

Performance that you were looking for how to your guys tonight yeah um I thought our energy level was High um and that’s what we talked about with the guys is like making sure you know that a young team didn’t come and out compete us and outwork us um and I thought we

Did a great job from the beginning of the game uh of going out competing um at a high level executing the game at a high level um you know obviously not perfect but I thought we were really really good and get contributions from a lot of different people from a defensive

Execution standpoint where did you see your guys execute the game plan tday uh I mean I thought we did you know in spurts we did a good job of really protecting our paint um you know guarding the ball keeping it in front of us like when we were hurt it was because

They were driving and able to get to the paint and then force uh kickouts and Corner threes from our weak side so I thought for the most part um you know we did a good job defensively um again built a lead got a little loose but uh

The effort was there uh the attention to detail was there what did you make of just the dominance that that your big spr will put on this I mean it’s who they are um you know I thought Jared you know set the tone um and was you know

Physical on the interior uh both sides of the ball um you know contesting challenging shots um you know doing a great job sharing the ball helping us finish possessions I thought he was Dynamic and same with Evan um you know the way they wanted to play us in pick

And role they were aggressive uh and our bigs are elak when they catch the ball in the pocket and capable of making all the plays Joe uh during team’s hot streak in December you you guys were jumping on teams early 40 points in the first quarter how much did that Propel

You on yeah I mean it it’s you know it says a lot about us um and you can kind of tell the game and how it’s going to go how we perform uh in the first quarter um if you take a look at our record when we win the first quarter um

It’s phenomenal so um you know it’s a message to the group you know we got to get off to Great starts uh and that starts with us always with our defense 36 I’m sorry 38 assists on 46 makes how how good was the ball M uh I

Mean that’s again when we’re at our best that’s what we do um you know we’ve had some Elite games of sharing the basketball um you know creating for other OPP uh for others um but it just speaks to again you know how hard it is to guard you know and how many open

Shots it creates so I haven’t had a chance to look at the potential assist numbers but I know that’s you know that’s high as well uh this was a chance for Sam maral to come home to Utah and uh he provided 18 points Off the Bench so what did you

Think of his performance and his contributions well I thought Sam you know does kind of what Sam does you know he’s consistent in that uh he’s a dangerous threat on the offensive end of the floor uh if teams make mistakes and he’s the recipient you know the basket’s

Going uh it’s going in um but the pressure he puts on defens is from the perimeter um you know is high level and then you know I think undersold is his ability to compete on the defensive end of the floor he does a great job of

Keeping guys in front of him he’s a physical player defensively not afraid to put his chest on guys um so I thought he was great tonight Chris JB how much of a point of emphasis was it to get the bigs involved especially early in the game uh it you

Know we try to take the play that’s there right and we have enough Talent on this team that if we just make the simple play uh you know defens are going to have to make tough choices so they came out in the game and they were um

You know hotting us or trapping Us in pick and roll so the play was just make it to the big and let the big guy do his thing your numbers this season with and without Donovan are very very different obvious L what what was working so well

Tonight even though you didn’t have him uh I think you know us finding the triggers uh and then you know making the next right play and that’s typically you know what he does is he creates a lot of triggers because of how teams have to decide on you know how they want to

Guard him so I thought our guards did a great job uh to start with um you know of just finding the trigger quickly and then our bigs did great job making the next decision and then the next decision learned to a led to a Chase and now we’re aggressive they’re in a scramble

Where chair and we’re getting wide open looks for one another Caris obviously stepped in for Donovan tonight how pleased were you with kind of his aggressive approach and attitude he was able to get to the line attack in the room repeatedly yeah I mean Caris you know he’s big time and I

I’ve said it before like Caris is a starting guard in this league um you know he just happens to be in a place where he’s willing to sacrifice to come off the bench to balance the units out and play um you know sacrifice for the team um but you know he’s Elite at

Putting pressure on people uh his game is is like off Rhythm so it’s hard to contain him and keep him in front um and again when he’s attack-minded you know he’s he’s a great finisher but he also knows how to share and make the right read also which is what we need anything

Else

Cleveland Cavaliers Head Coach J.B. Bickerstaff spoke with the media following a 129-113 victory over the Utah Jazz on April 2, 2024 at Delta Center.