J.B. Bickerstaff | Cavs vs Spurs Post Game | 1.7.2024

J.B. Bickerstaff | Cavs vs Spurs Post Game | 1.7.2024

Bunch of runs how do you keep your guys motivated in a in a back and forth Affair I mean I think our guys motivate themselves and understand how you know important every game is um you know I thought we competed I thought we made a little bit of an early exit mentally um

But we figured out a way to get it done and it’s over Jared 296 how much of an All-Star candidacy does he need to be getting at this point I mean it he is in my opinion um you know he’s got to be I don’t know you

Know you talk about the emids of the world obviously but you know I don’t know any big man any Center who’s playing better than Jared Allen I don’t know anybody uh in that front Court position who’s playing better than Jared Allen right now um you know it’s it’s

Deserving uh what he did tonight both sides of the ball um you know we highlight impact on winning uh along with production and Jared Allen is it Spencer Davis C CER um for for Max when he gets rebounds or he gets defensive stops I think the first thing

That we look at is the way he pushes the ball up the floor how crucial is that for you guys just to establish that kind of pace with him getting it up well I mean he he creates thrust uh and that’s what we’re looking for um whether it’s

In transition or in the half court like we’re trying to get the ball up the court before the defense gets set and we want defense to feel like they have to continue to chase us uh and he does a great job of that you know he doesn’t

Let the defense ever just settle so uh the more you defensive rebound the more you push uh you know the more off-balance the Fuller is the easier opportunity should be offensively and then obviously we have to highlight Sam scoring 18 in the first half uh but the

Bench in general gave you a huge lift today just speak on that I mean extremely professional um they kind of felt you know where the momentum of the game was um and wanted to give us a boost and I thought they did a great job

Job of just giving us uh a little bit more ump um you know it was activity it was effort obviously Sam with the shot making but I thought George was extremely impactful I thought Tristan did a great job setting the tone defensively uh vert obviously you know

Was aggressive so I think our our bench unit uh is a unit that we can trust and they’ve got a great feel for the game and know what the game needs when they step on the floor last two Jackson uh Jackson flinging right down ukl uh are

Any of the shots that Sam takes and makes surprising you at this point no I mean you you see him do it every day and you watch him work on it and those aren’t shots that he doesn’t practice um you know he takes his his warm-up or

Practice shots at game speed so you know when you watch him uh the thing that’s always consistent with the great Shooters is the flick of the wrist uh it doesn’t really matter where his body’s going how he’s leaning uh as long as that wrist flicks the same uh and it

Does for him every time uh you know he got a chance a high chance of going in uh late game execution was a bit of a problem problem uh today and was Monday against Toronto is this something that you’re concerned about long term no this is something that you know I think today

Uh is different than and even in Toronto I thought in Toronto we got looks that we wanted we just didn’t make looks tonight again I you know I’ll take responsibility um again I just think there was a lot of stuff going on around this game and then preparation for

What’s next um and we just took a early exit mentally um but again it’s things that we’ll continue to work for sure because we know how important those are but um you know I’m not concerned about it with this group d magazine JB how much do you

Think Jared nen’s production is a result of him stepping his game up versus maybe some stylistic changes with different Personnel over the last two weeks I mean I think it’s a combination of both I think you know when you know he felt his teammates go down he knew he had to do

More um you know it also obviously presents more opportunities uh for the ball to be in his hands for him to be a part of it um you know just don’t have a sheer load uh it’s not being split so but you know to me it’s a credit to him

Uh understanding you know what we’re missing and what we need uh and then him going out and just trying to do whatever he can to help the team win now that this game’s over what are you looking forward to about the drib Pais uh getting home thank you

Cleveland Cavaliers Head Coach J.B. Bickerstaff spoke to the media following a 117-115 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on January 7, 2024 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.