JB Bickerstaff is known for coaching defense, and he showed that in his first season with the Detroit Pistons, but the knock against him has always been that he lacks the offensive creativity to match.
Coach Bickerstaff has a strong history of coaching defense. His Cleveland Cavaliers went from 25th in the league to 7th in one season, jumping from 22 to 44 wins in a similar path as last year’s Pistons, who went from 26th in the league in defensive rating to 10th and made a monumental jump from 14 wins to 44.
Bickerstaff’s Cavaliers were 1st in the league the season after that and then had a modest fall to 6th, both years ending in early playoff defeats.