Head coach JB Bickerstaff is a big reason the Detroit Pistons climbed out of the cellar last season, going from 14 wins to 44 in one of the biggest turnarounds in league history.
Monty Williams was a trainwreck, so it was a low bar for Bickerstaff to clear, but he didn’t just clear his predecessor, he flew over him in a 747.
The Pistons jumped into the top 10 in defense under Bickerstaff and into the top half of the league in offense, numbers they hadn’t sniffed since the Obama administration.
He energized a group that had done nothing but lose and put each player in a defined role, something that the Pistons hadn’t done in previous years.