Pistons Head Coach J.B. Bickerstaff Interview

WXYT-FM / 97.1 The Ticket

Pistons Head Coach J.B. Bickerstaff joins Jim and Jon to discuss the NBA Cup, establishing a culture, and more.

Transcript

00:00Hey, don't look now, but the Pistons have a game tonight, NBA Cup.

00:06If they beat Milwaukee, they advance to the knockout stage.

00:12Big game tonight for the Pistons, a chance to check in with their head coach, J.B. Bickerstaff.

00:17First time for us on this show, coach, welcome.

00:20Hey, I'm happy to be here, appreciate you guys having me.

00:23Hey, thanks for coming on, but let me ask you this.

00:28What type of juice does it give you and how important it is for this team in your first

00:33year to be actually playing for something?

00:36Does it mean something that you're playing for this NBA Cup?

00:40Yeah, no, I think the league has done a great job of creating buzz around it, but what you

00:46realize is if you give NBA players an opportunity to compete for anything, as competitive as

00:53they are, they're going to raise the stakes.

00:55I think that's what we've seen with the Cup.

00:59Our guys are in it all the way.

01:02Yesterday's practice, guys were getting after it, and the conversation is we want to get

01:07it done.

01:08For us, being able to play meaningful basketball, for our young guys in particular, just helps

01:15us grow and helps the journey that we're on right now.

01:18We're excited about it.

01:19The guys are going to lay it on the line, we're going to compete and have some fun.

01:22I think on the outside, people were trying to figure out, how does this work, what's

01:26it going on?

01:27I think even last year in the league, there was an adjustment period, but it does create

01:30interest pre-Christmas Day.

01:33That's typically when a lot of people start to get into the NBA, but you've got something

01:36going right away out of the gate.

01:38Has that helped you get buy-in just in general from this team?

01:42Yeah, these guys have been great all in all, obviously wanting to improve, but the way

01:51that they've bought into each other and competing for one another, that's been the most important

01:57and fun part about it, honestly.

02:00Guys really care about what's going on, and they want to improve, they want to be better,

02:05but this cup, to have success in the cup early, to put us in this position, it's added juice

02:12to the guys and their belief that we can do this.

02:16When you talk about that belief, obviously you've got to win games to be able to start

02:20to have that belief.

02:21In this very bad win, they made a run in the third quarter, and instead of falling apart

02:28as some young teams do, our guys kind of got it together and went out and increased the

02:34lead in the fourth quarter and were able for us to win it.

02:38From training camp all the way through, I've seen these guys individually get better and

02:44seen them get better as a group as well.

02:46John mentioned nine wins.

02:48Not your fault, but it took a lot longer last year for this team to get to nine wins.

02:52It took until February 27th, so there's already been measurable growth for this team.

02:57I think defensively, maybe as the area people have seen the biggest jump, what's been the

03:02key to getting that area of this team so much better so quickly?

03:06Defense is a lot about what you can control.

03:14Getting guys to actually buy in to that end of the floor is the most important.

03:20You can put the effort into it.

03:23You can take the challenges, the one-on-one challenges and those things.

03:28That's on you.

03:29Then we mix in some schemes and things like that, but our defense is based on guys being

03:35selfless and it's always a five-man thing.

03:38We never leave a guy out on an island.

03:41I think when you do that, it helps build team, it helps to build chemistry, and that's what

03:47we're seeing from our guys right now.

03:49You mentioned you put something on the line, you make it competitive, and these guys are

03:54all bought in.

03:55As fans, we just want to see you guys play for something.

03:58The NBA Cup early on in the season has given us that.

04:01How much of a conversation with the young team, because you look at the conference right

04:05now, I know there's so much time to still play.

04:08There's so many more games, but with the young team, how much do you talk about, hey,

04:12if the season were to end now, we're in the play-in tournament, just in regards to how

04:17important every single night is?

04:19That's kind of our approach.

04:22We take it day by day.

04:24I hate to coach speak to you guys, but it's just so true.

04:29We play so many games and have so many practices that your focus and your approach has to be

04:35consistent.

04:36It can't be some days we're this, some days we're that.

04:40Our focus is every single day, every moment is an important moment for us.

04:46You don't lose those.

04:47You don't lose games because you're forward thinking or thinking about the past.

04:53Our focus is always on what's happening right now, and then the big picture will take place

04:59once we get a little deeper into the season.

05:01One day at a time, what do you want to see from your team tonight?

05:05What is it that the goal, obviously the goal, the objective is to win, but what do you need

05:09to see from your team to give you that chance?

05:13You know what?

05:14I want to see our guys just lay it all on the line.

05:17I want them to compete and play as hard as they possibly can.

05:22We want them to do it together.

05:25Our team is a sum of its parts.

05:28We're not a one-man gang by any means, so the more we play together, the more we sacrifice

05:34for one another, but for us, the joy is in the complete competition, right?

05:41The loose balls, the gritty things, all the dirty work that people are uncomfortable doing.

05:47Our goal is to try to bring teams to the mud.

05:50We feel comfortable in the mud.

05:52How many other teams can do that?

05:54That's what we're looking for our guys to do tonight.

05:57That's what they've done on most nights that we've played and given ourselves a chance

06:01to win down the stretch.

06:03Talking to Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and Kate Cunningham.

06:08You got to see his game from afar coaching against him.

06:11Now you've coached him this season.

06:14We talk about him.

06:15Is he a No. 1?

06:16Is he a No. 2 on a title team?

06:17What have you seen from him?

06:19How much more does he still even have that hasn't been tapped into yet?

06:22Kate, he's an absolute stud.

06:28He's got the talent obviously on the floor, but when I watch him, there's so many small

06:34things that he does that shows he is a true leader and that people want to play with him

06:41and play for him.

06:44Whether it's finding the open guy multiple times, showing that he believes in him, giving

06:49them trust, the conversations that he has, not only the easy ones, but the hard conversations

06:56and the willingness to stand up for what we're building here and what he believes is the

07:02right thing.

07:04Then we've seen him take challenges on both ends of the floor.

07:09He's still got room to grow obviously like all these young guys do, but he's definitely

07:13one of the guys that can be the guy on a really good contending basketball team.

07:20I don't want to get you in trouble, but I want to follow up with you.

07:25How do we get him some more foul calls without you getting a fine from the officials and

07:29from the league office?

07:30How do we get him to the free throw line more often?

07:33That's the tough part, right?

07:35I try my best publicly to be careful about what I say, but during the games, we're working

07:42the referees as best we possibly can, but it'll come with time.

07:47The more wins we get, the more recognition this team gets, the more respect we earn throughout

07:53the league, you'll start to get those calls.

07:56The question coming out of the last couple of years was, can Cade Cunningham and Jaden

08:00Ivey be on the floor at the same time?

08:01Can they be a part of a team that's going to compete in the future for championships?

08:08You've seemed to find a way.

08:09How do these two players complement each other while they're on the court?

08:16It's pretty interesting to watch it, like stylistically how different their games are,

08:21but how well they match up, right?

08:24Cade plays at a really controlled pace.

08:27J.I.'s strength is playing with his speed, so the combination of the two kind of puts

08:34defenses off balance because if one of them's playing in the pick and roll, the style is

08:39completely different than the other one, so the big guy or the guard who's in it defending

08:44him has to catch a different cadence and a different rhythm.

08:48But also, they want to play together, and they know how to find each other and put each

08:53other in positions of strength, so the combination has been good so far.

08:59Like everything, we're working to get better at it, but I think they've gotten off to a

09:02really good start.

09:03I think about the game where he closed out against Toronto, no Cade Cunningham, and that's

09:08not a Jaden Ivey that we saw last year.

09:10I don't know what you guys have been able to do, but it's been fun to watch him get

09:14unlocked.

09:15Why do you think the gap or the leap happened?

09:17The ones I liked, the ones that were successful, it was all about relationships.

09:21How have you been able to build relationships with all the guys on this roster?

09:28It's something that us as a coach and staff really work at, to be honest with you.

09:33It's conversations, it's text messages, it's getting to know their families, it's getting

09:38to know what motivates them.

09:41It's earning their trust, it's earning their respect, but it's something that we fight

09:45for on a daily basis.

09:47It's important to us that we touch our guys every single day.

09:52It's a good morning, it's a handshake, it's a conversation, it's a hug, but it's literally

09:57every single day something that we put the time in so that we can build those relationships

10:02because you know it.

10:04If you feel someone actually cares about you as a human being, you're willing to go the

10:09extra mile and do more for them.

10:11We want these guys to know that they're not just pieces on a chessboard, that they're

10:16human beings that have real feelings that we genuinely care about and want to build

10:20real relationships with, and it translates to how they play for you on the floor.

10:26These Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff, Pistons 3-0 in their group play, big game tonight

10:32in the NBA Cup.

10:34Last thing, have your eyes got adjusted to these courts yet?

10:38It's hard.

10:39When you're actually at the game, it's different, but when you have to watch the film of the

10:44game, it makes it really difficult to kind of lock in on.

10:49Some teams blend into the floor with their uniforms and courts, so it's been pretty interesting,

10:55but it's drawing attention and that's what the league is about, trying to gain extra

10:59attention and grow the game and the fan base.

11:02JB, it's good to talk to you, good to finally speak with you, and we'll be doing this again

11:05soon I'm sure.

11:06Thanks coach.

11:07Great talking to you guys.

11:08Thanks coach.

11:09Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff, it's 97-1.

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