The Detroit Pistons have improved each year that J.B. Bickerstaff has been in the Motor City, and he’s wound up with a second place finish for Coach of the Year after each season so far.
From an individual recognition standpoint, Detroit Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has held the unfortunate distinction as the NBA’s Coach of the Year runner-up for two consecutive years, but he’s completely turned around the Motown organization in that timeframe.
As a 14-win squad the season before Bickerstaff arrived, the Pistons ended a five-year absence from the playoffs during J.B.’s very first season at the helm. Bickerstaff helped triple the team’s win total, and he earned a place on the COTY podium as a byproduct of that success.
Then in his second year with the Pistons, Bickerstaff helped push the team into record-breaking territory with an early 13-game winning streak that set the tone for a year littered with success. Bickerstaff, Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren all represented Detroit at the All-Star Game (which they won), and the Pistons finished the season with control of the Eastern Conference’s top seed after their 60-win campaign. Once again, a second place COTY finish for Bickerstaff.
Even though the Pistons were knocked out of the playoffs by the Cleveland Cavaliers in round two, Bickerstaff has transformed the hoops culture from a franchise-wide perspective. During July, Motor City Cruise head coach Steve Scalzi led the Pistons during the Summer League, and that’s another example of how the organization works at a collaborative level to develop players and coaches alike.
According to Scalzi, Bickerstaff has set up a culture in the Motor City that gives each individual member the necessary space to perform at their own highest level. From a coaching standpoint, that means Scalzi and his staff have the freedom to translate ideas as they best see fit.
“There’s what J.B. establishes and what he calls, then his coverages and so forth and what he calls his plays,” Scalzi said on The Basketball Podcast. “Then there’s an established terminology where you check with your head coaches such as can I use the phrase break the nail? Does that make sense to you? If I say it a lot around you, would you ever squash it? Is it okay? If J.B. were on the call right now, I don’t know if he knows that term, but I know our players do, and I know we all benefit from it.”
Just like how every student learns differently, Scalzi explained how each player responds differently to various coaching methods, but the important aspect is that Bickerstaff does not allow small minutiae to distract from the technical principles of his coaching direction.
“He has allowed so much freedom to the entire staff to do that,” Scalzi said. “There are people who are going to carry that forth this year. I’ll do it from the G-League setting this year. I think that’s because we all share staff meetings and environments as I’ve described and quite literally a physical hallway.”
Last season, Scalzi helped lead the Cruise back into the G-League playoffs with a 22-14 record while helping Daniss Jenkins transition to the NBA on a regular basis. Scalzi had a little bit of time to work with Chaz Lanier during his brief G-League cameos, but he was more responsible for the development of players like Brice Williams and Isaac Jones. During the Summer League, Williams and Jones were two of the standout performers for the Pistons, so Scalzi has shown a strong aptitude for player development in the Motor City.
