00:00The Orlando Magic take on the Charlotte Hornets tonight.
00:03The winner gets the privilege of hopefully getting their ass kicked by the Detroit Pistons.
00:09Game one at home is Sunday evening.
00:12Joining us now is J.B. Bickerstaff, the head coach of the Pistons.
00:17Thanks for joining us, J.B.
00:19And I'm not going to ask you, who do you want to win?
00:22Obviously, you're not going to answer that question.
00:24But I want to ask about this regular season.
00:26You guys won 60 games.
00:28How difficult is it to win 60 games in the NBA?
00:32Because I don't think people realize it.
00:35Good morning, and thanks for having me.
00:38Yeah, it speaks to the group that we have.
00:42Because winning 60 games over an 82-game span, as long as the season is,
00:49the amount of injuries and adversities that a team has to overcome isn't easy.
00:55So it speaks to the character of our guys.
00:58Their commitment to one another, their talent level, the depth that we have on our team,
01:03and their commitment to do something bigger than themselves.
01:07So it's been fun so far, and we're looking forward to more.
01:12Obviously, the biggest adversity and injury that you guys had to deal with was at the end of the year
01:18when Cade went out with his issues.
01:21I'm curious, during that time frame, when you're trying to secure the one seed,
01:28you're trying to get the home playoff advantage,
01:31was there a blessing in disguise?
01:33You never want to have a guy out, especially for a reason like that.
01:36But was there a blessing in disguise because others were forced to step up as you entered this playoff race?
01:43Yeah, I mean, I think it gave guys reps and opportunities to gain confidence
01:48and prove to themselves just how solid of a team we are.
01:55And I use that word team because that's the definition.
02:00When you see our guys out there competing, it's not just individuals.
02:05We are the definition of team, and you see that you can have success by being a team
02:11and buying into that instead of feeling like, well, you know, Cade is out.
02:16Now I have to fill his shoes.
02:18No, that's not the way it works.
02:20The way it works is now you just have to be the best version of yourself,
02:23and then you continue to do that, and it trickles down through the rest of the roster,
02:27and everybody's being the best version of themselves,
02:31and you find your way to team success.
02:33This regular season you said you guys, the secret sauce to your success
02:37was that you guys play hard each and every game.
02:40A lot of the teams obviously don't.
02:42Playoffs is a different story.
02:44Every team plays hard.
02:46Are you confident that the way you guys play is able to take you a long way in the playoffs?
02:54Yeah, I mean, we defend at a high level, and I think that can't be, you know, missed or underspoken.
03:00You know, we've been one of the best defensive teams in the league all season,
03:04and when you defend the way that we do, you know, you give yourself an opportunity to win basketball games,
03:10and that's not going to change for us.
03:11That's only going to get better in the playoffs because, you know,
03:16obviously you see the same team over and over again.
03:19You have the ability to prepare for that team longer.
03:22You know their tendencies.
03:24You know the player tendencies.
03:26You know, so we're allowed to be more physical in the playoffs.
03:29So that's not going to change for us.
03:31So when you defend the way that we defend, you give yourselves a chance.
03:35And, you know, we have enough weapons offensively that we've proven that we can score when necessary also.
03:41And, you know, Kate is one of the elite closers in the league.
03:44So, you know, we're confident that the way that we play stylistically on both ends of the ball will give
03:50us an opportunity to have some success.
03:52What do you guys take away or what have you taken away, whether it was discussions that you had last
03:58offseason
03:58or maybe things that you've talked about even in the last week of taking the experience of being knocked out
04:05in the first round last year?
04:06How can that help you this year?
04:09Well, I mean, we understand what playoff basketball is now and what it feels like.
04:14You know, there is a difference in playoff basketball and regular season basketball.
04:19We all know that.
04:21But, you know, we felt like we had an opportunity to win that series and a couple of bounces just
04:26didn't go our way.
04:28So there's a part of, you know, us and this team as a growth that we believe we can.
04:33And I think that was part of why, you know, we had the success we had in the regular season
04:39was partly because of that series
04:40where we believe that we belonged, you know, with the upper echelon in, you know, in the Eastern Conference and
04:47in the NBA as a whole.
04:49But you understand just how important a possession is.
04:53You know, we had some games last year that came down to the wire.
04:57And you go back and you think about, you know, two or three other plays where maybe we didn't execute
05:03properly or get the job done the way we should have
05:05and how that impacted that one possession late in the game.
05:09So you figure out how to avoid those mistakes, you know, eliminate mistakes.
05:13And the teams that typically win these types of games are the teams that are going to make the least
05:18amount of mistakes.
05:19How are you going to take in tonight's game?
05:21Are you going to be watching it with anyone?
05:23Is there food and beverage?
05:25Like, how do you, I mean, because everybody thinks, okay, well, everything's got to be professional.
05:28No, I mean, you're still a basketball fan.
05:30Obviously, you're going to play the winner of this game.
05:32How are you taking in tonight's game?
05:34Yeah, tonight will be a different, you know, tonight, you know, you won't be watching it as a fan.
05:38Tonight, you'll be studying it, watching, you know, tendencies, you know, probably have, you know, with a few of the
05:45other coaches, you know,
05:46so you've got some voices to bounce things off of as you're watching it, taking notes, clipping film,
05:52those types of things to get yourself prepared because it is such a quick turnaround.
05:56That's, you know, one of the things about being, you know, the one seed is having to wait until Friday
06:01night to figure out who your opponent is on Sunday
06:04and basically having, you know, Saturday and Sunday morning to prepare and obviously late Friday night.
06:11So we'll be watching it, we'll be studying it, we'll be game planning and preparing ourselves for whoever, you know,
06:17shows up on Sunday.
06:18Like I mentioned, obviously, you're not going to say who you guys want to win, but I want to ask,
06:22what does each team,
06:24one thing that each team possesses that gives you pause?
06:29Well, I mean, I think Charlotte has a lot of offensive weapons.
06:32You know, they have guys who can score the basketball from different positions on the floor.
06:39Orlando, you know, has size and physicality, you know, and, you know, big guys at each position that can present
06:47you troubles.
06:47They can offensive rebound the basketball well, but like I said, I feel confident in our group that we're built
06:53for it.
06:54We'll be ready to go on Sunday.
06:55We talk about the depth of this team.
06:57You guys have played, have games where you've played, you know, 10, 11 guys.
07:01They always say in the playoffs, rotations shrink a little bit.
07:04Has that been discussed, and will the rotation shrink a little bit?
07:09I mean, we've talked about it, but, you know, we still believe our depth can be a weapon.
07:14If you guys, you know, if you have guys who can help and contribute to winning and, you know,
07:20they can play shorter stints so they can play even harder than guys who are out there just, you know,
07:25trying to log minutes or log in more minutes, you know, they can get, I think that creates an advantage
07:31for us.
07:32So we got guys who deserve to play, and they've earned the right to play.
07:36You know, stints may be shorter, you know, like I said, but, you know, we feel like we have so
07:41many guys that can help us win
07:43that the situation is going to call on, you know, what we need in that moment.
07:47Do you need shooting?
07:48Do you need playmaking?
07:49Do you need ball handling?
07:50Do you need defenders?
07:51You know, do you need rebounders?
07:53You know, whatever it may be, we've got it on this roster, and our coaching staff just has to make
07:58the right decision in the moment
07:59to put the right guy on the floor for what's necessary in that moment.
08:04I could probably ask you this question about every single guy, but obviously a lot of eyes are going to
08:07be on Cade.
08:08How is he different going into this postseason than he was going into last postseason?
08:14I mean, again, it's the understanding of what it is, and it's one of those things, you know,
08:20we have conversations with our kids, you know, about things, but until they experience it for themselves,
08:27you know, they don't know exactly what it is and what it feels like, and that's what playoff basketball is.
08:34Like, we can talk about it, you know, to guys until we're blue in the face,
08:38but once they get the opportunity to experience, they recognize the difference.
08:43And I think that's where Cade is now is he understands what playoff basketball is like,
08:49what, you know, the intensity feels like, what the environments are like, you know,
08:53the attention to detail, like where his opponents are going to be studying him
08:57and trying to force him into things.
08:58So he's got a great understanding of what the experience feels like now,
09:03and we expect him to lead us and be successful.
09:06One thing I've always been curious about I wanted to ask you is,
09:09how do you determine with the challenge situation that they have in the NBA?
09:13How do you determine when to challenge?
09:15Because sometimes it's in there.
09:16Why do they challenge something early in the first quarter, and if they lose it,
09:19they're done with the challenge?
09:20How do you decide, you know, what to do in those situations?
09:24Well, I mean, there's strategy behind it.
09:26Obviously, we have a guy, you know, who's behind the bench with a computer
09:31that has the ability to replay things quickly.
09:34There's things that come in if it's, you know, one of your starters gets two fouls
09:39and it gets called for a third.
09:40Should you call that one?
09:43Sometimes, to be honest with you, it's, you know,
09:45if you don't like the way the whistle's going and you know the call is correct,
09:49you challenge it to prove a point and hope that that sends a message
09:52to the officiating crew.
09:54You know, there's different strategic reasons that you use your challenges,
09:59especially, you know, time, possession, score, all those things matter.
10:04Finally, I'm old enough to remember, because I would live in Washington
10:08when your father was an assistant coach, when the Bullets won the championship.
10:11I know you guys are still close.
10:14He's an advisor.
10:15What has he told you about heading into this playoffs that you can lean on?
10:20I mean, it's details.
10:21I think that's what he's, you know, he pays, you know, so close attention.
10:25He watches every single game, obviously.
10:27He's around quite a bit.
10:29He's here in town now watching our practice, sitting in our meetings,
10:33and it's that.
10:34It's attention to detail.
10:35It's the focus that you have to have,
10:38but also putting guys in positions where they're not overthinking
10:42and they're not paralyzed in thought,
10:44so they can go out and execute what they need to do, you know,
10:47at the level we expect, and that's going to be necessary.
10:49Well, good luck.
10:50It all starts for you guys on Sunday.
10:53I know the city is really excited, and the LCA is going to be jumping,
10:57hopefully, for the next two to three months.
11:00Yeah, I'm looking forward to it, and I appreciate you guys.
11:03All right.
11:03That's J.B. Bickerstaff, head coach of your Detroit Pistons, here on 97.1.
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