CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Following another turbulent week that has surrounded the Cavs, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff defended the team’s culture.
Whether it’s teammates anonymously criticizing Collin Sexton, Kevin Love’s lackadaisical and sometimes disengaged attitude or the losing, Bickerstaff takes exception to the notion that the culture in Cleveland is not what it should be.
“I watch how our guys show up every single day,” Bickerstaff said prior to Tuesday night's game. “I watch how they interact with each other every single day. I see the conversations they have trying to figure it out and trying to help one another.
“The difficult part, and understandably so, people have jobs to do but we never judge people on their worst moments. There’s a collective of a long ass season where there’s been a ton of positive interactions and to focus on lone incidents, I think is kind of missing the big picture.”
The evidence unfortunately doesn’t support Bickerstaff’s claim.
The whispering to the media by players about other players is as toxic as a team can get.
Love, who has spent most of the season in street clothes, losing his composure once again in one game and not scoring in another.
And of course, the team’s 21-44 record following Tuesday night’s loss in overtime that saw them outscored 20-4 in the extra five minutes. They've now lost seven straight and 10 of 11 overall.
“There is no place that is perfect,” Bickerstaff said. “There is no person who is perfect, so we will all have our moments but it’s a matter of how you rally around one another when those moments happen and then how quickly can we get past those moments.
“Most nights our guys have given us everything they got. There’s always those NBA nights that are difficult and every team has them. Every time I speak to an opposing coach they tell us how hard our guys play and how well they compete.”
Bickerstaff colorfully stressed that the feedback from opposing coaches is not lip service.
“We don’t walk around bull******g, we tell each other the truth,” Bickerstaff said.
“When you don’t win, it’s easy to pick it apart. We understand that’s what our business is about. Culturally, and the environment that we’re creating, that’s on the right foot.”
Always next year – The Cavs entered Tuesday night’s game with Phoenix already eliminated from playoff contention and eight games left on the schedule.
“Our approach shouldn’t change,” Bickerstaff said. “We have a responsibility to each other. We have a responsibility to this organization and our fan base to go out and give it [our all] every single night. So that shouldn’t change, no matter the circumstances.”
Sexton 4K – Collin Sexton became the second-youngest in franchise history to score 4,000 points in his career Tuesday night.
“That’s pretty cool,” Sexton said. “I got a long way to go. That’s cool but at the end of the day I’d rather have the win.”
At 22 years and 120 days, Sexton reached the milestone faster than Kyrie Irving and Brad Daugherty did. Only LeBron James did it faster, 20 years, 318 days.
“He as a unique gift, and he’s going to score the ball,” Bickerstaff said.
Sexton hit the milestone it in his 200th career game, fourth fastest in team history behind LeBron James (166 games), Austin Carr (190) and Kyrie Irving (193).
Varejao not ready – Anderson Varejao was in street clothes Tuesday night fresh off signing a 10-day contract to return to Cleveland.
Bickerstaff is unsure just when Varejao, who spent 12 seasons in Cleveland, will be ready to contribute on game night.
During the first timeout, Varejao was welcomed back by the team on Humungotron and played Wild Thing for him as he acknowledged the tribute by waving to the crowd.