CLEVELAND — JB Bickerstaff used to be prepared for whatever Cleveland fans had in store for him.
He knows them as well as someone.
Regularly criticized for his rotations, playing methods and blamed for playoff losses over four-plus seasons coaching the Cavaliers, Detroit’s first-year tutor wasn’t sure what kind of response he would get again in his first game.
“Who knows?” Bickerstaff said with a smile. “My time here I had a mixed reception. You could boo me or cheer me. Who knows?”
Fired after last season despite rebuilding the Cavs and leading them to the Eastern Conference semifinals, Bickerstaff returned to Rocket Loan FieldHouse on Friday night when the Pistons played their first street game of the season.
Bickerstaff inherited a team that won just 14 games last season. The Pistons held on to the Cavaliers before fading in the fourth quarter in a 113-101 loss. Cade Cunningham scored 33 points but tied a career high with nine points as Detroit fell to 0-2.
“We’re seeing what he’s capable of and how he can carry a team,” Bickerstaff said of Cunningham. “But we did talk to him about turnovers.”
Bickerstaff hasn’t gotten much of a chance with his new team, but Kenny Atkinson, who replaced him in Cleveland, was inspired during his first look at the Pistons this season.
“They’re a better team,” Atkinson said.
Bickerstaff, who went 170-159 with the Cavs and twice led them to the playoffs, said it was atypical to take a bus to the field instead of from his home on Cleveland’s west side.
He joked that he wasn’t overcome by nostalgia when he re-entered a structure he knows so clearly.
“Absolutely nothing,” he said when asked again what was going through his mind in his first moments. “I didn’t recognize these [remodeled] Corridors back here trying to figure out where to go, but that’s it. I know that an agreement must be reached on this.
“But really, all we want to do is combine what we have, recover every month and focus there.”
That was Bickerstaff’s mantra during his time in Cleveland. And while he had his challenges, he took over a young team and improved it by leading the Cavs’ rebuild after the departure of LeBron James in 2018.
Bickerstaff had the mixed reaction he anticipated during pregame introductions.
The team saluted him again with a tribute during a timeout in the first quarter, and Bickerstaff stood impassively near midcourt with his hands in his pockets.
Understandably, Bickerstaff didn’t feel warm and fuzzy.
After all, he was the one who got the Cavs out of a tough situation when coach John Beilein retired midway through the 2019-20 season. He also led Cleveland to the playoffs in consecutive seasons.
Last year, the Cavs suffered from injuries throughout the season, but beat Orlando in the first round of the playoffs before losing to the eventual champion Boston Celtics in the conference semifinals, playing the final two games without All-Star Donovan Mitchell.
That wasn’t enough to save his job as the Cavs made a coaching change a week into the season.
The race was satisfying, even if it ended sooner than he wanted.
“We did a great job here from where we started when our workforce took over to where we finished,” he said. “In any state of rebuilding, if it’s good to ask for that to happen, every single general manager in this league, every single owner in this league, every single participant in this league would come together. her.
“We get better every year. Every year we go further, so we did the job that was asked of us and I’m proud of that.”
