Omari Sankofa II: JB Bickerstaff: “Our guys were exhausted. We sat on the runway last night until 2:30, 3 am, got home around 4:30 in a snowstorm … we just didn’t have it tonight and that’s fair. Today was just a rough day for them.”
JB Bickerstaff Rumors
Omari Sanfoka II: Tonight will be the Pistons’ 3rd game in four nights and a night after a cup game, which JB Bickerstaff said is “extremely difficult.” “Our expectation, though, is that our guys show up and they compete every night. So we don’t expect that to be any different. We don’t change our approach.”
Omari Sankofa II: JB Bickerstaff on Cade Cunningham: “He’s made my job very easy. He and I have a lot of one on one conversations to make sure we’re on the same page … he’s the type of guy people want to play for.”
Omari Sankofa II: JB Bickerstaff on the turnover issues: “It’s making sure we value every possession. We’re having conversations with guys showing them where the turnovers are taking place. It’s hard to overcome 19 turnovers.”
Omari Snakofa: JB Bickerstaff on why Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey have meshed well together: “They understand each other, and that’s good thing. The time that they’ve spent together, they know each others strengths and weaknesses and they both want to play the right way.”
Omari Sankofa II: JB Bickerstaff on the missed free throw with a second remaining: “Obviously that’s tough, but we trust Tobias to knock his free throws down. He just missed it tonight.”
Coty M. Davis: #Pistons vice chairman Arn Tellem and coach JB Bickerstaff surprising election workers and voters with lunch at Bunche Preparatory Academy.
JB Bickerstaff became the first coach to take a Cleveland Cavaliers team that didn’t have LeBron James to the second round in more than 30 years and he, too, got fired. Bickerstaff ended up with Detroit. The Pistons had fired Monty Williams after one season — with five years and something like $65 million left on his contract. Williams now will coach his sons at a high school in San Antonio. “You just keep doing the job you’re supposed to do,” Bickerstaff said. He could have added “for as long as you have it,” because in the NBA, who knows what’ll happen next.
Earlier this month, the Detroit Pistons organized “Pistonsland: What Up D.O.E.,” a nonpartisan day festival in collaboration with Rock the Vote and Detroit Votes, to encourage early voting in Michigan, one of the key battleground states in the presidential election. Grammy Award-winning artist Lil Baby headlined musical performances at the block party, which also had food trucks and tried to encourage Gen Z voters to cast their ballots early. “For the Pistons to be part of the community, but also motivate people to participate in the voting process, I think it is great,” Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff said last week. “It’s one of those things that we all need to be a part of. None of us are perfect in it, but understanding the significance of it, what it means to actually cast a vote, what those people before us had to do in order for us to get the right to vote, and make sure we don’t squander the opportunity.”