Bobi Klintman in action for Motor City Cruise, Detroit Pistons' affiliated team | Image Credits: IMAGO/ZUMA Press Wire
Detroit Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff opined that the team would get better as the season moves on after a 95-116 defeat against the Cleveland Cavaliers and called Bobi Klintman an elite rebounder after the youngster's first appearance of the season.
After starting the season with a defeat, the Pistons seemed to have turned the plot with two consecutive wins, but a 21-point loss would certainly hurt the Detroit-based team. Bickerstaff praised the Cavaliers’ defense and felt that his side would get better.
He said, “To give them credit, they're a good defensive team, and we just had a rough night tonight. We turned the ball over 26 times and it's hard to run your offense when you're turning the basketball over, but it's one night we'll be better.”
When asked about Cade Cunningham’s struggles on the court, the head coach remarked, “They've (Cavaliers) got a ton of size, and they do a great job of shrinking the floor, and make you play in crowded spaces. Also, I've got to do a better job of helping him in those situations, creating more space for him in those situations. But again, we're early in the season and we'll continue to build from it.”
After two wins and two losses in the first four matches of the season, the Pistons have been attracting some negative criticism from fans and media alike. Bickerstaff feels that the group is still gelling and things will improve as the season progresses.
He said, “I think we're trying for the most part to do the things we asked, but we're still learning. It is a bit of a different group out there that's playing together. We're learning the triggers, how we create rotations, put advantage situations and all those things. So, it'll smooth out.”
Bickerstaff continued, “It's been choppy at times for sure. But again, just more time together, more reps at it. This is the thing, what we always try to do is we try to make this (points towards an upward slope) our climb. So we've got a starting point that we're at right now, and then we'll continue to figure it out and get better.”
After impressing in his first season with the Pistons, Bobi Klintman made his first appearance of the 2025-26 NBA season, and the head coach gleamed positively while talking about the youngster’s contribution.
He remarked, “I thought he's had a really good preseason and training camp. He's a guy who brings activity and has got a high IQ as well. He's versatile on both ends of the floor."
"He's an elite offensive rebounder and has the ability to make shots, too. So, it's going to be time and opportunity for him, but we feel like he's a really good basketball player when he gets his opportunities.”
Bickerstaff is optimistic about what he saw on both ends of the court in the defeat against the Cleveland-based team.
The head coach opined, “I think you've got to stay with the details of what your system is and being able to fight their pressure with your offensive pressure. I thought there were times when we just got bogged down and stopped moving."
"If you don't move and create separation versus that team with their size and length, it's going to be very difficult to score. So again, opportunity for us to learn, and get better for it.”
He continued, “It's a conversation that we've continued to have, and it was a conversation that we had all the way in training camp, but for us it comes down to the reps at it. So we're still working through some of those. We're four games in, and the wins that we got, I believe, were identity wins.”
Bickerstaff concluded, “We just played to our standard, what Detroit Pistons basketball is, and now we've got to clean some things up. So as long as we continue to play to our identity, we'll clean the execution piece up, and we'll get better as the year goes on.”
