4 months ago
- Pistons
- Published: Jan. 05, 2026, 6:11 p.m.
DETROIT — Mike Brown knows what it takes to beryllium NBA Coach of nan Year. He’s done it doubly during his profession pinch different teams and won 4 NBA championships arsenic an assistant.
Now nan coach of nan New York Knicks, Brown believes Detroit Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff has arsenic beardown a lawsuit arsenic anyone astir nan convention to triumph nan grant this season.
“I’ve said this before. J.B. Bickerstaff’s doing a heck of a job. There’s a fistful of guys that should beryllium considered for Coach of nan Year and he’s decidedly one,” Brown said up of Monday night’s crippled betwixt nan Pistons and Knicks. “J.B. has this squad believing, not conscionable successful nan process, but successful each other. You tin consciousness it. They person an personality that they bent their chapeau connected each azygous night.”
Bickerstaff has nan Pistons humming arsenic nan apical squad successful nan Eastern Conference astatine 26-9, up of Brown’s Knicks squad by 3 games heading into their first head-to-head matchup of nan season.
Detroit owns a top-10 violative standing and nan No. 2 protect standing successful nan convention that is astatine nan bosom of nan team’s early success.
“The physicality that they bring to nan table, their expertise to rebound, their expertise to guard, those things are 2nd to nary erstwhile it comes to looking astatine this team,” Brown said. “And we person to lucifer their physicality and not transcend it, particularly trying to support them disconnected nan glass. And past we sewage to effort to get retired and tally truthful they don’t get to group their defense each nan clip against us, because it’s very good.”
After guiding nan Pistons’ historical turnaround past play to scope nan playoffs for nan first clip since 2019 arsenic nan 7-seed, Bickerstaff besides oversaw nan franchise’s first triumph successful nan postseason successful astir 20 years.
However, nan play came to an extremity successful nan first information pinch a 4-2 bid nonaccomplishment to nan Knicks — led by Tom Thibodeau astatine nan time.
Brown, a longtime friend and workfellow to Bickerstaff and his family, enters nan fray trying to get nan Knicks to nan NBA Finals, but arsenic nan midway constituent successful nan play approaches, nan Eastern Conference is presently moving done Detroit.
“They’re still good coached. I deliberation offensively, there’s much tempo, much side-to-side movement, getting nan shot retired of (guard Jalen) Brunson’s hands, getting them to different broadside and past getting nan shot backmost to him,” Bickerstaff said Monday. “Because of injuries, they’ve been forced to play a fewer different types of lineups aliases rather a fewer different lineups. But, astatine nan halfway of it, it comes down to putting their champion players successful position to beryllium successful. And I deliberation Mike’s done a awesome occupation of that.”
While Bickerstaff and nan Pistons are experiencing life astatine nan apical of nan conference, awards are acold from being secured by anyone successful nan league.
The chance to look nan squad correct down them successful nan East and nan 1 who booted nan Pistons from their first postseason together tin beryllium nan benignant of showcase infinitesimal that gets remembered astatine nan extremity of nan season.
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Jacob Richman is simply a sports newsman for MLive.com and covers pro and assemblage teams crossed Michigan. Before joining MLive, Jacob covered assemblage sports successful Texas astatine LoneStarLive.com pinch a attraction connected Texas A&M and...
