AKRON, Ohio — Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff has been fined $20,000 for directing inappropriate language toward game officials and for failing to leave the court in a timely manner following his ejection, NBA president of operations Byron Spruell said.
Bickerstaff was thrown out of Wednesday’s ugly home loss to the Hornets. He said he apologized to the team afterward.
“That’s on me,” Bickerstaff said of the ejection. “Need to improve and be better. I need to stay in the fight.”
You can read more about that game and my thoughts on the Cavs in my latest dribbles right here. Or check out the latest Cavs on the Break pod with John Sabol and me right here.
The Cavs (36-26) visit the 76ers on Friday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST.
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Bickerstaff ought to have been AWARDED 20K for standing up against the HORRIBLE “officiating” in the NBA. A foul IS a foul. I do understand that they WILL get a few calls bad once in awhile. That’s to be expected. But this year with the ways they have botched calls up, NO WONDER A YOUNG TEAM WONDERS ABOUT HOW TO PLAY DEFENSE… It’s SO subjective whether they will call it, & upon whom ???
I am NOT saying that ALL the problems with Cavs are from Ref’s bad calls. There are plenty of other issues right now, but some of those come from NOT knowing what consistency here is.
Consistent calling of fouls is essential to the play of players! When it is this lackluster, it leads to the favored team increasingly getting more & more aggressive to the point INJURIES occur because of the many “reach-ins” that the refs DID NOT CALL earlier, & now they believe, rightfully so, they can get away with almost anything. Okoro’s arm injury occurred in a game much that way.
ALSo Momentum swings frequently occur, sometimes right when Cav’s are starting a run to pull away from opponents. 7 points ahead, A steal was about to happen, & the ball bounces off opposing point guards foot, goes backcourt, plain as day to ALL, BUTto the 3 Ref’s??,
NEXT possession, Cav’s forward CEDI “supposedly” steps out/bounds in the corner, AGAIN, NOT. Immediate 4 pt loss. & now the 3 pt lead vanished, & the run went the other way on back to back Wrong calls.(NOT Challenged). (Coaches should have 2 Challenges)
Not to even mention, the 3-points awarded on a fake shot that didn’t even go IN the basket & also resulted in a FREE Technical free-throw point on the SAME PLAY!
These people are paid WELL for their job, & are supposed to be PROFESSIONAL !
Can they get it wrong sometimes, sure, absolutely,,, but lately it has been sooo off. &
So how are these young team player supposed to KNOW when they can “reach in” & when they can’t guard closely. Early in the season, they thought they knew, now, the opposing team Can reach in any time & strip it away, & when Cav’s try that, yeah it’s a foul. Charlotte was in reach-in mode all night, only called on few occasions. Cav’s “D” never seemed to capitalize on that. Yeah, at the end the number of fouls were close, but the damage was already done.
Fortunately Cav’s managed to win “the Fake 3pt basket that never went in” game!
A foul IS a foul. Just call it straight !
YOU GO BIC ! Should be awarded!