Detroit Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff gave one of his players a huge praise for his performance against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Heading into the last game of the season, the Detroit Pistons did not have much to play for and gave a lot of their rotation players some minutes.
They endured a 140-133 loss in overtime, but there were a lot of positives from the game as well.
Malik Beasley, who had a fallout with Giannis Antetokounmpo in their previous game led the scorers with 23 points off the bench, while Marcus Sasser added 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Lindy Waters III also scored 15 points in the game in 35 minutes of action and it was his performance in the game that led to Bickerstaff praising him in the postgame press conference.
Waters III moved to the Pistons as part of the five-team trade for Jimmy Butler.
He has since not been able to lodge a lot of minutes, but Bickerstaff revealed he is one of the hardest working players.
Speaking about Waters, the Pistons coach said: “Lindy is one of the hardest working guys that I’ve been around.
“Look at his background, his story of how resilient he’s been to get here. The way that he had to climb every single day, every step of the way and you see a guy who deserves it.”
The 27-year-old is a G-League champion and is a great asset at the small forward position.
However, the Pistons are stacked in that position and Bickerstaff stated that was one of the reasons he was getting reduced minutes.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of minutes at that spot, but he works his tail off every single day. He’s an NBA rotational player and he’s gonna be prepared cause there’s gonna come a time when we need him and he’ll be prepared ready to help us,” he stated.
Under Bickerstaff’s guidance, the Pistons managed to make their first playoff appearance since the 2018-2019 season.
They have also gone from a team that had the lowest record in the league last season, to a playoff side in the matter of just under a year.
But this is not the first time, Bickerstaff has transformed the fortunes of the team.
He was the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers for four years before being assigned the Pistons job.
Bickerstaff coached the likes of Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen, both of whom are key to the Cavs’ roster.
Pistons are a young side, but the physicality they have displayed has been special to watch.
They play without fear and go at opponents, which is what will make their series against the New York Knicks an interesting one to watch.
Bickerstaff failed to carry his regular season form into the playoffs when he was with the Cavs, but the Pistons have players a lot different from the ones he had with the Cavs.
They are young and talented, but also have no fear for their opponents when they play basketball.
The coach has helped bring back Detroit culture back to the team, which is what they had been missing and now that they are back, it is going to be tough to contain them as the young players they have are special and will be around for a while.
