John Beilein Out as Cavaliers Coach; Can Cleveland Hit Updated 21.5 Win Total Under Interim JB Bickerstaff?
- John Beilein has stepped down as coach of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers
- Can the Cavaliers go over their season total of 21.5 wins under interim coach JB Bickerstaff?
- Read on to discover Cleveland’s likely fate for the remainder of the 2019-20 campaign
John Beilein is out as coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. JB Bickerstaff is in as interim coach.
What does the future hold for the Cavaliers over the remainder of the NBA regular season?
A bleak outlook, based on the odds that sportsbooks are offering on Cleveland’s win total for the 2019-20 campaign. Sportsbooks have established 21.5 as the total for the Cavaliers this season in the NBA Win Totals.
The under is currently favored in this prop. Cleveland is -120 to finish with less than 21.5 wins.
2019-20 Updated NBA Win Total Odds
| Team | Win Total | Under Odds | Over Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 21.5 | -120 | +100 |
Odds taken Feb. 19th
The Cavaliers won 19 games last season, the first campaign for the team following the departure of LeBron James for the Los Angeles Lakers via free agency.
Give Beilein Credit
At the age of 66, after 42 years of coaching in college, Beilein made the surprising choice to leave Michigan and take over the woeful, rebuilding Cavaliers.
It seemed like a bad idea at the time. At the NBA All-Star break, Beilein came to the realization that was indeed the case.
Story filed to ESPN: After a brief and tumultuous tenure, John Beilein is leaving as Cleveland's coach. Associate HC JB Bickerstaff will be elevated to head coach. Beilein's expected to say goodbye to staff and players on Wednesday upon team's return from All-Star Break.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 19, 2020
Give him credit for recognizing this reality and doing the right thing. Lots of people stay in bad relationships rather than admit the error of their ways. It would have been easy – and much more lucrative – for Beilein to finish out the season and force the Cavaliers to fire him.
Instead, two sides have agreed upon a buyout of Beilein’s five-year contract.
Bickerstaff a Basketball Lifer
The Cavs have a ready-made replacement for Beilein in Bickerstaff. It’s the third time a team is asking him to take the helm of a rudderless ship.
JB Bickerstaff is the biggest Assistant to the Regional Manager of all time https://t.co/4d4Vc5dM8D
— Matthew Cardenas (@Matt__Card) February 18, 2020
He did well in the interim role with the Houston Rockets in 2015-16, going 37-34. He wasn’t as successful in 2017-18 with the Memphis Grizzlies. They skidded to a 15-48 finish.
Bickerstaff owns a lifetime .394 (85-131) winning percentage as an NBA head coach.
Cavs Are a Mess
Cleveland (14-40) isn’t the NBA’s worst team. That distinction goes to the 12-43 Golden State Warriors.
Hard to believe that less than two years ago, they were clashing in the NBA Finals for the fourth straight spring. But even Golden State recently put a one-sided 131-112 beating on the Cavaliers.
When it comes to the most dysfunctional NBA team, the Cavs take that honor. They own the NBA’s worst home-court record. Cleveland is 7-22 record at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
That includes a 12-game home losing streak. Cleveland lost by 20 points at home to the 17-38 New York Knicks.
The Cavaliers are 1-6 in their last seven games. They’re 2-13 over the past 15 and 4-18 in their last 22.
How Low Will They Go?
Currently, Cleveland is on pace for 21.25 wins this season, so the Cavs are right on the bubble of sportsbooks’ win total.
If Bickerstaff maintains his career win pace, Cleveland would win another 11 games. But that’s a big if.
John Beilein gave up an outstanding job at the University at Michigan where he was not only succeeding, but had just signed an extension to earn $3.8M/yr plus incentives – for a LeBron-less Cleveland Cavaliers gig. Some ladders just aren’t worth climbing.
— Spotrac (@spotrac) February 18, 2020
The Cavaliers play 10 of their remaining 28 games against the top five teams in each NBA conference. They’re a combined 1-17 against those clubs thus far this season.
They’ve won just two games all season against teams with winning records. Seven of of their 14 victories have come at the expense of teams with fewer than 20 wins.
In ESPN’s Basketball Power Index, Cleveland rates out as the worst team in the league (-8.3). Analytics sites are pegging the Cavs to finish up with 19 wins.
Pick: Under 21.5 wins (-120).
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
