After the first day of training camp, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said in a press conference he wants his team to find success in the upcoming COVID-19 impacted NBA season.

Bickerstaff believes there is no excuse for not being a winning team. “We still have to improve, and we still want to play a brand of winning basketball,” he said.

To Bickerstaff and the Cavaliers, the build up to training camp was different this year. Bickerstaff said, “I think it is the preparation and work leading up to the day. We normally try to get all our guys in town a month prior to training camp.”

 As for the late start to the season, Bickerstaff does not think it creates many benefits. Bickerstaff said, “It’s hard to tell you positives to be honest, besides the fact that maybe we’re fresh and well-rested and also maybe we’re hungry because we haven’t played in such a long period of time.”

Bickerstaff also believes the long break in addition to not participating in last season’s playoff bubble comes with negatives. “We missed that level of competition in the bubble. There were other teams that got to experience things that we didn’t get an opportunity to experience,” said Bickerstaff.

To avoid contracting the virus, Bickerstaff said he wants his team to be responsible. “We have to do our part to protect one another, and we have to do our part to protect something that’s bigger than ourselves and that’s this team, this organization, and this league,” he said. “But at the same time, we can’t be so stuck and away that if protocols change we can’t adapt and adjust.”

For Bickerstaff, the main goal this year is to win basketball games. “Obviously it’s a little different because you know we’re a new staff and we’ve got new members of the team and those types of things. We’re trying to establish ourselves, but you know if we play a winning brand of basketball,  then we’ll consider this year a success,” Bickerstaff said.

The Cavaliers first regular season game is next week on Dec. 23.