“I think it’s extremely important,” Bickerstaff said. “Again, we came into this season after training camp, and we realized the depth that we had and the amount of people that we had that could impact winning. And again, to get through an 82 game season the way that you want to, you’re going to have to call on everybody at some point in time, so we’re fortunate again to have that depth, but it’s also a competitive spirit too, right? Like now we know there’s guys out there on the floor that can contribute. So now I’ve got to be better at my job when I’m out there and take advantage of my minutes because I know there’s somebody else in there that we can put in, that can do the same and help us win as well. So, it drives competition, and internal competition is great as long as it never becomes personal– and that’s where our team is. It’s not a personal thing. It’s not a me versus you thing. It’s an I’m hungry, I want to get on the floor. I want to stay on the floor, but when you’re out there, I got your back and you’re my teammate. I think that’s where we’re unique. We have a bunch of guys that are great teammates, that are competitive as hell, but care about their teammates more than their own individual selves.”
