Coach Brad Stevens Is A Boss

[ifmanis5]

He was a master against the Warriors last week. Perfect timeouts, figured out a way to beat Golden State on the road without Crowder. Incredible job forcing turnovers and using his personnel. Pop level stuff.

Look at Evan Turner. He was a total mess when he got here. Constantly making bad decisions, taking bad shots, dribbling out the shot clock only to take a fall away that had no chance. In short, one of my least favorite players ever. But sometime this year Evan clearly heard what Brad was telling him- cut down on the threes, use your body to get to your favorite spots along the elbow and execute your moves or passes earlier in the shot clock. And now Evan Turner isn't just beating the other teams' scrubs, he can hold his own and then some against the starters, even at crunch time. That transformation is due to Brad. I'm glad he's our coach. Way up the list of Danny's accomplishments was hiring him. Enjoy this while it lasts.

 

[moondog80]

Enjoy this while it lasts.

Maybe this isn't what you meant, but there's a sense out there that he's going to bolt once an elite college job pops up, and I don't understand why. A guy like Pitino went back to college because a) he sucked in the NBA, and b) he was a snake oil salesman whose schtick worked best with 19 year old kids. The NBA, on the other hand, allows a basketball junkie like Stevens to coach at the highest level without dealing with the NCAA, boosters, or the sham of keeping kids academically eligible. And he's got a young team with a great chance of getting much better the next few offseasons, a very supportive ownership/front office, and a city with a proud tradition and large fan base. Why would he want to leave?

 

[SoxJox]

I think that we'll be looking back on this year as the one in which Brad established his bone fides. I'm not all ga ga gung ho, but I would be lying if I didn't say that we likely are watching a star coach in the making.

I have become an admirer of his ability to connect the dots for his players. His ability to make changes, adapt, and combine substitution packages that have squeezed every last ounce out of this team.. He has taken what he's got and made the most of it. To be fair, the Celtics don't really have the strongest starting five, but their bench is about as deep as any in the NBA, and that gives Brad some flexibility to spread minutes, alter combinations, and simply make moves that other coaches cannot. I've lost count of the number of times the Celtics just out-gassed teams in the second half and simply ran away. But it is Brad's skill in recognizing how to orchestrate that has impressed me.

 

[SoxJox]

Maybe this isn't what you meant, but there's a sense out there that he's going to bolt once an elite college job pops up, and I don't understand why. A guy like Pitino went back to college because a) he sucked in the NBA, and b) he was a snake oil salesman whose schtick worked best with 19 year old kids. The NBA, on the other hand, allows a basketball junkie like Stevens to coach at the highest level without dealing with the NCAA, boosters, or the sham of keeping kids academically eligible. And he's got a young team with a great chance of getting much better the next few offseasons, a very supportive ownership/front office, and a city with a proud tradition and large fan base. Why would he want to leave?

I sense your uncertainty in the premise, and I agree. I don't really believe he'll go back to the college ranks. I have absolutely nothing to base that on other than the fact that he seems to be enjoying himself, or at least not appearing to be stressed or distressed - either in demeanor or word. I think he likes the organization, the players, and the NBA-level competition. I don't think he's going anywhere until he wins an NBA championship. Who knows how long that will take?

 

[DJnVa]

With his resume at Butler he didn't need to go to the NBA to be #1 on just about every college's wish list. Unless he just didn't know exactly what he was getting into with the NBA, I'm not sure why he would have jumped if some top NCAA job was his goal.

 

[bowiac]

Apart from Harbaugh, has another Big 4 pro sport coach in recent memory voluntarily made the jump back to college (i.e., no Sabans)?

 

[Eddie Jurak]

Who knows with Brad Stevens? He's one of those rare coaches who can coach successfully at either level. Does he want to be the next Coack K or then next Coach Pop? Either is possible. I don't think there's any meaningful reading of the tea leaves.

I hope he stays in Boston for a long time, though.

 

[Schnerres]

Maybe the task of 82 games (+possible or hopefully meaningful playoff matches) is too hard? I mean something´s got to give, each NBA game can´t be taken as serious as a football (soccer) match, as well as football (NFL) match, but can´t be taken as lightly as a baseball game. But you still can have 100 games per year. If you´re all-in as a coach each game, not to talk about training sessions, this could be very challenging for yourself, i imagine. Other coaches (Pep Guardiola comes to mind) need new challenges, because they are annoyed even in the greatest or most beautiful cities of the world and need something new every 3-4 years.
I imagine if you´re a college coach, the season is shorter, less games and more turnaround each time. If you have annoying players, you´re sure they will be gone soon - of course, this also applies to your greatest players, but everybody needs a challenge, right...
Another point might be job security.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

He was a master against the Warriors last week. Perfect timeouts, figured out a way to beat Golden State on the road without Crowder. Incredible job forcing turnovers and using his personnel. Pop level stuff.

Look at Evan Turner. He was a total mess when he got here. Constantly making bad decisions, taking bad shots, dribbling out the shot clock only to take a fall away that had no chance. In short, one of my least favorite players ever. But sometime this year Evan clearly heard what Brad was telling him- cut down on the threes, use your body to get to your favorite spots along the elbow and execute your moves or passes earlier in the shot clock. And now Evan Turner isn't just beating the other teams' scrubs, he can hold his own and then some against the starters, even at crunch time. That transformation is due to Brad. I'm glad he's our coach. Way up the list of Danny's accomplishments was hiring him. Enjoy this while it lasts.

Stevens is proving to be a beast of an NBA coach. Very few coaches make more than an incremental difference in a stars league like the NBA which is why they are paid like a backup guard but Brad certainly is doing just that. I was one on the "Wait until Indiana fires Creen" boat and while none of us know if Brad and his wife really prefer the NBA lifestyle he will always be highly sought after. As far as naming a coach who returned to college......I don't feel this is a fair question as the pay differential never made that a feasible option but now you'll soon have college coaches making over $10m per year (Cal should be the first) with many others passing the $4-5m annual mark. At some point Ainge is going to be ripping up that contract and paying the man. He's earned it.

Evan Turner is actually turning the ball over at a higher rate now than he did in Philly and I'm not sure any coach tells his players NOT to shoot the ball (or else Smart would be doing it also).....I suspect his fewer 3-pt attempts are more a product of Turner shooting them in the teens this year up until recently bumping that up to 22%. Turner is the same player he was in Philly from where I'm sitting and that is a pretty good NBA player who will be richly rewarded by some team in FA this summer. If you give him credit for Turner then where is the criticism for Smart's failure to make a leap along with the James Young and RJ Hunter failures? You can't have it both ways.

 

[sox311]

If you have ever listened to Brad be interviewed in a long form interview, like a podcast, you will get a good feeling that he likes where he is at right now. And honestly, from listening to him talk about Butler, I don't think he would jump back to college coaching unless it was to go back to Butler one day. Go download and listen to his interview on the Vertical podcast, it was either with Manix or Woj, you'll enjoy it and will be able to hear what I am talking about.

 

[CaptainLaddie]

If I were Ainge, I'd offer Stevens a massive long-term contract. Get him locked up for a fucking decade. The money doesn't matter. He's worth every penny. He doesn't count against the cap and he's a top 3 (2?) coach in my book.

 

[ifmanis5]

Agreed, and I'm sure Danny knows that too.

I wasn't suggesting that he's a goner, I was suggesting to enjoy what you got because it's damn hard to find and who knows could happen.

 

[JimBoSox9]

I'd like to see even one iota of affirmative evidence Stevens is considering going back to college before considering it even worthy of the air from my lungs. Coaches go back to NCAA from the NBA when they fail, period.

 

[Sprowl]

Brad Stevens, being an intelligent young man with the gift of discernment, will probably wait out Danny Ainge's string of excellent draft positions before leaving the Celtics. He has already shown that he can help limited players play valuable roles, maximize the unique talents of middling athletes, design an offense around the skill combinations that he can deploy, play a pace and space strategy that optimizes a 9-deep bench, and maintain professional ambition and demeanour. As HRB said, he makes an incremental difference in multiple areas. Cumulatively that adds a lot of value.

Do GMs and Coaches ever get ownership stakes in a NBA franchise? Presumably that kind of compensation increase only accrues to long-term jobholders, because it makes them more difficult to fire when the birds fly south. Even so, Stevens and Ainge seem like talent worth keeping.

 

[Papelbon's Poutine]

I'm pretty sure Beane has an ownership stake in the A's.

 

[CantKeepmedown]

Kirk Minihane said this morning that if you gave every GM in the 4 major sports a choice as to whether or not they wanted to protect one of their players or their coach (from a fantasy redraft of sorts) that Stevens is the only coach that would be chosen.

It was kind of fun to think about at first, but maybe obvious once you get into it. It says a lot about Stevens, for sure. But also says a lot about the Celtics roster too.

Brady>Belichick and Leonard>Pop were the 2 obvious ones but I didn't listen further to see if they had any MLB/NHL examples.

 

[Eddie Jurak]

I wouldn't take Brady over BB

 

[bakahump]

I wouldn't take Brady over BB

No? When he didnt have Brady in 2008 BB couldnt even make the playoffs

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

I'm not sure I'd take either Brady or BB in 2016 considering how little time each has left.

 

[OCST]

Maybe the task of 82 games (+possible or hopefully meaningful playoff matches) is too hard? I mean something´s got to give, each NBA game can´t be taken as serious as a football (soccer) match, as well as football (NFL) match, but can´t be taken as lightly as a baseball game. But you still can have 100 games per year. If you´re all-in as a coach each game, not to talk about training sessions, this could be very challenging for yourself, i imagine. Other coaches (Pep Guardiola comes to mind) need new challenges, because they are annoyed even in the greatest or most beautiful cities of the world and need something new every 3-4 years.
I imagine if you´re a college coach, the season is shorter, less games and more turnaround each time. If you have annoying players, you´re sure they will be gone soon - of course, this also applies to your greatest players, but everybody needs a challenge, right...
Another point might be job security.

I agree with this as far as it goes, but to balance it out, you have to include the grind of recruiting for college coaches.

Spending several months a year, traveling to Dingelberry, Arkansas to talk to an arrogant 17 yo and to pump his mom full of bullshit that's more compelling than the guy who was in before you and the guy on the porch waiting for you to finish.... some guys genuinely enjoy working with that age group, but if you're a basketball-first guy, that could get old fast.