Poll

Ainge or Stevens? Who deserves more credit for where we are?

Ainge
29 (72.5%)
Stevens
11 (27.5%)

Total Members Voted: 40

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Online JSD

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Ainge or Stevens? Who deserves more credit for where we are?
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Re: Ainge or Stevens? Who deserves more credit for where we are?
« Reply #1 on: May 26, 2022, 01:50:22 PM »

Online Celtics2021

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Stevens.  Partly for the roster changes this year that I don’t think Ainge would have made, partly for his coaching over the years that helped the players get where they are today.

Re: Ainge or Stevens? Who deserves more credit for where we are?
« Reply #2 on: May 26, 2022, 01:58:02 PM »

Online Donoghus

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Stevens. 

For realizing it was time to step away from coaching and bringing in the right guy to replace him and for the personnel moves.

Ainge did a lot of the grocery shopping but Stevens was the one who figured out the recipe.


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Re: Ainge or Stevens? Who deserves more credit for where we are?
« Reply #3 on: May 26, 2022, 02:00:58 PM »

Offline kraidstar

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That is absurd. The hardest part by far of winning a championship is drafting elite players. If Ainge hadn't made the Brooklyn trade, then drafted Smart, Tatum,  Brown, and Rob, we would be on the treadmill.

Stevens deserves credit for hiring Udoka and bringing back Horford, but Ainge did all the heavy lifting beforehand. If he drafts Fultz instead of Tatum, or Bender instead of Brown, we are not having this conversation.  Full Stop.

Oh, and it was Ainge who hired Stevens in the first place.

Re: Ainge or Stevens? Who deserves more credit for where we are?
« Reply #4 on: May 26, 2022, 02:01:12 PM »

Offline CelticsWhat35

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Ainge; the entire rotation aside from Derrick White are made up of guys he drafted/signed; Stevens gets credit for bringing Al back, but it was his first go-around that got him engrained into the culture.

Re: Ainge or Stevens? Who deserves more credit for where we are?
« Reply #5 on: May 26, 2022, 02:02:38 PM »

Offline kraidstar

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Stevens. 

For realizing it was time to step away from coaching and bringing in the right guy to replace him and for the personnel moves.

Ainge did a lot of the grocery shopping but Stevens was the one who figured out the recipe.

The recipe was Tatum, Brown, and Rob maturing.

Re: Ainge or Stevens? Who deserves more credit for where we are?
« Reply #6 on: May 26, 2022, 02:04:23 PM »

Online Donoghus

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Stevens. 

For realizing it was time to step away from coaching and bringing in the right guy to replace him and for the personnel moves.

Ainge did a lot of the grocery shopping but Stevens was the one who figured out the recipe.

The recipe was Tatum, Brown, and Rob maturing.

You don't think Steven stepping away and bringing in Udoka played a role?

How does this team do with Stevens this season?  Does the season start the same way it unfolded?  Does the team flip the switch?


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Re: Ainge or Stevens? Who deserves more credit for where we are?
« Reply #7 on: May 26, 2022, 02:05:02 PM »

Offline kraidstar

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Give Stevens Orlando or Sacramento's rosters and see how it goes. I wonder if the White trade brings those teams to the ECF.

Give me a break.

Re: Ainge or Stevens? Who deserves more credit for where we are?
« Reply #8 on: May 26, 2022, 02:05:59 PM »

Offline kraidstar

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Stevens. 

For realizing it was time to step away from coaching and bringing in the right guy to replace him and for the personnel moves.

Ainge did a lot of the grocery shopping but Stevens was the one who figured out the recipe.

The recipe was Tatum, Brown, and Rob maturing.

You don't think Steven stepping away and bringing in Udoka played a role?

How does this team do with Stevens this season?  Does the season start the same way it unfolded?  Does the team flip the switch?

I already gave Stevens credit for Udoka. And I'm giving Ainge credit for Stevens, too.

And you can't "flip the switch " if you don't have an elite switch to flip

Re: Ainge or Stevens? Who deserves more credit for where we are?
« Reply #9 on: May 26, 2022, 02:09:49 PM »

Offline nebist

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I voted Ainge, but I think it is more nuanced than that.

In the big picture, Ainge assembled most of this roster (and drafted its high-end talent). He gets credit for selecting Tatum and Brown especially, and we wouldn't be the team we are right now without our two best players of course.

However, if the question is why are we knocking on the door of a Finals appearance this year rather than where we are big-picture? I would answer that narrow view of the question with Stevens. He has made a series of right calls with the roster and how to best deploy/maximize our talent via roster construction ever since he got in the front office. Ainge laid the foundation, but he was struggling to actually finish building the beautiful house his last couple of years.

Overall, I can't believe how well the whole Ainge moving on, Brad stepping up to the front office, hiring a new coach transition of power went last year. We could not have asked for a better outcome with that whole situation.

Re: Ainge or Stevens? Who deserves more credit for where we are?
« Reply #10 on: May 26, 2022, 02:10:32 PM »

Online Roy H.

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It turns out, Danny's biggest mistake may have been not firing Brad. 

Brad is the one who got burnt out.  Brad is the one who lost the team.  I mean, last season was the only year -- probably in his life -- where Marcus Smart wasn't a passionate dirt dog of a player, and that was under Brad.  Brad never moved Kemba to the bench.  Brad underplayed Timelord.

I'm even wondering if Danny brought in Fournier to appease Brad's desire for shooting or to inject life into the listless team that Brad was overseeing.


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Re: Ainge or Stevens? Who deserves more credit for where we are?
« Reply #11 on: May 26, 2022, 02:13:31 PM »

Online Donoghus

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I voted Ainge, but I think it is more nuanced than that.

In the big picture, Ainge assembled most of this roster (and drafted its high-end talent). He gets credit for selecting Tatum and Brown especially, and we wouldn't be the team we are right now without our two best players of course.

However, if the question is why are we knocking on the door of a Finals appearance this year rather than where we are big-picture? I would answer that narrow view of the question with Stevens. He has made a series of right calls with the roster and how to best deploy/maximize our talent via roster construction ever since he got in the front office. Ainge laid the foundation, but he was struggling to actually finish building the beautiful house his last couple of years.

Overall, I can't believe how well the whole Ainge moving on, Brad stepping up to the front office, hiring a new coach transition of power went last year. We could not have asked for a better outcome with that whole situation.

Absolutely. 

It's not a cut & dried answer and certainly not absurd to choose one over the other.

The fact we're even having this conversation is a very, very good thing.  We are fortunate how things have turned out so quickly.


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Re: Ainge or Stevens? Who deserves more credit for where we are?
« Reply #12 on: May 26, 2022, 02:18:59 PM »

Online Celtics2021

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Give Stevens Orlando or Sacramento's rosters and see how it goes. I wonder if the White trade brings those teams to the ECF.

Give me a break.

We saw him make the playoffs in 2014-2015 with a roster that would have resembled something seen in Sacramento or Orlando.  Remember how Evan Turner actually looked like a legit NBA starter for two years, while Brandon Bass and Tyler Zeller formed a starting playoff frontcourt?  That roster was supposed to tank, and Stevens got it to a 7th seed.

Re: Ainge or Stevens? Who deserves more credit for where we are?
« Reply #13 on: May 26, 2022, 02:26:47 PM »

Offline Big333223

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Ainge. 4/5's of the starters and 6/9's of the rotation was drafted by Ainge. I'm also not sure Brad gets all the credit for bringing Horford back. It happened so quick, I wouldn't be surprised if Ainge hadn't been working on that to some degree before he left.

Stevens gets some credit for Al and full credit for Udoka, White, and Theis (who hasn't played much this series but has been pivotal a few times).

I'll say this for Brad, though: So much of what the Celtics are doing now on both defense and offense are things Brad was preaching and teaching for years. Udoka has been terrific and I don't want to take anything away from the job he's done but he did benefit from walking into a team that had been taught the right way to do things for years. Adding Udoka's voice really brought it together but Brad the coach did a nice job of priming this team for this run.
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Re: Ainge or Stevens? Who deserves more credit for where we are?
« Reply #14 on: May 26, 2022, 02:37:41 PM »

Offline Phantom255x

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Ainge.

But Stevens has done a phenomenal job too. I mean, that Kemba-Horford trade is looking like an absolute steal now and has proved massive dividends for us.
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