Is Brad Stevens the problem?

[NKY fan]

Ainge is the problem

After 2 games your again without veteran bench leadership despite Walker being out

Ainge is afraid to make a deal it’s proven

He’s definitely to blame for the shallow bench against Miami ... right now it’s early to tell what job he’s done collecting talent for this season... but it looks like ECF is the ceiling of this team and it looks like ECSF if we can’t avoid a healthy Brooklyn team before ECF

[Darth_Yoda]

Brad has to take some blame.

Refusing to bend his system under any circumstance is just bad coaching

In what way has Brad refused to bend his system? I sincerely don't understand what you mean.

Doesnt like to bump up players in rottion.
Doesnt like to change up offense when not working
Doesnt like to change up defense when not working. Etc.

[Rondo9]

So now people are going to panic?

[Bobshot]

First off, lets get it out of the way.  I think BS is a hell of a coach.  One of the best.........for college!  Not sure about NBA, and not sure especially for the Celtics.  He's highly praised by other top NBA coaches, and players, but it's his coaching "style and preferences" that concern me.
In college, his teams were "underdogs".  Good solid teams, but not teams anyone expected to win national championships.  And thats the problem, to me.  I truly believe he LIKES it that way!  He WANTS it that way!  Don't give him superstars.  Don't give him five star recruits.  He wants blue collar, clean cut, hard working, high character guys.  And that's great in college, and to an extent in the NBA.  Not "ideal" in the NBA, though.  Two thirds of our roster is filled with guys he likes, and wants to be a part of his team.  He doesn't make personnel decisions, but has got "alot" of input.  Given the choice of say a Kyrie and Durant type, or Smart and Theis type, I really believe he'd take Smart and Theis.....and THAT'S A PROBLEM!  It's the way he wants to coach, and because of that I don't think we'll ever win a championship with him at the helm.  Just my 2 cents.

I agree with a lot of this. Stevens is a good x and o's coach, but he never coached bigs in college (said he couldn't recruit any good ones), and so he tailored his game to smaller players. Smallball doesn't win championships in the NBA. You need size and defense in the paint. Rim protection. The best teams have that. SA had Duncan. The Lakers have had a bunch of them--Davis now.  The Celtics had Russell, then Cowens, then Parrish. 

Ainge knows all this, having played for one of those teams. He tries every year to get bigs for rebounding, but so far none have struck the coach's fancy. Theis is hardly the answer playing out of position at center. He was badly overmatched against  the Nets' Jordan and Allen today. Thompson better but only 21 min. Not enough to make an impact.

The other thing I don't like is all the wild 3P shooting by players who shouldn't be shooting the 3. That tells me players don't have specific roles, which has always been a Celtics' staple.  The late KC Jones (RIP) was a defensive/assists specialist.  He wouldn't be caught dead taking a shot--that was reserved for Sam Jones, the 2 guard, and others. The current Celtics, you have these no names come off the bench, and the first thing they do is bombs away with the 3. Passing for the best shot seems to be passe.

You have to admire the play of Brown and Tatum. And Smart's doggedness. But I don't see much else on this team.

[GreenWarrior]

So now people are going to panic?

It's not panic when there's a pattern.

[RockinRyA]

People saying Brad doesnt like playing bigs forgot he used to start Baynes and Horford together. Its the personnel guys. Grow up

[DefenseWinsChamps]

No

[Csfan1984]

BS is a problem and so is DA. There seems to be a disconnect from team chemistry to a steady play. BS mixing line ups far too much and DA not draft players that interchangeable. You can't run a system with guys that don't fit and you can forget perfecting any system when guys don't have set defined roles in that system. Half the time guys look lost including Tatum and Brown. When BS gave in to put shooters out there with Brown and Tatum both guys put blinders on instead of creating. Honestly the only thing that saves this team is they are decent on defense with Brown, Tatum and Smart. The offense is so bad it leads to the other team going on big runs by default.

I was wondering if Tatum or Brown could take the next step, right now it doesn't look it. I should have also asked if BS and DA can get the team roster right to support them.

[colincb]

Lost the locker room? C'mon. I'm with the 3 out of 4 ECF side of this argument.

We're 1-1 against the two teams everyone thinks are ahead of us in the East, we were in it for 3 quarters today against a team that shot 52% from 3, and significant reinforcements will be coming before the second half of the season. I'm a lot more optimistic, but as Doc said, you don't know what you have until you're 20 games in, but the first 20 games look a lot less daunting than they did on Tuesday.
 

[Ogaju]

BS is a problem and so is DA. There seems to be a disconnect from team chemistry to a steady play. BS mixing line ups far too much and DA not draft players that interchangeable. You can't run a system with guys that don't fit and you can forget perfecting any system when guys don't have set defined roles in that system. Half the time guys look lost including Tatum and Brown. When BS gave in to put shooters out there with Brown and Tatum both guys put blinders on instead of creating. Honestly the only thing that saves this team is they are decent on defense with Brown, Tatum and Smart. The offense is so bad it leads to the other team going on big runs by default.

I was wondering if Tatum or Brown could take the next step, right now it doesn't look it. I should have also asked if BS and DA can get the team roster right to support them.

I dont know why but looks like someone has to tell these guys making millions of dollars that the way they get open is not by going 1 on 3 or 1 on 4. The way you get open is to have the other team respect your teammates. And the way you do that is to get them open shots. The team has to commit to this to get those players confidence in their shots. That is how you build your team. If you have your stars going 1 on 5 you are not going anywhere.

[mr. dee]

We can only use the ECF argument for so long. Brad has been coaching this team for almost a decade now. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt for the first 4 years but he and Danny needs to be held accountable for shortcomings now that they are contenders.

Let's not be satisfied with Conference Finals participation trophies. Van Gundy was fired by Riley when even though he made the ECF in 2005 with him coaching the team. Vogel also made the ECF multiple times. He can be better than those guys.

Brad is not the only problem here, don't get me wrong. We need to straighten up the players with their bad habits too.

[cltc5]

We can only use the ECF argument for so long. Brad has been coaching this team for almost a decade now. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt for the first 4 years but he and Danny needs to be held accountable for shortcomings now that they are contenders.

Let's not be satisfied with Conference Finals participation trophies. Van Gundy was fired by Riley when even though he made the ECF in 2005 with him coaching the team. Vogel also made the ECF multiple times. He can be better than those guys.

Brad is not the only problem here, don't get me wrong. We need to straighten up the players with their bad habits too.

Brad and danny need to go.  Neither have an eye for talent

[cltc5]

Active NBA coaches with at least 500 games coached with a better won/loss record than Brad Stevens:

There are two. 2.

Gregg Popovich
Erik Spoelstra

That’s it.

Without the benefit of 2-3 superstars on the roster every year.

The problem isn’t Brad Stevens. The problem is some fans with unreasonable/unrealistic expectations.

He had that and we did nothing

[LilRip]

CBS is not the problem. He’s an elite coach.

Putting it another way, is Tatum the problem because there are better players than him? No. Tatum is elite and there aren’t gonna be many guys better than him when this season comes to a close. You don’t get rid of that talent and hope for a better one. That’s Knicks talk

[Tr1boy]

CBS is not the problem. He’s an elite coach.

Putting it another way, is Tatum the problem because there are better players than him? No. Tatum is elite and there aren’t gonna be many guys better than him when this season comes to a close. You don’t get rid of that talent and hope for a better one. That’s Knicks talk

Tatum still has ways to go

I disagree that Brad is elite.   Dribble, set a pick. Pass it to Tatum. Stand around.   

No cutting, no passing it to the open man..... just Iso ball or 1 vs 3 (like Brown tonight)