So after Stevens got so much blame for the first half does he get some love for the comeback win?
Nope. This was all on Kyrie (and to a lesser amount Brown and Mook), as he put the team on his back and willed us to victory. Brad didn't really have much to do with it, other than not messing it up, which is a pretty low bar.
I will give him credit for sticking with our guys so long on the first night of a back to back. Probably figured this was a better chance of a win than tomorrow night without Kyrie, but props regardless.
Phoenix's coach takes the cake for dumb coach moves tonight after that last 5:07. Not fouling in the last regulation play was an enormously idiotic move, but it is rivaled by him not even calling a single timeout in OT to slow our major run down and set something up for his guys when they came up empty a few trips in a row.
So when the players are missing 6-8 open layups and about 10 wide, wide open three point shots, it's Stevens fault. But when the players start making those shots, it's all on the players. Got it!
Sure. It's his job to keep his guys motivated and confident; that's a huge part of coaching a team and managing players. The first half was a major example of him failing in this regard, as these guys were clearly unprepared, overthinking things, and missing those shots, let alone all of their defensive miscues. Brad is not the only one to blame, but he's a major part.
Further, Brad didn't do jack crap to get the guys playing better in the 4th. That was pretty much all Kyrie who simply took charge, getting Brown and Morris to help him out.
In fact, the only thing you can really give Brad props for was for sitting on his hands and not taking the main guys out early, as that allowed Kyrie to get hot and drag the team to victory. I'll also give him credit for drawing up the basic framework for the ATO play (which I think he's easily the best at in the league), though I don't think the actual intended target was Morris.
It's just astonishing to me the number of Celtics fans who simply give Brad a pass for his clear deficiencies. He's a great coach with a lot of great qualities, and I would be fine with him here for the rest of his career. But it's simply inarguable that he struggles with in-game decision-making, be it on-the-fly substitutions, calling timeouts, making adjustments to his game plan, etc., which is a major component of being a good NBA coach.
Hopefully he better develops his robust analytical skills to be more dynamic and flexible in his in-game decision-making, but for now it's a clear weakness of his that regularly hurts us in games.
Hogwash. I bet there isn’t a fanbase out there that wouldn’t take Brad for the next ten years over whoever they currently have.
I really don’t get how you can blame a coach for a team missing wide open threes when they are proven shooters. If the open man is always Smart or Baynes, fine. But when Hayward, Tatum, Brown, Horford are all bricking wide-open threes, it’s on them. The system is working, and no reason to change it.
I guess some need him to break a clipboard, get T’d up or scream at each and every one of them when the camera is in the huddle to not be considered doing jack crap.
It’s preposterous to not blame the players for missing good looks, and then say he “sat on his hands” by leaving his players in.
How many stretches do you actually get bothered by the shot selection? Not many. The defense has been top-notch, but that’s despite him, I’m sure.
Please tell me which coach makes such substantial in-game adjustments.
Truth is, his track record suggests he gets the most out of his players. Turner, Isaiah, Bradley, Crowder, etc. have all had their best years under him. Olynyk is the only player of note who has sustained his production elsewhere.