It's like clockwork:
The Celtics have a bad game.
My family text thread (mostly about sports) heats up.
"BRAD SUCKS! FIRE BRAD!"
Is there any particular reasoning or analysis behind this complaint? Not usually.
Apart from complaints about shot selection ("TOO MANY THREES!" is always my dad's complaint no matter the context), the other common one is about Brad waiting too long to call timeouts. The Celts are constantly blowing big leads, apparently, and the perceived culprit is that Brad fails to call a timeout until the lead has already all but disappeared.
I suspect that a large part of the complaint, really, is that Brad rarely shows emotion even when things are going badly. If Brad were stamping his feet, gesticulating, and yelling when the refs make bad calls or the team screws up defensive rotations, I have a feeling he might be less of an obvious scapegoat in these conversations. Personally, I like that Brad is even-keeled, because I don't think that sideline outbursts make a difference, and I think that having a coach with a "don't get too high or too low" mantra is a positive, especially for a young team. But I know that doesn't jive with some people who have a more traditional concept of what a coach should look and act like.
I'm not sure what objective evidence there is of the Celts being more prone than other teams to blowing leads. My feeling is that the modern game's emphasis on threes means that leads will be larger and will also be lost more often.
The thing about Brad waiting to call timeouts does accord somewhat with my perception of watching the team, though. He does seem to tend to err on the side of letting the team "play through it." Sometimes that bothers me, although my feeling is that during the regular season it probably makes sense to let the players figure out how to deal with adversity. In the playoffs, calling timeouts at crucial junctures seems more vital.
Now, I know Brad knows way more about basketball than me or anybody I know on a personal level. So I'm certain that anything he does, including all the stuff that makes my friends and family complain, is well thought out.
What I'm wondering is whether Brad has ever been asked about his philosophy re: timeouts during a post-game or an interview, and if he's given an answer on that. If for no other reason so that I can respond to the refrain with an actual explanation, it'd be nice to know.