Should Brad Stevens be fired?

[nyceltsfan]

Erik Spoelstra is lucky to have had the opportunity to face Greg Popovich and ridiculously tough Spurs in the early 2010s. 

That Spurs team threw all kinds of plays/roster combinations.   Spoelstra even with a deep lineup went through hell.

This is a good lesson for Brad Stevens.   Not sure he will graduate this time around.   All I ask for is 1 or 2 wins. So that the team can build off of it moving forward

I like your mental approach to the remainder of the series.  However, this is the third time Brad Stevens has taken this team to the conference finals.  Most experts believe that we have more high end talent than the Heat.  Now is the time to get over the hump.  To win 2 or even 3 games shows no progress over prior versions of this team that lost the in the conference finals with inferior talent.  I do believe there is more room for our players to grow, but I also don't think the timing is ever perfect and the team has to overcome some adversity to get to the top of the mountain.  There are superteams built every year in the NBA.  Giannis could end up on Toronto or Miami in the future.  Philly will not always have Simmons hurt during the postseason and they are going to have a better coach on the bench in the future.  Brooklyn is trying to build a superteam.

The time is now and Stevens needs to "C's the moment."  I believe he is intelligent and learns from his mistakes after he goes back and studies what went wrong.  He needs to do much better learning in the moment and making adjustments on the fly and the time to get better in these areas is NOW.  If he cannot do it, I am not sure if we fire him or find a good bench coach that can help suggest in-game adjustments, but something needs to be done or our top end talent will get older or get frustrated and leave and we will waste our window to compete.

This is the best opportunity we have had to go to the finals since 2012.  I might even argue it is the best chance we have had since 2010.  We should feel happy about the speed at which the rebuild took place, but we cannot keep losing and hoping it comes together next year.  One day that next year will not be plausible.

[Boris Badenov]

i find it frustrating that they seem so stymied by a zone defense

esp given that Brad was a college coach - shouldnt he be able to devise a scheme that would stop a simple zone defense from putting us in such a tailspin?

it doesnt seem to be asking too much

it's leaving e w the feeling that we're being out-coached because I dont see us making similar adjustments that are frustrating the other team??

Anyway, talk to me about Brad getting fired when he is out-coached in a series by a coach who is clearly inferior.

We're just a week removed from Brad defeating the Coach of the Year in a hard fought series.  He's getting worked a bit by one of the best coaches of the last decade, a guy with multiple championships under his belt.  I dunno why people are acting like he's getting shown up by a nobody.

This. It's like everyone has forgotten that Miami also just absolutely shellacked the runaway favorite to win the Eastern conference, which also sports one of the few MVP/DPOY players in league history.

[nyceltsfan]

i find it frustrating that they seem so stymied by a zone defense

esp given that Brad was a college coach - shouldnt he be able to devise a scheme that would stop a simple zone defense from putting us in such a tailspin?

it doesnt seem to be asking too much

it's leaving e w the feeling that we're being out-coached because I dont see us making similar adjustments that are frustrating the other team??

Anyway, talk to me about Brad getting fired when he is out-coached in a series by a coach who is clearly inferior.

We're just a week removed from Brad defeating the Coach of the Year in a hard fought series.  He's getting worked a bit by one of the best coaches of the last decade, a guy with multiple championships under his belt.  I dunno why people are acting like he's getting shown up by a nobody.

This. It's like everyone has forgotten that Miami also just absolutely shellacked the runaway favorite to win the Eastern conference, which also sports one of the few MVP/DPOY players in league history.

I am not blaming him for getting outcoached.  I am blaming him for not making adjustments when something is not working.  His mantra is to win the next possession.  His team simply cannot do that when they get beat by the same play over and over and over again.  That is different than being outcoached.  In any job (and in life) people are taught to learn from mistakes and not repeat them.  He should be held to the same standard.

[Tr1boy]

Erik Spoelstra is lucky to have had the opportunity to face Greg Popovich and ridiculously tough Spurs in the early 2010s. 

That Spurs team threw all kinds of plays/roster combinations.   Spoelstra even with a deep lineup went through hell.

This is a good lesson for Brad Stevens.   Not sure he will graduate this time around.   All I ask for is 1 or 2 wins. So that the team can build off of it moving forward

I like your mental approach to the remainder of the series.  However, this is the third time Brad Stevens has taken this team to the conference finals.  Most experts believe that we have more high end talent than the Heat.  Now is the time to get over the hump.  To win 2 or even 3 games shows no progress over prior versions of this team that lost the in the conference finals with inferior talent.  I do believe there is more room for our players to grow, but I also don't think the timing is ever perfect and the team has to overcome some adversity to get to the top of the mountain.  There are superteams built every year in the NBA.  Giannis could end up on Toronto or Miami in the future.  Philly will not always have Simmons hurt during the postseason and they are going to have a better coach on the bench in the future.  Brooklyn is trying to build a superteam.

The time is now and Stevens needs to "C's the moment."  I believe he is intelligent and learns from his mistakes after he goes back and studies what went wrong.  He needs to do much better learning in the moment and making adjustments on the fly and the time to get better in these areas is NOW.  If he cannot do it, I am not sure if we fire him or find a good bench coach that can help suggest in-game adjustments, but something needs to be done or our top end talent will get older or get frustrated and leave and we will waste our window to compete.

This is the best opportunity we have had to go to the finals since 2012.  I might even argue it is the best chance we have had since 2010.  We should feel happy about the speed at which the rebuild took place, but we cannot keep losing and hoping it comes together next year.  One day that next year will not be plausible.

In the playoffs Erik Spoelstra with a 2-0 lead has never lost a series  (10 times)

[Rondo9]

Edit

[Rondo9]

i find it frustrating that they seem so stymied by a zone defense

esp given that Brad was a college coach - shouldnt he be able to devise a scheme that would stop a simple zone defense from putting us in such a tailspin?

it doesnt seem to be asking too much

it's leaving e w the feeling that we're being out-coached because I dont see us making similar adjustments that are frustrating the other team??

Anyway, talk to me about Brad getting fired when he is out-coached in a series by a coach who is clearly inferior.

We're just a week removed from Brad defeating the Coach of the Year in a hard fought series.  He's getting worked a bit by one of the best coaches of the last decade, a guy with multiple championships under his belt.  I dunno why people are acting like he's getting shown up by a nobody.

This. It's like everyone has forgotten that Miami also just absolutely shellacked the runaway favorite to win the Eastern conference, which also sports one of the few MVP/DPOY players in league history.

I am not blaming him for getting outcoached.  I am blaming him for not making adjustments when something is not working.  His mantra is to win the next possession.  His team simply cannot do that when they get beat by the same play over and over and over again.  That is different than being outcoached.  In any job (and in life) people are taught to learn from mistakes and not repeat them.  He should be held to the same standard.

You would think he would take lessons from Raptors series when they used multiple zones play by play, but the fact that he can't find any answers to a basic defense that is often employed in High School is really telling.

[SparzWizard]

Erik Spoelstra is lucky to have had the opportunity to face Greg Popovich and ridiculously tough Spurs in the early 2010s. 

That Spurs team threw all kinds of plays/roster combinations.   Spoelstra even with a deep lineup went through hell.

This is a good lesson for Brad Stevens.   Not sure he will graduate this time around.   All I ask for is 1 or 2 wins. So that the team can build off of it moving forward

I like your mental approach to the remainder of the series.  However, this is the third time Brad Stevens has taken this team to the conference finals.  Most experts believe that we have more high end talent than the Heat.  Now is the time to get over the hump.  To win 2 or even 3 games shows no progress over prior versions of this team that lost the in the conference finals with inferior talent.  I do believe there is more room for our players to grow, but I also don't think the timing is ever perfect and the team has to overcome some adversity to get to the top of the mountain.  There are superteams built every year in the NBA.  Giannis could end up on Toronto or Miami in the future.  Philly will not always have Simmons hurt during the postseason and they are going to have a better coach on the bench in the future.  Brooklyn is trying to build a superteam.

The time is now and Stevens needs to "C's the moment."  I believe he is intelligent and learns from his mistakes after he goes back and studies what went wrong.  He needs to do much better learning in the moment and making adjustments on the fly and the time to get better in these areas is NOW.  If he cannot do it, I am not sure if we fire him or find a good bench coach that can help suggest in-game adjustments, but something needs to be done or our top end talent will get older or get frustrated and leave and we will waste our window to compete.

This is the best opportunity we have had to go to the finals since 2012.  I might even argue it is the best chance we have had since 2010.  We should feel happy about the speed at which the rebuild took place, but we cannot keep losing and hoping it comes together next year.  One day that next year will not be plausible.

Yeah, next year Brooklyn will have both KD35 and Irving back. They're most likely the team to beat in the East. Things wont get any easier next year. Hope we can get a bench but I doubt it.

[tenn_smoothie]

No better alternatives on the market right now, we'd better hold tight and hope he makes the right adjustments.

I don't buy that excuse. He has a bench. He doesn't play the right guys on it. His starters are superior on a talent level.

Agreed. The bench is young, even younger with Hayward hurt, but my God, Stevens just stands over there stoically and doesn't react to anything. Rob Williams has made an impact almost every game he has played some minutes and we are getting killed inside. Change it up, sub in RW, make some strategic defensive adjustments like Spolestra did at halftime. We get beat in every 3d quarter because Stevens can't analyze what is happening and make adjustments. And for once, Brad, stand up for your players.

[tenn_smoothie]

Sorry guys, but for me personally, it's just ridiculous to turn on a top-5 (definitely, even better by my evaluation) coach in the league instantly, after a couple of hard-nosed defeats against such a good team Heat are. Not even speaking about candidates you can replace him with, I think a lot of people need to chill down and look at the bigger picture: Celtics did beat the Raptors without Hayward, now battling another tough opponent in a very-very close games. Stevens is not a problem, it's just a process of growth for a young team we have.
P.S. This series is not lost, guys, by any means. And I assess reports of item-throwing in the locker-room as a good sign of guys really wanting to be better. Rockets or LAK fans would've loved these kind of news recently.

Blowing double-digit leads in two consecutive playoff games in a series that would get us back to the finals are not "hard-nosed defeats" - they are unacceptable defeats to an inferior team. I do agree that I like the reports about an angry locker room.

[blink]

Erik Spoelstra is lucky to have had the opportunity to face Greg Popovich and ridiculously tough Spurs in the early 2010s. 

That Spurs team threw all kinds of plays/roster combinations.   Spoelstra even with a deep lineup went through hell.

This is a good lesson for Brad Stevens.   Not sure he will graduate this time around.   All I ask for is 1 or 2 wins. So that the team can build off of it moving forward

I like your mental approach to the remainder of the series.  However, this is the third time Brad Stevens has taken this team to the conference finals.  Most experts believe that we have more high end talent than the Heat.  Now is the time to get over the hump.  To win 2 or even 3 games shows no progress over prior versions of this team that lost the in the conference finals with inferior talent.  I do believe there is more room for our players to grow, but I also don't think the timing is ever perfect and the team has to overcome some adversity to get to the top of the mountain.  There are superteams built every year in the NBA.  Giannis could end up on Toronto or Miami in the future.  Philly will not always have Simmons hurt during the postseason and they are going to have a better coach on the bench in the future.  Brooklyn is trying to build a superteam.

The time is now and Stevens needs to "C's the moment."  I believe he is intelligent and learns from his mistakes after he goes back and studies what went wrong.  He needs to do much better learning in the moment and making adjustments on the fly and the time to get better in these areas is NOW.  If he cannot do it, I am not sure if we fire him or find a good bench coach that can help suggest in-game adjustments, but something needs to be done or our top end talent will get older or get frustrated and leave and we will waste our window to compete.

This is the best opportunity we have had to go to the finals since 2012.  I might even argue it is the best chance we have had since 2010.  We should feel happy about the speed at which the rebuild took place, but we cannot keep losing and hoping it comes together next year.  One day that next year will not be plausible.

In the playoffs Erik Spoelstra with a 2-0 lead has never lost a series  (10 times)

well what better time than now for that to end. 

[tenn_smoothie]

Brad wasn’t the one turning the ball over and getting beat for offensive rebounds.  Execution is on the players.

True, but don't you find it just very frustrating that we always do that in the third quarter? At some point that has to go on him. I've defended him for so long, and blamed the players for not executing, but we gotta draw the line here, right?

He’s coaching without a bench.  I tend to cut him a lot of slack when Wanamaker is his best bench player.

He has a team missing a key starter in the Conference Finals.  That’s despite Kemba’s struggles, and Theis’ level of play dropping off.

I don't know if I can go there, Roy. It seems that the lack of bench play is not noticed during the first halves. I would agree if we are deficient all game long, but in the first half we don't seem to feel the lack of bench play and Gordon Hayward with this team.

So this is has to be an effort and mentality problem in the second half. It seems that when the other team goes on a run, we just capitulate.
\

bench points even tonight 16 miami - 16 boston
don't think it was the horrible bench that lost the game for us tonight.  Kanter and Wannamaker had some key plays.
They did enough.

edit - I guess it should be noted that Miami's bench played more minutes.  So I guess you could argue that Miami's starters were more rested for the stretch run in the 4th?  i dunno that is even stretching it.

It's the lack of strategic adjustments during halftime that killed us in the 3d quarter. That's on Stevens.

[Briantir]

What a stupid discussion...

Before wr even discuss this who would replace him? There really aren't many great NBA coaches and Brad isn't an idiot, his schemes and plans are good for the most part I think getting his message across to the team has to be addressed he doesn't seem like the type of guy who pumps his team up.

Great head office and coaching staff is like so rare in the NBA besides Boston with Danny and Brad I'd say the Clippers with Jerry west although doc I believe absolutely deserves to be fired, Masai ujirir and Nick nurse Masai is probably the best executive in the NBA ATM just because everything that's happening in Denver right now Masai planted those seeds...

Miami with Erik and Pat Riley are also excellent Golden state is excellent as well with Steve Kerr and Bob Myers the rest of the NBA doesn't look that great tbh in terms of head office.

[Spicoli]

I am so glad that other people are starting to see what I've been seeing for a few years now. Brad Stevens must go. This team will never win a title with him as the coach. He has no killer instinct/clutchness as a coach. He can never stop the bleeding. Losing every 3rd quarter is on the coach. No adjustments. He is like a robot. So stoic. No creativity. Does not inspire. No leadership. No fire. No passion. Stevens must go and not just as a result of this series.

[coco]

No!

He is easily a top 5 coach....if not a top 3.

[Roy H.]

Brad wasn’t the one turning the ball over and getting beat for offensive rebounds.  Execution is on the players.

True, but don't you find it just very frustrating that we always do that in the third quarter? At some point that has to go on him. I've defended him for so long, and blamed the players for not executing, but we gotta draw the line here, right?

He’s coaching without a bench.  I tend to cut him a lot of slack when Wanamaker is his best bench player.

He has a team missing a key starter in the Conference Finals.  That’s despite Kemba’s struggles, and Theis’ level of play dropping off.

I don't know if I can go there, Roy. It seems that the lack of bench play is not noticed during the first halves. I would agree if we are deficient all game long, but in the first half we don't seem to feel the lack of bench play and Gordon Hayward with this team.

So this is has to be an effort and mentality problem in the second half. It seems that when the other team goes on a run, we just capitulate.
\

bench points even tonight 16 miami - 16 boston
don't think it was the horrible bench that lost the game for us tonight.  Kanter and Wannamaker had some key plays.
They did enough.

edit - I guess it should be noted that Miami's bench played more minutes.  So I guess you could argue that Miami's starters were more rested for the stretch run in the 4th?  i dunno that is even stretching it.

It's the lack of strategic adjustments during halftime that killed us in the 3d quarter. That's on Stevens.

At halftime, just about everything was working.  Is that the time to change things?

It was the third quarter when the team played extremely sloppy basketball.  We had something like seven or eight turnovers in the quarter.  That's on the players.  The only real criticism I have is not giving Robert Williams a chance, but I think Brad wants to be able to space the floor a bit, thus using Grant Williams.  He tried Kanter in the second half, and that was a disaster after working well in the first.