Hot Seat for Stevens

[Monkhouse]

Why didn't Semi guard Giannis? I thought the whole initial point behind Semi being ready by doing immense workouts was to use him as a secret weapon to slow and make Giannis wear out.

Why didn't we use Baynes more? Bucks were going big with Lopez and Mirotic, and we had Morris, and 3 guards at one point... They were rebounding all over us, and made us look extremely small and scared.

Our defense was sloppy, we rarely passed the ball, and we ended up shooting nothing but 3's...Ugh, Stevens also idly watches as we shoot ourselves out of the game, but doesn't call TO's..

[PhoSita]

Stevens definitely takes a hit for this season, and his status as one of the "top coaches in the league" should be questioned.

With that said, one disappointing season in which a lot goes wrong, at least some of which cannot be blamed on the coach, should not outweigh multiple seasons of getting the team to exceed expectations and play hard every night.

If next year is nearly as much of a crap show as this year, then perhaps the time will have come to consider if maybe everybody should move on and get a new start.

[boscel33]

to hire who?   tyrlnne lue?   ****.  stevens is a great coach given a horrible locker room.   im fine if they fire him, but fire danny too.  thiw season is on him.

thank you!

people want to fire cbs, but who are you replacing him with?  the other re-tread nba coaches are not employed for a reason.  i've been saying for a while, this team isn't as good with kyrie running it.  i'm sticking by that.  he can go to ny with kd, i resign tr and since garland is moving up the boards, try and get jerome.

[celticinorlando]

Kyrie is iso basketball 101. Stevens is team basketball 101. they do not fit.

[RPGenerate]

People are so quick to throw a coach under the guillotine, yet they'll give players 3 or 4 years to "develop and learn". You don't give on a player who has one disappointing season, so neither should you for a coach.

If the Lakers had kept coach Westhead instead of promoting Riley, the 80's may have not been as great for the Lakers.

Sometimes you need a coach to get the team to the hump but then a new one to get them over it.

This team has way too much talent to have faltered like this. That's on the coach.

It's great we had a nice run last year, but we still lost a game 7 to a team they should've beat.

Brad was unable to get this team playing up to its potential the entire year. He had a whole season to figure things out and was unable to do so. What is he going to learn in 5 months that he couldn't since last Oct?

How many more frustrating games are we going to watch where they shoot themselves out of it before we all agree that Brad doesn't have control of his players?

Maybe he would do better in a new situation. I firmly believe the only way this team wins a title is to have so much talent it overcomes his deficiencies.

Than who's our Riley? Exactly. Until someone gives me a good alternative to Brad, it's all hot air.

[Donoghus]

I don't think you move on from a coach who's over performed his talent for three straight years after one bad year with the weirdness of Kyrie, a recovering Hayward, and the young guys struggling to fit to roles.

After this off season things simplify for everyone. Either Kyrie returns and we trade for Davis (in all odds) or Kyrie walks and we commit to building around Tatum/Brown.

This.  And I have to imagine Ainge won't be as reactionary to one season either. 

We'll have to see what direction this team goes and adjust accordingly.  If Kyrie walks/AD trade doesn't happen, expectations have to be adjusted accordingly.  If those two are on the roster next year and they under perform, then CBS will really be on the hot seat.

Unless there was some really crazy behind the scene stuff going on that we don't know about, Stevens isn't getting canned whenever this ends.

[angryguy77]

People are so quick to throw a coach under the guillotine, yet they'll give players 3 or 4 years to "develop and learn". You don't give on a player who has one disappointing season, so neither should you for a coach.

If the Lakers had kept coach Westhead instead of promoting Riley, the 80's may have not been as great for the Lakers.

Sometimes you need a coach to get the team to the hump but then a new one to get them over it.

This team has way too much talent to have faltered like this. That's on the coach.

It's great we had a nice run last year, but we still lost a game 7 to a team they should've beat.

Brad was unable to get this team playing up to its potential the entire year. He had a whole season to figure things out and was unable to do so. What is he going to learn in 5 months that he couldn't since last Oct?

How many more frustrating games are we going to watch where they shoot themselves out of it before we all agree that Brad doesn't have control of his players?

Maybe he would do better in a new situation. I firmly believe the only way this team wins a title is to have so much talent it overcomes his deficiencies.

Than who's our Riley? Exactly. Until someone gives me a good alternative to Brad, it's all hot air.

LA didn't know they had  a "Riley" until they fired the coach.

You're essentially asking us to do Danny's job. That's a lazy way to argue.

If my house is burning down, do I need to know exactly the best way to save it myself, or recognize there's a problem and leave it to the professionals to do their job? The house is burning and you're telling me not to acknowledge there's a problem unless I have a firetruck parked out back. Nonsense.

[zeitgeist49]

The following is a quintessential example of Stevens not holding his players accountable for screwing up. Smart has missed the playoffs. His timing, stamina, rhythm and confidence are expected to be adversely affected.  So what does Smart do ? He starts chucking up 3's, thinking he's Reggie Miller. All of Smart's 7 shots were threes ! He made one. Are you kidding me ? And of course, Stevens doesn't say a word.  Most Celtics fans are enamored with Stevens calm, unflappable demeanor. Unfortunately, that doesn't always translate into being a difference making coach. I truly believe the Celts have enough talent to go far in this year's playoffs. The problem is Stevens' inept strategies and lack of accountability. I would love to see how far Pop could take this team.

[footey]

to hire who?   tyrlnne lue?   ****.  stevens is a great coach given a horrible locker room.   im fine if they fire him, but fire danny too.  thiw season is on him.

Wyc is pretty something for trusting in Danny Ainge as a GM for the Celtics when they haven't won anything since 2008.

Since 2005, Boston is one of only 7 teams to win NBA championship.  Most of the other 23 have not even made it to the finals during that stretch.

It is hard to win it all, and teams that do tend to win several, making it even harder for the others.

[BitterJim]

Why didn't Semi guard Giannis? I thought the whole initial point behind Semi being ready by doing immense workouts was to use him as a secret weapon to slow and make Giannis wear out.

Why didn't we use Baynes more? Bucks were going big with Lopez and Mirotic, and we had Morris, and 3 guards at one point... They were rebounding all over us, and made us look extremely small and scared.

Our defense was sloppy, we rarely passed the ball, and we ended up shooting nothing but 3's...Ugh, Stevens also idly watches as we shoot ourselves out of the game, but doesn't call TO's..

I'm pretty sure that the reason Semi does all those workouts is because of his work ethic/who he is, not because he might be called on to defend Giannis.

There's a reason he came into the league as ripped as he did

[RPGenerate]

People are so quick to throw a coach under the guillotine, yet they'll give players 3 or 4 years to "develop and learn". You don't give on a player who has one disappointing season, so neither should you for a coach.

If the Lakers had kept coach Westhead instead of promoting Riley, the 80's may have not been as great for the Lakers.

Sometimes you need a coach to get the team to the hump but then a new one to get them over it.

This team has way too much talent to have faltered like this. That's on the coach.

It's great we had a nice run last year, but we still lost a game 7 to a team they should've beat.

Brad was unable to get this team playing up to its potential the entire year. He had a whole season to figure things out and was unable to do so. What is he going to learn in 5 months that he couldn't since last Oct?

How many more frustrating games are we going to watch where they shoot themselves out of it before we all agree that Brad doesn't have control of his players?

Maybe he would do better in a new situation. I firmly believe the only way this team wins a title is to have so much talent it overcomes his deficiencies.

Than who's our Riley? Exactly. Until someone gives me a good alternative to Brad, it's all hot air.

LA didn't know they had  a "Riley" until they fired the coach.

You're essentially asking us to do Danny's job. That's a lazy way to argue.

If my house is burning down, do I need to know exactly the best way to save it myself, or recognize there's a problem and leave it to the professionals to do their job? The house is burning and you're telling me not to acknowledge there's a problem unless I have a firetruck parked out back. Nonsense.

So you have no suggestions? Good to know. The only nonsense is your ridiculous comparison. This "grass is always greener" attitude is what is pure nonsense. Can't wait to seduce Mike **** Brown and Stan Van Gundy to coach our team to success, because those are the guys out there right now

[tonydelk]

Anyone who wants or things Stevens should be fired is nuts.

C's are losing because Kyrie has stunk and the bench has under performed.  The D has been soft and hayward has not been good.  None of that is Stevens fault. 

[Donoghus]

Anyone who wants or things Stevens should be fired is nuts.

C's are losing because Kyrie has stunk and the bench has under performed.  The D has been soft and hayward has not been good.  None of that is Stevens fault.

On top of that, they're losing to a 60 win #1 seed who has HCA.  Say what you want about the underwhelming regular season performance, its not like they're losing to a 6 or 7 seed.

I think its a combo of underperforming at the worse time, choppy chemistry at best, and probably a coaching staff a too little stuck in their own ways.  But make no mistake, this Bucks team is a very good basketball team.

[RJ87]

Kyrie is iso basketball 101. Stevens is team basketball 101. they do not fit.

That's an oversimplification.

As I said earlier in the thread, we don't really have an offense. It's all read & react/free flow. There's no off ball movement/cutting to get us easier buckets since we don't have a consistent interior scoring option. There's no hierarchy. Multiple players (Brown/Hayward/Rozier) have struggled with their roles at points this season, meaning their roles are not clearly defined. At some point, the coach has to say "this free for all thing isn't working with this group, let's adjust". But Brad hasn't done it. Is it disappointing? Yup. Am I ready to get rid of him? Not yet.

The whole "Kyrie iso thing" isn't true. He plays a ton off the ball when there's another capable ballhandler next to him like Smart. I think on the court, he's made more of an effort to adapt his game than people are willing to give him credit for. He's certainly a better passer than I ever thought he was while in Cleveland. It's off the court where I think he needs to reign things in, let more of his play do the talking and keeping his frustrations in the locker room. Is is frustrating he isn't maturing quicker? Yup. Am I ready to get rid of him? Not yet.

We all want a player to come in and fit seamlessly with a coach, but that's not always the case. Sometimes it takes work. Crazy thing is, I think Kyrie and Brad can figure it out.

[KGs Knee]

I don't think you move on from a coach who's over performed his talent for three straight years after one bad year with the weirdness of Kyrie, a recovering Hayward, and the young guys struggling to fit to roles.

After this off season things simplify for everyone. Either Kyrie returns and we trade for Davis (in all odds) or Kyrie walks and we commit to building around Tatum/Brown.

pretty much this.

Stevens did well prior to this year.  I don't think a lot of people would say he didn't have an off year this year but he's hardly on a hot seat for this one year.   I'm sure they'll be another roster shake-up this offseason whether it be the AD trade or the loss of Rozier and possibly Morris and adding drafted players.   Let's see how he does with the roster going into next season before kicking him to the curb

The reality is, Boston isn't firing him, so as much as I may prefer to see a new coach I need to accept it isn't going to happen any time soon.

Hopefully, he either grows as a coach or Wyc can live with eating Brad's contract.