Indefensible Decisions By Brad Stevens

[tenn_smoothie]

Couldn't agree more that Stevens has done a horrible job and a disservice to the franchise and its fans to have a team so close to winning a title and not acquiring the extra key pieces to get us over the hump. Red was a genius at seeing what a very good team needed to add to win titles and going out and getting them, drafting John Havlicek, acquiring Don Nelson, Paul Silas, McHale and Parish, Dennis Johnson, Bill Walton. It's very much an open question how willing ownership is to paying what it takes to add those key players. If they are not, they have no business being with the Boston Celtics. This franchise deserves much better.

Brad still seems obsessed with the small-ball strategy. I don't know if he really believes it is the best way to win or if he is just in love with the idea of being Golden State's successor. You have to have very unique talent to win big that way. Stop trying to force a system that does not fit our team. Go out and get players that compliment our strengths and that fill specific needs.

Brad probably needs to be putting together a trade package for a starting-level center who can defend, rebound and give us some inside scoring, which would greatly help this jump-shooting-happy team.

As for Mazzula, I don't know what to think. This idea of not calling timeouts to stop momentum and leaving it to the players to figure it out on the run has been a disaster. Obviously, we are not at practice. Is he going to be able to stand up to these guys and confront them with their bad habits and dumb basketball that leads to so many turnovers that lose games and that lost the finals last year ? How about hiring an assistant who is an offensive specialist to get this team moving in the half court and get us out of our stagnant sets that do not provide enough options for a team that could be so much better on that end.

Indefensible and inexplicable personnel decisions ? Absolutely.

[Rikibellevie]

I understand the critics and agree on some part of it, but I try to defend this indéfendable decisions:
_ many said it is the regular season and there is time to fix the roster and see if Mazulla can be the men.
_ insiders say Brad is active to build potential trade to fix it like he did last season
_ yes Kornet and Vonleh are not sub matériels and wity Rob out and Al old, this big rotation isn't sustunable. Griffin may be too much of a liability defensively. Many trusting and looking pré season were OK with that
_ other than Griffin the FA market was about headake centers. We know Brad give great importance to team chemistry and mentor vets. Favors wasn’t able until 2 weeks ago.
_ I agree the coaching staff is thin. Hardy living at this timing is a mess and Mazulla may not be NBA coach material. But I guess Brad didn't wanted a big restructuration in this post final year But go with some continuity. Maybe also to give à sign that Ime is still not fired.
_ it is pretty clear that Brad couldn’t use TPE and that our boss is counting his profits.

So yes some critics are real, but the offseason was catastrophic after august. Last year we had much instability and CBS took Smart décision. In Brad I trust. I hope he fonds quickly à big like Favors to stop the Kornet or Vonleh experiment. Griffin on some matchup only.
And we just lost 2 matches against good team who have everything to prove (OK without their guard). We are not in Brooklyn or LA case.

[GreenlyGreeny]

I’m not yet saying Brad needs to return to the bench by the time Timelord is back, but I’m afraid of where we may be headed…bro, what the F happened to the D? Yeah, we’re down Timelord but have Brogdon. The guys are not following the D plan anymore—not sticking to moving the ball until you get the best available shot, and not playing D properly. We’re a .500 team when that happens. This is Fall 2021 all over again.

[GreenlyGreeny]

The sky is falling, we lost 2 games in a row.

This is sort of a meaningless post, no?

Contribute something.  Can you defend the decision not to have a competent backup big on the roster, or add to the coaching staff?

In defense of Stevens, during the Bucks series we did not have a healthy Timelord and we still played killer D. And we thought perhaps Griffin had something left. There’s not a lot of Bigs out there to be had via TPE/trade. I do think we should have used that big TPE on a big but that’s 20/20 hindsight. I think a lot of this may be coaching/players not playing seriously, just like the nonsense they pulled in the NBA Finals and Fall 2021. That said, we’re still 3-2. It’s early.

[GreenlyGreeny]

White-Brogdon-Brown-Tatum-Smart (/Horford/Grant)

That would be wild.

[MarcusSmartFanClub]

The sky is falling, we lost 2 games in a row.

This is sort of a meaningless post, no?

Contribute something.  Can you defend the decision not to have a competent backup big on the roster, or add to the coaching staff?

The meaning I derived from Jvalin’s post: it is early and people freaked out last year when the Celtics were in rough shape. People were complaining about Ime. Now let’s blame Brad and Muzzala.

My experience is that fans are often emotional and impatient.

Also, I don’t think the Celtics are the best team in the league. They are behind Mil and GS. I think they were fortunate to get to the Finals last year.

[wdleehi]

Yes.   Why hasn't he signed those guys no one has signed yet.   Why isnhe panicking?


Yes they need another big man on the bench.   The best answer is going to come in the trade market,  not the FA market.

[Vermont Green]

I don't share the outrage.  Stevens had a great off season.  Gallinari, Brogdon, and RWill was supposed to be available for the start of the season.  Things changed.  I would be all for bringing in a "competent big" but I don't see it as being that easy.  Favors is one possibility, not sure he even wants to come to Boston, but even if he did, it isn't going to change things all that much.  And I have not given up on Blake Griffin.  Even at best, he is not going to really change things either but I think he could play into being a competent bench big.  If your definition of competent is a starter, that just isn't realistic.  That deal is going to take some time.

As to coach Mazzulla, what exactly do you expect.  You can't just run down to the store and pick up a head coach.  Mazzulla may not be the long term answer.  No one was sure about Udoka about this time last season.  But you can easily make things worse if you rush out and bring in the wrong coach.  The coaching situation is a risk but it is not Steven's fault.  No sure how anyone can be so sure that there is a better option available right now.

[Celtics4ever]

The not switching on D is killing us but without Rob and Al a sec slower the personnel are not there.

I think Stevens has exceeded expectations as a GM.   

[Big333223]

Yes.   Why hasn't he signed those guys no one has signed yet.   Why isnhe panicking?

This is my thinking as well.

How is it "dumpster diving" to sign Blake Griffin but not dumpster diving to sign some other big man that the rest of the league has decided they don't want?

The OP is also just flat-out wrong. Stevens did sign a competent big man in the off season but he got injured. That sucks that Gallo is hurt but you can't pretend it didn't happen. Vonleh has also been competent if underwhelming.

And then  I don't get this dig at all:

There are other decisions that Brad just chose wrong on (like Gallinari over Bruce Brown)

On a team with Smart, Jaylen, Tatum, White, Brogdon, and Grant where would minutes for Bruce Brown come from? You really think the Celtics should've signed another 6'4" guard over a good veteran big man?

[Roy H.]

The OP is also just flat-out wrong. Stevens did sign a competent big man in the off season but he got injured. That sucks that Gallo is hurt but you can't pretend it didn't happen. Vonleh has also been competent if underwhelming.

Knowing that Timelord is out for half the season and that Horford needs rest time, even if Gallo was healthy we’d still have a gaping hole at backup / fill-in center.  Gallinari wouldn’t be helping our defense or rebounding right now.

And, Gallinari was injured two months ago.  Brad chose not to fill the various roster holes.

[wdleehi]

The OP is also just flat-out wrong. Stevens did sign a competent big man in the off season but he got injured. That sucks that Gallo is hurt but you can't pretend it didn't happen. Vonleh has also been competent if underwhelming.

Knowing that Timelord is out for half the season and that Horford needs rest time, even if Gallo was healthy we’d still have a gaping hole at backup / fill-in center.  Gallinari wouldn’t be helping our defense or rebounding right now.

And, Gallinari was injured two months ago.  Brad chose not to fill the various roster holes.

But still injured after the good FA had signed. 

He choose one of those big man names that was available.   


They need to trade for someone but let's be honest, there are not alot of trades during this portion of the season. 

[Ed Monix]

1.  Not signing at least one competent big man this off-season.  Dumpster diving doesn't work for a contender.

2.  Not adding to the coaching staff after losing Ime and Hardy.  That's a ton of talent that simply wasn't replaced.

Those two decisions alone show complete negligence, bordering on incompetence.  There are other decisions that Brad just chose wrong on (like Gallinari over Bruce Brown), but the above two are decisions that no competent GM should ever make.  (Not using the TPE is the other decision that's borderline indefensible, if Brad truly does have an unlimited budget.)

Although I think Stevens is a very solid GM, for me he’s still living off the accomplishments of Danny Ainge.

Danny selected Smart, Brown, Tatum, Williams III, Williams, Prichard and brought in Horford as a free agent. That’s the entire core of the team.

IMO Stevens biggest accomplishment was simply bringing back Horford.

Brogdon chose the Celtics, Stevens did not enter the equation. Indiana told him they wanted to rebuild and gave him the teams that were interested in a trade and had the necessary assets…Brogdon then chose the Celtics.

Stevens selected Begarin over Brandon Boston Jr, something I still can’t fathom.

Boston Jr reminds me of a skinnier Jaylen Brown and Brandon is actually from Georgia, so I’m sure he looks up to Brown. Boston Jr was also very close with Terrence Clarke, who’s dream was to play for the Celtics, so there would never be a lack of motivation for Brandon.

Zach Collins was available as an extremely cheap free agent last season and Stevens showed no interest.

Derrick White trade was a massive over pay to correct issues in the team that Stevens himself created by signing Schroder and Richardson, both known heavy iso guys.

Signing Gallinari over Ingles felt wrong at the time, as although Ingles is injured, he has had no prior injury history, where as Gallinari’s career has been blighted with various major injuries. Ingles was well known for his leadership qualities and he is a much better defender than Gallinari.

[Roy H.]

The OP is also just flat-out wrong. Stevens did sign a competent big man in the off season but he got injured. That sucks that Gallo is hurt but you can't pretend it didn't happen. Vonleh has also been competent if underwhelming.

Knowing that Timelord is out for half the season and that Horford needs rest time, even if Gallo was healthy we’d still have a gaping hole at backup / fill-in center.  Gallinari wouldn’t be helping our defense or rebounding right now.

And, Gallinari was injured two months ago.  Brad chose not to fill the various roster holes.

But still injured after the good FA had signed. 

He choose one of those big man names that was available.   


They need to trade for someone but let's be honest, there are not alot of trades during this portion of the season.

Blake Griffin wasn’t high on anybody’s list as a rotation center.

With a dire need, there are players on the market who are substantially better than Kornet, Vonleh, or Jackson.  If we’d had one of those players last night, we probably win.

That’s one game we’ve dropped due to roster negligence.  We’ll see how many such games we have.

[Big333223]

The OP is also just flat-out wrong. Stevens did sign a competent big man in the off season but he got injured. That sucks that Gallo is hurt but you can't pretend it didn't happen. Vonleh has also been competent if underwhelming.

Knowing that Timelord is out for half the season and that Horford needs rest time, even if Gallo was healthy we’d still have a gaping hole at backup / fill-in center.  Gallinari wouldn’t be helping our defense or rebounding right now.

And, Gallinari was injured two months ago.  Brad chose not to fill the various roster holes.

If Gallo was healthy, he'd be the 2nd tallest guy in the rotation (granting that Kornet is "in the rotation"). Portland has been playing minutes with 6'6" Justise Winslow at center. There's no question that if Gallo was here he'd be playing center minutes or minutes alongside Horford/Grant where one of them is the "center".

Saying Brad chose not to fill the void left by Gallo is, again, just wrong. He signed Blake. You don't like Blake? Fine, I won't argue too hard at this point but I ask again: Why is it "dumpster diving" to sign Blake but not dumpster diving to sign some other big man that the rest of the league has decided they don't want?