Thoughts on Stevens so far?

[D.o.s.]

I think Brad Stevens thinks Paula Cole is severely underrated.

[BleedGreen1989]

My only beef is Kris Humphries' lack of mins

He's not a young talent in need of development... or a bad contract in need of showcasing.  There's really no point to playing him.  The NBA knows what Kris Humphries is at this point.  He's an expiring contract.  His value is static.   We either use his expiring contract to bring back a long-term deal... or we let him rot on our bench and fall off the books at the end of the year.

Pretty much.

He just needs to rot on the bench and collect his $12mill.

As far as Stevens is concerned, I like what I see so far and am even more excited about the future of him. Remember, he is the youngest coach in the NBA at 37.

[Q_FBE]

I have mad respect for Brad Stevens who is trying to make Chiken Salad out of Chicken Poop. The Celtics may be historically bad this season, perhaps by design. Still would like to see productivity out of the veterans so that Danny Ainge can sell them off for assets later this year.

Gerald Wallace concerns me with his comments but I assume that is being competitively frustrated with his situation.

How well the Celtics do depends on when Rondo comes back to the Celtics and how he meshes with his new teammates. He might be the 1st one traded away though. 

[Celtics4ever]

Also, he hasn't shown me anything in the play-calling department.

I have noted a trend in this area, Koz.   He gives the ball to whomever is hot.   The one game Sully was nailing threes so he shot the end game shot.   One game it was Chris Babb in preseason who took the shot.   Seems to go with the hot hand perhaps?

[action781]

Seems quiet.


Too quiet.

This.

Also, he hasn't shown me anything in the play-calling department. Perhaps this will partially improve with experience, and it's true that his personnel is limited, but we have a clear-cut offensive go-to guy, and I haven't seen much effort to get him the ball with regularity.

He's shown promise, I guess, but he's clearly a work in progress, just as much as the rest of the team.

Who is our clear-cut offensive go-to guy?  Jeff Green?  I'm guessing that's right, but I'm not sure.  He is 2nd in our team in fga right now, but you're right in that he probably should be first.  Maybe its something that they will work on or maybe its just a small sample size kind of thing.  I bet we could find other teams in the NBA where the 4th/5th option has attempted more shots than the 2nd/3rd option if we really looked.  Over 5 game stretches, that is bound to happen here or there.  But it is a place to look for improvement when judging Stevens going forward.

[snowball]

feel like I'm watching the Butler Bulldogs
in Celtic uniforms.

[RJ87]

I like him so far. Benching Green in the 4th of the Detroit game definitely made an impression on me - yes, we're rebuilding but we're not just gonna roll over. If the most talented guy on the active roster is mailing it in, he's sitting and the hungrier guys are gonna get a chance.

I like it. Complacency can become an issue for a rebuilding squad, Brad doesn't seem interested in letting that happen.

[action781]

My expectations were probably a little too high; I thought he'd instantly energize and motivate the team.  It's not happening, and maybe it's too much to hope for.

No coach would win with this roster.  I do hope to see some progress and some teaching of the fundamentals to our young guys.

I was hopeful for the same thing.  We've played pretty decent basketball over 2-3 quarters for most games so far, which is nice, but ever since that 1st preseason game I could tell that this is going to be a team that won't be able to score the basketball in the 4th quarter until Rondo comes back.

As for "no coach would win with this roster"... I disagree.  I want to agree with the logic, but then I look at Philly and it makes me disagree.  No matter how much you think you may have misjudged their roster before the season started, that team still had no business pulling off a couple of their wins, yet they did.  Orlando is 2-2 as well and their roster is in no better shape than ours.  So, I'll agree our roster is poor, but I'm not giving Stevens a complete free pass here.  Especially losing a home game to a team like Milwaukee. 

Stevens needs to pull off a couple wins in this stretch of home games against Utah, Orlando, and Charlotte, or else he deserves some blame here.

[BleedGreen1989]

Also, he hasn't shown me anything in the play-calling department.

I have noted a trend in this area, Koz.   He gives the ball to whomever is hot.   The one game Sully was nailing threes so he shot the end game shot.   One game it was Chris Babb in preseason who took the shot.   Seems to go with the hot hand perhaps?

He probably just looks on the court with 2 mins left and says "who the hell am I going to draw a play for?!"

The roster is pretty close to hot garbage. Can't fault a builder for making a crappy house with weak bricks, ya dig?

[thirstyboots18]

Every time I see Brad Stevens, I see a guy who looks like he should be prepping the Little League ice cream party.

Most times, when I see Brad Stevens, he looks like a guy who aught to be awkwardly venting about parking privileges at the water cooler.

Sometimes, when I see Brad Stevens, I think he takes exquisite care of his fleece vest when he hangs it up in his office.

Rarely, when I see Brad Stevens, do I suspect him of being a big MMA fan.

Every time I see Brad Stevens, I get the feeling he reads a lot of Anne McCaffrey books.

Most times, when I see Brad Stevens, he strikes me as the kind of guy who wishes he had spent a semester abroad.

Sometimes, when I see Brad Stevens, I see a man who is quietly insecure about his grilling prowess.

Rarely, when I see Brad Stevens, do I believe that he would be involved with tax evasion.

Maybe new glasses would help?...although I agree about the tax evasion statement, 

[LarBrd33]

My only beef is Kris Humphries' lack of mins

He's not a young talent in need of development... or a bad contract in need of showcasing.  There's really no point to playing him.  The NBA knows what Kris Humphries is at this point.  He's an expiring contract.  His value is static.   We either use his expiring contract to bring back a long-term deal... or we let him rot on our bench and fall off the books at the end of the year.

I think he gets a buyout after the deadline.

Really good point.  TP.  We're so use to contending and being on the other end of buyouts.  Humph is a perfect buyout candidate.  He has nothing to do with this team's short or long term future.  If we don't use him in a trade, we'll buy him out mid-season and he can join some team's bench.

[D.o.s.]

Every time I see Brad Stevens, I see a guy who looks like he should be prepping the Little League ice cream party.

Most times, when I see Brad Stevens, he looks like a guy who aught to be awkwardly venting about parking privileges at the water cooler.

Sometimes, when I see Brad Stevens, I think he takes exquisite care of his fleece vest when he hangs it up in his office.

Rarely, when I see Brad Stevens, do I suspect him of being a big MMA fan.

Every time I see Brad Stevens, I get the feeling he reads a lot of Anne McCaffrey books.

Most times, when I see Brad Stevens, he strikes me as the kind of guy who wishes he had spent a semester abroad.

Sometimes, when I see Brad Stevens, I see a man who is quietly insecure about his grilling prowess.

Rarely, when I see Brad Stevens, do I believe that he would be involved with tax evasion.

Maybe new glasses would help?...although I agree about the tax evasion statement, 

Thoughts on Brad Stevens: A series.

[RJ87]

My expectations were probably a little too high; I thought he'd instantly energize and motivate the team.  It's not happening, and maybe it's too much to hope for.

No coach would win with this roster.  I do hope to see some progress and some teaching of the fundamentals to our young guys.

I was hopeful for the same thing.  We've played pretty decent basketball over 2-3 quarters for most games so far, which is nice, but ever since that 1st preseason game I could tell that this is going to be a team that won't be able to score the basketball in the 4th quarter until Rondo comes back.

As for "no coach would win with this roster"... I disagree.  I want to agree with the logic, but then I look at Philly and it makes me disagree.  No matter how much you think you may have misjudged their roster before the season started, that team still had no business pulling off a couple of their wins, yet they did.  Orlando is 2-2 as well and their roster is in no better shape than ours.  So, I'll agree our roster is poor, but I'm not giving Stevens a complete free pass here.  Especially losing a home game to a team like Milwaukee. 

Stevens needs to pull off a couple wins in this stretch of home games against Utah, Orlando, and Charlotte, or else he deserves some blame here.

Philly has more talent IMO at the top of their rotation IMO. That combo of Evan Turner, Michael McCarter-Williams, and Thad Young I'd take over any 3-man nucleus we could throw out.