Scouting report on Brad Stevens?

[bfrombleacher]

All I've gotten since the Brad Stevens signing is: "Rondo Rondo Rondo Rondo" "He gone he gone he gone". Thanks ESPN.

So what exactly will a Brad Stevens coached team look like?

What I've gotten so far:

Defense. Only thing I've probably heard from the headlines, sadly, is this guy is a defense first coach. I've heard comparisons to Thibs on the forums. Not a bad thing at all.

Defensive rebounding. Boy, I love this quote:

For a poor offensive rebounding forward, Stevens said, "You're beating a dead horse if you say, 'Go to the glass, go to the glass.' " Instead, the coach said, show that he went to the boards three times out of 50. Either the forward is not in shape or not trying. "One more possession might mean winning the game," Stevens said.

I'm hoping Bass and Green become accountable for their no shows on the glass. You guys are beefy, athletic human specimens, one is a 6'9 small forward!

Stats guy

Preaches constant improvement it seems. A sign of adaptability?

"I would say 24 hours from now," Williams had said Thursday, "when I talk to you again, [Butler will be] a completely different team because they're going to get better."...

Very humble, hard worker, from various sources
Studies a lot of film apparently

Players' coach, too

"I think the outcome is irrelevant if he thinks we played as well as we possibly could," said Butler guard Rotnei Clarke.

Called everyone on the C's upon landing job. Has gotten positive response from some of the C's already.

Offense
Unfortunately:

His offenses at Butler weren’t very fluid or the most efficient. Some of them were extremely hard to watch because of the shot selection that was involved. There seemed to be a premium on the midrange jump shot–something that won’t work at the NBA level.

I've also heard he runs an up tempo offense on the forums which should fit well into our system. I'm hoping his adaptability means we don't see 90% of our offense coming from the worst shot in basketball.

Player developer?
Got the best out of not a very talented bunch, from what I've heard.
Players buy into his philosophy it seems, as seen from the quote by Rotnei Clarke:

"I think the outcome is irrelevant if he thinks we played as well as we possibly could," said Butler guard Rotnei Clarke.

Expectations?

Defensive rebounding is a lock. Hopefully. Perhaps Ainge was the mastermind behind the no rebound policy. *gulp*

Well, defense certainly would be a lock. The remains of Doc's system, existing players being defensively oriented and a shorter shot clock are definitely going to help.

I'm anxious to see what he does offensively. I have not heard much about him on this end of the floor. I think this would be a good test of whether he really is adaptable. I'm curious how he utilizes Jeff Green. In OKC Green was relegated to being a 3rd leg. In BOS...honestly Doc's done a good job.

As far as personnel management goes...you guys pick Rondo over Jordan Crawford as the most likely problem child!? Kidding. Crawford's probably gone. Maybe. This offseason is CRAZY...

Maybe we tank and Ainge moves more pieces to accommodate that. Maybe we stand pat. But chances are we're likely gonna be a bad team. Strange thing is: Crappy teams aren't all the same. Last year SAC was a demotivated mess while ORL, I've heard and saw, played hard despite their lack of talent up and down.

It'll definitely be a breath of fresh air. I loved the Pierce/KG era. Truly the heart of a champion. But it definitely was tough to watch them fight an uphill battle all the time. Every quarter, game and playoff series was a battle. Bittersweet will be how I feel.

I think there's a good chance the defense, defensive rebounding and even personnel management will shine through next season. At the very least that'll be fun to watch for me.

The offense being good will most likely be for one of two reasons - or both: 1. Rondo and Green playing fantastic 2. Brad Stevens a true prodigy.

I'm hoping for both 1. and 2. to come true, of course. Chances are, Rondo/Green will be making the offense look respectable. Middling in offensive efficiency. Cannot make up my mind at all about Stevens's offensive schemes.

I'm thinking we'll most likely have a scrappy team with a lot of fight. Watching the team grow will be a bit of a treat.

[bfrombleacher]

I'm under the impression it's somewhat bad form to bump your own thread...but this vid is pretty cool. Did not want to lengthen my megapost further:

http://www.ihoops.com/training-room/coaches/Video--Offensive-Sets-for-Undersized-Teams.htm

He mentions Pierce! Seems to know what he's talking about a lot.

[clover]

Given that Danny put a bonus clause in Green's contract for improved rebounding, I don't see where there's evidence that Danny has been anti-rebounding.

But if Green really does want to make his coach succeed as he says, perhaps he can be coached into a better attitude in that area this year.

I do think that a lot of the remaining players have the sort of chip on their shoulder or something to prove in the way that new midseason coaches generally benefit after the last guy is gone.  I'd put Rondo, Bradley, Lee, Green, Bass and Shav in that category, let alone any incoming Nets who stick.  (Heck, I'd even put Melo in that category if I thought it would make a difference.)

[csfansince60s]

TP for a well thought out OP with some interesting insight and quotes.

I also am excited about our new situation. Many games last year were painful to watch.

[Interceptor]

Bump for a really nice thread. Hard to find anything for Brad Stevens.

I'm hoping Bass and Green become accountable for their no shows on the glass. You guys are beefy, athletic human specimens, one is a 6'9 small forward!

Not to derail, but I think that Bass really tries, he's just a bad rebounder. I always saw him jumping for boards last season, oftentimes alone, but his timing would be off (peak of his jump too early or too late) or he'd bobble the ball or something silly.

Green has no excuse whatsoever. Kid dunked over three Jazz players simultaneously. I hope that Stevens gets in his ear about it.

[Monkhouse]

As of now, I'm excited, because he does things that Doc isn't that good at anymore.

1) Player development. I feel that under the impression about of Celtic bloggers believe Rivers is a great player development coach. He's a player coach. Not a player development coach, two different and completely separate things. Free agents want to play for Doc Rivers, because he can generally be a good coach who'll get to know you.

But Brad Stevens is both. Gordon Hayward has said nothing but positive things, and the influence he has from him is indescribable. Not to mention he made someone like Shelvin Mack, and Gordon Hayward compete and do as well as they have?

2) Defense first mentality. Doc Rivers is known for his defense, but he isn't good at being able to set our players up to succeed on the offensive and defensive rebounds. We get it. Run back to set up for defense immediately. That has always been our cue and mentality. But that doesn't work as well. And I get tired of hearing people say, "but the Miami Heat don't rebound well either!" Well guess what? They have Lebron James, and Dwayne Wade, with the likes of Chris Bosh. All 3 of them are good enough to lead any franchise to at least a full fledged playoff route.

I like that Brad Stevens has a different way of going about defense. And will send the big men to try to crash the offensive, and defensive glass. But be able to keep a open eye with players going back to run to defense. I've actually seen some of Butler's games, and I'm impressed with the defense intensity.

3) Team first. How many times has Paul Pierce taken the clutch shot, or 1 on 1 iso? Paul Pierce isn't as clutch or gets too gassed being the first scoring option. Now criticisms have stemmed on Stevens, because all he does is take mid range jumpers, and forces his players offensively. But I disagree. The lack of star players on his college team is overall what negates these. If he can get some good players to develop, and work around with I can see that immediately changing.

He has a team first mentality, that means you pass well, find the open man, and don't be selfish. I don't think Green will succeed as well as everyone says under his system. But overall the team will be successful in less turn overs, more assists, and just overall team ethic.

I like Stevens, because he has been the under dog for so long. People who have been underdogs completely understand the urgency.

[oldmanspeaks]

I agree totally that Bass is simply limited by natural ability as far as rebounding goes. I was always a bad rebounder because I simply couldn't time the ball or see the ball come off the board. So no matter how much I boxed out or how much I anticipated I never was going to be a good rebounder. I also agree that Green appears to be a totally different kind of problem and maybe he can be taught. He never seems to be in position to get a rebound and that can be fixed if he learns to anticipate and technique of getting to a spot. I don't know if it is lack of effort or he simply doesn't know how. I suspect it is the latter. He has way too much ability to be such a poor rebounder. Stevens teams always appeared sound to me on defense and the boards. (offense is a question mark at the pro level because of the length of time it takes to get a shot but maybe he can adjust that).

[erisred]

Bump for a really nice thread. Hard to find anything for Brad Stevens.

I'm hoping Bass and Green become accountable for their no shows on the glass. You guys are beefy, athletic human specimens, one is a 6'9 small forward!

Not to derail, but I think that Bass really tries, he's just a bad rebounder. I always saw him jumping for boards last season, oftentimes alone, but his timing would be off (peak of his jump too early or too late) or he'd bobble the ball or something silly.

Green has no excuse whatsoever. Kid dunked over three Jazz players simultaneously. I hope that Stevens gets in his ear about it.

I'll say this about Bass and rebounding, actually, its about team rebounding, you don't have to be a jumper, be good at timing, or even have good hands to help your team rebound. What Bass can do is put his body on the other team's best rebounding big man and keep *him* from getting the ball.

Heck, guys, that is one of the reasons Rondo got so many rebounds! KG, Bass and Pierce screened off the other team's good rebounders and Rondo went and got the ball. It's a rebounding scheme, and one that Stevens used at Butler, too.

[clover]

Here's Stevens with Rondo in KY today:

http://www.wdrb.com/category/163829/fox-41-video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=9082495#.Ud8hnjky-cs.twitter