Criticism of Stevens' Lack of Communication With Players per Sporting News

[SCeltic34]

I find this report difficult to believe.  Stevens strikes me as someone who communicates very well with others. 

Thomas stressed that Stevens has an open-door policy that made it easy to clear the air on the matter.

"Whether he texts you, 'Come to my office when you get in,' or you text him, 'I just want to sit down and talk about a few things,' his door is always open and that's why guys respect him," said Thomas. "Because no matter if you're in the worst mood ever, he'll sit down and talk with you and try to figure out what the problem is. I mean, we've just got to move forward."

https://www.espn.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4722787/isaiah-thomas-chats-with-brad-stevens-about-playing-time-pledges-to-be-motivated-in-season-finale

In the article above it does note that Stevens did not provide IT an explanation as to why he was benched, though apparently IT didn't ask.

For whatever reason the group this year just weren't on the same page.  I've been very critical of Stevens this year but I don't think that he's the primary reason for this.  Our team was a poor mix of competing, selfish egos that didn't buy into Stevens' philosophy.  He may have failed at communication in the sense that he wasn't able to get through to certain players, though certainly he can't shoulder all of the blame for that.  But a poor communicator that doesn't let his players know what he expects out of them?  I don't buy it.

[Vox_Populi]

Sporting News is a site composed of reporter has beens with limited to no sources. Ignore.

[GreenFaith1819]

Whatever shortcomings that Coach Stevens had this season is made minimal due to the fact that just about EVERY player he's had under him has gotten better........

I'll NEVER forget Jordan Crawford. Dude was a mess and seemingly on his way out the NBA. CBS took him onboard, gave him confidence and dude went on to play a few more years and even started for us, I believe.

Kyrie - for all his shortcomings - got a little better defensively...was among the team lead in charges taken.

Kyrie was a bit of a hot mess before he got to us...certainly not uncoachable but definitely a challenge I'd guess....probably right up there with those storied Doc Rivers / Rondo run-ins.

Rondo - CBS? The team BACK THEN - as constructed - certainly wasn't conducive to Rondo being here.

Even ROZIER was playing like a World-Beater last season at times - especially during the playoffs - so much so that some of us were willing to let Irving WALK...attribute THAT to CBS.

Dude has already admitted that he could've coached better last season. He WILL get better. Quality coaches DO. BOS should STILL be recognized as a top-FA destination and potential FAs would be foolish to not AT LEAST visit us and hear the speech.

The TEAM failed - not just Coach or Kyrie. Perhaps Kyrie and Big Al are moving on. I'll miss them but Coach Stevens remains among the best. Bring on the next top FAs.

[chiken]

So this is why the Team improved every year under Brad (except last year)


Man, One bad year and CBS is a coach who can't coach all of a sudden...  Jeeze.

[KGs Knee]

Well, on the bright side for Brad, he can go back to coaching a bunch of underdogs and avoid the scrutiny of his inability to actually manage a team with real talent.

He'll probably come out smelling like roses.  And the Celtics will still be stuck on 17 banners until he's gone and the team is able to get some real talent again.

Yipee!

[GreenFaith1819]

He HAD actual talent here in BOS - still DOES...

I bet GH sniffs All-Star next season. Tatum and JB could too - if they are here.

I really don't know HOW else he could've managed GH....send him to G-League? We can say he should've came off the bench at the start but at what time would he have been allowed to transition BACK to being a starter?

Dude needed TOUCHES.....

And THEN - which young talent (JT, JB) - was going to be upset about being replaced in the starting lineup?

I'd blame Danny in a round-about way here, too - he acquired a TON of talent to make a run at AD - just like he did in the early 2000s leading up to KG's acquisition......

In stockpiling talent how would you keep EVERYONE happy? I don't think Doc could've did this and HE is known for managing talent.

And no - I don't think Danny should've pulled the trigger EARLY and offloaded talent for ANYONE beside AD......the unfortunate thing is that Danny played his cards perfectly but you can't predict some of these Stars today.

The sad thing is that AD will find it tough going in LAL. He will realize he should've given BOS a shot.

[mmmmm]

According to NBA writer Sean Deveney, Stevens' communication style may have alienated players in the past:

"A veteran player told me a couple of years ago that his role in Boston was tough because he was never really told what was expected of him and that Stevens didn't necessarily connect with players. That appeared to be the case this season, too, when the Celtics had a chemistry meltdown and Stevens could not rein in his locker room."

Keith Bogans?  Is that you?

[gouki88]

According to NBA writer Sean Deveney, Stevens' communication style may have alienated players in the past:

"A veteran player told me a couple of years ago that his role in Boston was tough because he was never really told what was expected of him and that Stevens didn't necessarily connect with players. That appeared to be the case this season, too, when the Celtics had a chemistry meltdown and Stevens could not rein in his locker room."

Keith Bogans?  Is that you?

Lol, I'd forgotten he ever played for us!

[nickagneta]

My money is on David Lee. Stevens was new here and Stevens gave Lee a chance, he sucked and disappeared. Lee was pretty bitter about his time here.

[mmmmm]

My money is on David Lee. Stevens was new here and Stevens gave Lee a chance, he sucked and disappeared. Lee was pretty bitter about his time here.

To be fair, Lee went on to play pretty effectively for both DAL and SAS after leaving BOS.   He felt like he could still play effectively and that was proven by how he performed on the two Texas teams.   So it's understandable that he was probably frustrated and felt like he was not really given a chance by Stevens.

On the flip side, Stevens was also clearly put in charge of a young team with goal number one being development, not necessarily optimizing the use of a 32-year-old veteran.   So the fact he didn't use Lee could simply be a matter of fit.

But flipping back over, this is where communication is important, so that a guy like Lee understands and accepts why he doesn't fit.

All that said -- it is pure speculation that the player quoted was Lee.  It could really be any of a number of guys.

[Scottiej23]

Have heard it said many times that Brad has got the best out of players in their time here and/or they have not gone on to flourish as well anywhere else. Seeing David Lee's name made me think though, while I also kind of assumed that to be true, were any of those players over, say, 6'7" as all the examples I can think of are either guards or small forwards.

[SparzWizard]

It's probably one of the remnants of that 2013 BOS/BKN trade package.

Or David Lee. Or Tyler Zeller. Or Rajon Rondo. Or maybe even Brandon Bass.

[Androslav]

My money is on David Lee. Stevens was new here and Stevens gave Lee a chance, he sucked and disappeared. Lee was pretty bitter about his time here.

To be fair, Lee went on to play pretty effectively for both DAL and SAS after leaving BOS.   He felt like he could still play effectively and that was proven by how he performed on the two Texas teams.   So it's understandable that he was probably frustrated and felt like he was not really given a chance by Stevens.

On the flip side, Stevens was also clearly put in charge of a young team with goal number one being development, not necessarily optimizing the use of a 32-year-old veteran.   So the fact he didn't use Lee could simply be a matter of fit.

But flipping back over, this is where communication is important, so that a guy like Lee understands and accepts why he doesn't fit.

All that said -- it is pure speculation that the player quoted was Lee.  It could really be any of a number of guys.

And this is proven to be wrong as he was out of the league within a year, age 33.
He was an epic crater on defense. A joke that wasn't funny.

[Csfan1984]

I think Stevens plays the personalitys angle he goes at certain players the way he feels he can reach them. Sometimes it's off and he doesn't get results and sometimes it has nothing to do with him a player is just unreachable. I think he is a decent coach that still needs to grow. He also needs to work on player skill value system as well as adaptive offensive schemes based on fresh data.

[NKY fan]

My money is on David Lee. Stevens was new here and Stevens gave Lee a chance, he sucked and disappeared. Lee was pretty bitter about his time here.

To be fair, Lee went on to play pretty effectively for both DAL and SAS after leaving BOS.   He felt like he could still play effectively and that was proven by how he performed on the two Texas teams.   So it's understandable that he was probably frustrated and felt like he was not really given a chance by Stevens.

On the flip side, Stevens was also clearly put in charge of a young team with goal number one being development, not necessarily optimizing the use of a 32-year-old veteran.   So the fact he didn't use Lee could simply be a matter of fit.

But flipping back over, this is where communication is important, so that a guy like Lee understands and accepts why he doesn't fit.

All that said -- it is pure speculation that the player quoted was Lee.  It could really be any of a number of guys.

And this is proven to be wrong as he was out of the league within a year, age 33.
He was an epic crater on defense. A joke that wasn't funny.

One thing about David Lee that is not very well known - he comes from money. His family is ultra rich. He recently founded a reinsurance company in Greensboro NC. I bet he didn’t respect Stevens too much