Opinion: Brad Stevens Motivated to Beat ""Coach of the Year"

[footey]

We all get focused on the player matchups, and rightfully so. But I think that the coaches' match up this series vs Toronto is also compelling.

Brad is always motivated to get this best out of his team, but would think constantly hearing how Nick Nurse is Coach of the Year (an award he certainly deserved) must add some juice for him.  It's a known fact that the other coaches who vote the award have repeatedly overlooked Brad.

I think Brad's drive here is as important as the players', and will be the deciding edge for us.

Celtics in 5 games.

[Csfan1984]

Tp, for the reminder how BS has been disrespected by his peers and gets to take down the coach of the year.

Still feel BS is always dialed in but in bubble setting hearing so much more he looks more impressive.

[mobilija]

I liked how in game 2 vs Sixers, even though we won game 1, He made adjustments. Continued tweak what was working to get even better.

Would love to see him throw a game2 curveball Toronto's way...You think he will do that? What would it be?

[footey]

I liked how in game 2 vs Sixers, even though we won game 1, He made adjustments. Continued tweak what was working to get even better.

Would love to see him throw a game2 curveball Toronto's way...You think he will do that? What would it be?

Great point.  Yes, I do, but not sure what it would be.  Play Kanter?  Go zone?  More than anything, I feel that Brad will have the team prepared to handle any adjustments inevitably thrown at him by Nurse.

[Roy H.]

I doubt he gets caught up in stuff like this. 

[footey]

I doubt he gets caught up in stuff like this.

Maybe not "caught up", but Brad doesn't get to where he is without having a strong competitive streak. It's only human nature that he would hear some of the noise.

[wiley]

Judging the actual best coach is not easy...I think Brad knows that the story of a team improving their record after losing a top 3 player in the league is....a story that gets attention...with accolades attached.  Also think he's a super focused guy who got where he is by minimizing all forms of distraction on personal and professional level.

[GreenEnvy]

I always liked how Brad coaches differently in the playoffs than the regular season.

Everyone groans about him not calling time outs during runs. I love it. Let’s see if they can work it out themselves. There’s no use conditioning your players to look to the bench waiting for a timeout to be called so you can regroup. He doesn’t overreact to regular season losses or wins.

I would not not take a single coach over Brad for the next 5+ years, not even Pop.

[Stig]

right, I hope he's been taking notes, he's being reminded of why Nick Nurse is coach of the year and he's not even on the short list.

[gouki88]

right, I hope he's been taking notes, he's being reminded of why Nick Nurse is coach of the year and he's not even on the short list.

Because he's looking at being tied 2-2 despite missing his 3rd best player? Weird...

[Stig]

being tied at 2:2 with momentum shift to the raptors, we had no answer to the Raptors for the whole game. I call that being schooled. People seem to forgot we won game 2 because of Marcus Smart's miracle 5x3s, that only happens once a year and we're not gonna see it in the next couple of games again. After the game 1 blow out we are being slowly figured out. I hope Coach Stevens proves me wrong, but I'm not holding my breath. This looks very similar to the conference finial run 2 years ago when we were up 2:0 over the Cavs then loose 4 of the next 5.

[GreenEnvy]

being tied at 2:2 with momentum shift to the raptors, we had no answer to the Raptors for the whole game. I call that being schooled. People seem to forgot we won game 2 because of Marcus Smart's miracle 5x3s, that only happens once a year and we're not gonna see it in the next couple of games again. After the game 1 blow out we are being slowly figured out. I hope Coach Stevens proves me wrong, but I'm not holding my breath. This looks very similar to the conference finial run 2 years ago when we were up 2:0 over the Cavs then loose 4 of the next 5.

No answer? They scored 100 points tonight. I know it’s easy to overreact, but we’ve seen bad shooting from both sides throughout the 4 games. The last two games, the Raptors played with desperation. The Celtics have not come close to matching their focus. They looked out of sorts from the start.

Last game they knew they should have won. This game looks like they were still thinking about Game 3.

[Roy H.]

right, I hope he's been taking notes, he's being reminded of why Nick Nurse is coach of the year and he's not even on the short list.

If coaching worked like many fans think:

Nurse to his team: “Make your threes”

CBS: “Keep missing”.

[gouki88]

right, I hope he's been taking notes, he's being reminded of why Nick Nurse is coach of the year and he's not even on the short list.

If coaching worked like many fans think:

Nurse to his team: “Make your threes”

CBS: “Keep missing”.

CBS: "Don't try and rebound it either"

[Ogaju]

right, I hope he's been taking notes, he's being reminded of why Nick Nurse is coach of the year and he's not even on the short list.

If coaching worked like many fans think:

Nurse to his team: “Make your threes”

CBS: “Keep missing”.

CBS: "Don't try and rebound it either"

Figure it out on your own that is why yall make the big bucks ...these timeouts will not be wasted on you.