Time for a New Coach

[bcgenuis]

Is it time for the Celtics to move on from Brad Stevens?

Stevens is a very good coach to rebuild a team.  However, I think his system with this roster will never win a championship.

You can argue that he has a weak roster, and I will agree. 
You can argue many other things in his favor and that are not his fault.  I hear and might agree with many or some of those arguments.

However, we have seen that his system, does not account for superstars or big men.  His rotations, lack of big man use, is puzzling to say the least.

Rebounding with his teams have consistently been underwhelming. Further his offensive schemes (other than OTAs) have become stale.

He was and still is a good coach for underperformers, but once again, it is my belief that he does not have the next step in him. 

[Ogaju]

Don’t forget he also has a say in player personnel.

[RPGenerate]

This roster isn't ready to compete, so what's the point? Playing musical chairs with coaches isn't going to transform our team into a contender.

[Roy H.]

If we had Coach _________ this game would have been competitive.

Fill in the blank.

[coco]

Keep Brad!
Nets should be embarrassed they couldn’t sweep this Celtics team.

[jpotter33]

Just now "time for a new coach"? It has been time for a few years now.

[seancally]

His rotations, lack of big man use, is puzzling to say the least.

Lack of big man use is not puzzling. We don’t have any. When we had a good big, Horford, we used him all the time! To great effect!

[esel1000]

If we had Coach _________ this game would have been competitive.

Fill in the blank.

Yeah I agree, Stevens isn’t perfect but I think you need to give him at least another year with a rehauled roster.

In my opinion if anyone is fired or chooses to step down  in the near future it should be Danny. Big offseason ahead for him, and if he doesn’t make some changes then it’s time to move in another direction (in my opinion).

[radiohead]

I’ve been complaining about Brad all season long, but I think he deserves to at least get a chance til the All Star break next season. Give him a full training camp/summer league and let’s see what happens. Of course Danny needs to upgrade the bench.

[Muzzy66]

On one hand, I sincerely believe Brad is a big part of the issues this year.  I simply don't think he is the right coach for this particular team as it's currently assembled.   

My reason for this is that the team is lacking tough, vocal, experienced leaders in the locker room that could potentially help to hammer these young talented guys back in to place when they start to lose their way. 

Guys clearly have moments where they get losing motivation, getting distracted by external things, getting complacent/careless on the court, and disengaging with the game plan.  When that happens there doesn't seem to be anybody on the roster who has the balls to get up in their faces and light a firecracker up their backsides to get them back on track.   

Normally that's one of the crucial roles of a coach - to hold players accountable, discipline guys who don't play the right way, motivate players when they aren't showing energy.  Brad is a clearly a very intelligent guy with a great basketball mind, but he also seems to be extremely agreeable and just too nice / friendly towards his players.

I've been in situations (both in the workplace and at school) where I've had bosses / teachers who are too nice and too agreeable - teaches who give off the "friend" vibe over the "boss" vibe. The same thing always happens.  The really disciplined students/workers remain 100% focused and try to do well so they can reflect will on their coach/boss out of appreciation.   The less disciplined kids/workers see the weakness in their teacher/boss an opportunity to break free from their duties and do whatever they want to do, and the teachers tend to just let it happen because they don't want to create drama or get their subordinates in trouble.  Kids/staff don't necessarily muck up because they are evil or mean bad - they just aren't naturally disciplined and need that strict, firm leader to hold them in line. 

This is exactly what I feel is happening with this team.

Problem is, in order to justify firing Brad you also need to have somebody to replace him with...and what coach in the league is available right now who could potentially do a better job?

[gouki88]

He’ll get another year before really being on the hot seat. Would be a bit knee-jerk to fire him after the injuries and COVID problems we’ve had.

But if we disappoint next season then…

[Tr1boy]

He’ll get another year before really being on the hot seat. Would be a bit knee-jerk to fire him after the injuries and COVID problems we’ve had.

But if we disappoint next season then…

Agreed. 

The team will have an improved roster next season I imagine

Another poor regular season + early playoff exit and he is out

Trade him for a 1st

[Muzzy66]

This roster isn't ready to compete, so what's the point? Playing musical chairs with coaches isn't going to transform our team into a contender.

I'm not sure honestly. 

This roster is better then people give it credit for. 

* We have three all-star calibre players (Tatum, Brown and Kemba) - at least one of those guys is on the borderline of true superstar status. 
* We have three role players who are exceptionally good at their role in Fournier (scoring), Thompson (rebounding) and Smart (defence)
* We have two solid prospects who have shown a great deal of promise (Rob Williams and Payton Pritchard)
 
It's actually a pretty good roster on paper.  The roster is either good enough to contend, or else it's pretty [dang] close to it.  And many of the players on that roster are far from reaching their prime, meaning the roster (in its current form) can only get better.

Now granted, we didn't have Fournier or Parker most the year, and our top 3 guys (Brown, Tatum and Kemba) have all missed significant games to injury or Covid.  It does need to be acknowledged that this plays a significant part. 

Rob Williams also didn't really start to emerge until later in the year, and he also missed quite a few games.  Normally I'd say all of this offers a good explanation for a team struggling...but in this case I don't.  The reason I don't is because of WHO they struggled against.  This team lost to a LOT of really bad teams, in many cases it was by way of blowouts. I don't believe those opponents had more talent on the floor then the Celtics with their depleted rosters, so I find it difficult to blame talent or health. 

If they beat the bad treams and lost to good teams, different story.  When you get blown out by 20+ by a bottom 5 team that's NOT a talent problem.  That seemed ot happen far to often for Boston this year .

[libermaniac]

I think Ainge needs to build a real bench next year and if Brad can’t put the team in contention, then I’d say it’s time to move on. This inexperienced bench that Ainge has built has been a huge disaster the last two years.

[Muzzy66]

I think Ainge needs to build a real bench next year and if Brad can’t put the team in contention, then I’d say it’s time to move on. This inexperienced bench that Ainge has built has been a huge disaster the last two years.

Could you ever imagine that Boston could possibly miss Brad Wanamaker as much as they have this year? haha