Indefensible Decisions By Brad Stevens

[Roy H.]

1.  Not signing at least one competent big man this off-season.  Dumpster diving doesn't work for a contender.

2.  Not adding to the coaching staff after losing Ime and Hardy.  That's a ton of talent that simply wasn't replaced.

Those two decisions alone show complete negligence, bordering on incompetence.  There are other decisions that Brad just chose wrong on (like Gallinari over Bruce Brown), but the above two are decisions that no competent GM should ever make.  (Not using the TPE is the other decision that's borderline indefensible, if Brad truly does have an unlimited budget.)

[CelticSooner]

I don’t really buy that Stevens has an unlimited budget. Unless a player fills a huge need Wyc isn’t going to eat luxury tax money. He never has for a reason.

[celticinorlando]

Agree 100 percent Roy. Absolutely criminal.

[Jvalin]

The sky is falling, we lost 2 games in a row.

[Roy H.]

The sky is falling, we lost 2 games in a row.

This is sort of a meaningless post, no?

Contribute something.  Can you defend the decision not to have a competent backup big on the roster, or add to the coaching staff?

[Jvalin]

The sky is falling, we lost 2 games in a row.

This is sort of a meaningless post, no?

Contribute something.  Can you defend the decision not to have a competent backup big on the roster, or add to the coaching staff?

We have 2 starting-calibre Centers in Timelord and Horford. At this point in his career, Horford is better suited playing at the 5. Will never understand the fascination with Centers on this board. Most teams are getting smaller. The Cavs are an exception. Wouldn't have signed a Center either. Not to mention, Gallo could have provided cover at the 5 too. He got injured. Tough luck.

Jury's still out on Mazzulla. Brad has worked with him for plenty of seasons. If he trusts him, fine by me.

Btw, I don't buy the unlimited budget premise. Look no further than last season: we were actively trying to avoid the tax. We dumped Theis the season before to avoid the tax. He was our starting Center at the time. We let Fournier walk even though we had spent a huge chunk of our TPE for him, plus 2 second rounders. I could go on and on.

[Roy H.]

The sky is falling, we lost 2 games in a row.

This is sort of a meaningless post, no?

Contribute something.  Can you defend the decision not to have a competent backup big on the roster, or add to the coaching staff?

We have 2 starting-calibre Centers in Timelord and Horford. At this point in his career, Horford is better suited playing at the 5. Will never understand the fascination with Centers on this board. Most teams are getting smaller. The Cavs are an exception. Wouldn't have signed a Center either. Not to mention, Gallo could have provided cover at the 5 too. He got injured. Tough luck.

Jury's still out on Mazzulla. Brad has worked with him for plenty of seasons. If he trusts him, fine by me.

Btw, I don't buy the unlimited budget premise. Look no further than last season: we were actively trying to avoid the tax. We dumped Theis the season before to avoid the tax. He was our starting Center at the time. We let Fournier walk even though we had spent a huge chunk of our TPE for him, plus 2 second rounders. I could go on and on.

No, we have one center in Horford.  And we don't have Gallo.  Brad could have addressed those deficiencies.  Instead, he has used roster spots on Kornet, Vonleh and Jackson.  We won last year in part because we had superior size to other teams.  Not any more.

And, Brad can trust Mazzulla while still finding replacements for the two assistant spots that are vacant.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

The sky is falling, we lost 2 games in a row.

This is sort of a meaningless post, no?

Contribute something.  Can you defend the decision not to have a competent backup big on the roster, or add to the coaching staff?

We have 2 starting-calibre Centers in Timelord and Horford. At this point in his career, Horford is better suited playing at the 5. Will never understand the fascination with Centers on this board. Most teams are getting smaller. The Cavs are an exception. Wouldn't have signed a Center either. Not to mention, Gallo could have provided cover at the 5 too. He got injured. Tough luck.

Jury's still out on Mazzulla. Brad has worked with him for plenty of seasons. If he trusts him, fine by me.

Btw, I don't buy the unlimited budget premise. Look no further than last season: we were actively trying to avoid the tax. We dumped Theis the season before to avoid the tax. He was our starting Center at the time. We let Fournier walk even though we had spent a huge chunk of our TPE for him, plus 2 second rounders. I could go on and on.

Al is kinda old and approaching part-time status, and Timelord is injured a lot. This team desperately needs two good backup bigs — not washed-up guys like Griffin or fringe NBAers like Kornet. Grant helps, but he’s too short for a lot of matchups.

[Jvalin]

Horford is 6'9". Timelord is 6'8". So much for having "superior size to other teams". Last time I checked, Timelord was still part of the roster. Assuming we are contenders, we need him to be close to 100% come playoff time.

You guys want us to go big. If anything, I'd want us to go even smaller. I'd love us to regularly use uber small-ball lineups. For instance:

White-Brogdon-Brown-Tatum-Smart (/Horford/Grant)

5 guys who can either shoot or put the ball on the floor and attack the basket. Switch everything on D. Run on the open court at every opportunity.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Horford is 6'9". Timelord is 6'8". So much for having "superior size to other teams". Last time I checked, Timelord was still part of the roster. Assuming we are contenders, we need him to be close to 100% come playoff time.

You guys want us to go big. If anything, I'd want us to go smaller. I'd love us to regularly use uber small-ball lineups. For instance:

White-Brogdon-Brown-Tatum-Smart (/Horford/Grant)

5 guys who can either shoot or put the ball on the floor and attack the basket.

I’m in favor of whatever works in any given situation, but the Cs seem to get abused whenever they go small against teams with size, like Milwaukee.

[Jvalin]

Horford is 6'9". Timelord is 6'8". So much for having "superior size to other teams". Last time I checked, Timelord was still part of the roster. Assuming we are contenders, we need him to be close to 100% come playoff time.

You guys want us to go big. If anything, I'd want us to go smaller. I'd love us to regularly use uber small-ball lineups. For instance:

White-Brogdon-Brown-Tatum-Smart (/Horford/Grant)

5 guys who can either shoot or put the ball on the floor and attack the basket.

I’m in favor of whatever works in any given situation, but the Cs seem to get abused whenever they go small against teams with size, like Milwaukee.

Not many teams have an elite athletic big like Giannis. Even against Giannis, we don't need a big Center. Horford + 1 help defender is probably our best bet. Giannis would destroy a slow-footed big.

[Goldstar88]

Horford is 6'9". Timelord is 6'8". So much for having "superior size to other teams". Last time I checked, Timelord was still part of the roster. Assuming we are contenders, we need him to be close to 100% come playoff time.

You guys want us to go big. If anything, I'd want us to go even smaller. I'd love us to regularly use uber small-ball lineups. For instance:

White-Brogdon-Brown-Tatum-Smart (/Horford/Grant)

5 guys who can either shoot or put the ball on the floor and attack the basket. Switch everything on D. Run on the open court at every opportunity.

Rob is 6’9”/237lbs with a 7’6” wingspan and a 40” vertical. He has plenty of size.

https://www.nba.com/player/1629057/robert-williams-iii

[CelticSooner]

Horford is 6'9". Timelord is 6'8". So much for having "superior size to other teams". Last time I checked, Timelord was still part of the roster. Assuming we are contenders, we need him to be close to 100% come playoff time.

You guys want us to go big. If anything, I'd want us to go even smaller. I'd love us to regularly use uber small-ball lineups. For instance:

White-Brogdon-Brown-Tatum-Smart (/Horford/Grant)

5 guys who can either shoot or put the ball on the floor and attack the basket. Switch everything on D. Run on the open court at every opportunity.

That’s what we’ll see in playoffs, you still need big man depth though. Playing a stiff like Kornet almost 30 mins is brutal.

[Jvalin]

Horford is 6'9". Timelord is 6'8". So much for having "superior size to other teams". Last time I checked, Timelord was still part of the roster. Assuming we are contenders, we need him to be close to 100% come playoff time.

You guys want us to go big. If anything, I'd want us to go even smaller. I'd love us to regularly use uber small-ball lineups. For instance:

White-Brogdon-Brown-Tatum-Smart (/Horford/Grant)

5 guys who can either shoot or put the ball on the floor and attack the basket. Switch everything on D. Run on the open court at every opportunity.

Rob is 6’9”/237lbs with a 7’6” wingspan and a 40” vertical. He has plenty of size.

https://www.nba.com/player/1629057/robert-williams-iii

I'm pretty sure he was listed at 6'8" last season. In any case, he's below average in terms of height. Agreed that he has a ridiculous wingspan. Can't say the same thing about Horford (7'0.75" wingspan is nothing special for his height). All in all, I highly doubt we had superior size in the paint last season. We had an oversized backcourt and an undersized frontcourt. That's exactly what a team needs to run a switch-heavy defensive scheme. Our backcourt got even bigger this season with the addition of Brogdon.

[Jvalin]

Horford is 6'9". Timelord is 6'8". So much for having "superior size to other teams". Last time I checked, Timelord was still part of the roster. Assuming we are contenders, we need him to be close to 100% come playoff time.

You guys want us to go big. If anything, I'd want us to go even smaller. I'd love us to regularly use uber small-ball lineups. For instance:

White-Brogdon-Brown-Tatum-Smart (/Horford/Grant)

5 guys who can either shoot or put the ball on the floor and attack the basket. Switch everything on D. Run on the open court at every opportunity.

That’s what we’ll see in playoffs, you still need big man depth though. Playing a stiff like Kornet almost 30 mins is brutal.

Don't play him then. Go small. That's what I'm saying.

Highly doubt we'll regularly go small in the playoffs. The tempo of the game slows down in the post season. Rule of thumb is most playoff games are won in the half court. Now is the time to run.