Brad Steven rotations - I am impressed

[coco]

I know we are 2 and 4 and it is early in the season but 2 wins in a row, and one on the road and 2nd in defense.  With such unbalanced group of talent.  Not coincidence.

I am so impressed with Brad Stevens rotations.  He has a knack for knowing what the team needs a play or two before it happens.  Totally opposite to Doc, where Doc would make the adjustment about 3 to 5 plays late.  It is such a rare gift.

I never saw Red coaching but from what I've heard, that's where he excelled.  At making the correct sub at the right time.   I have only seen Phil Jackson and to a lesser extent RCarlisle and RAlderman(very under rated) so good at subbing.

Pops and JSloan are close, but their style is mostly based on "the system"  and not on gut feeling subbing.

Kudos to Brad for his ability and to DA for recognizing what a great talent he is.

[Tr1boy]

We have to stay humble still. We should of lost the game. It was a miracle shot. Basically stole it from the heat.

BUT either if we won or loss , this team is improving rapidly.

Stevens def seems like a genius. Putting in Olynyk instead of Vitor in the starting lineup was a good idea. Leaving out Pressey when he was hot was a good idea. The last 5 guys out there as the game was on the line was a very good idea. (again trusting a rookie like Olynyk out there for the last play)

Without Olynyk's pick, Green doesn't have a second of room to shoot. It's the little things Stevens does that is going to make us a good team

[manl_lui]

I agree with the two type of coaching (Brad vs Doc). I loved Doc when he was here, but the thing that frustrated me the most was his inability to sub people in at the right time and him favoring veterans too much, rookies have to work very very very very very hard to crack rotation

I doubt Phil Pressey will play at all in Doc's system

Brad doesn't play around, if you are not performing well, he will yank you right out. Can't wait to see Brad with REAL talent, especially when Rondo comes back

Yes, I will stay humble and that was a miracle shot. I admit, I wrote off the Celtics for this game and thought the Heat will kill us by 20+ points. Never have I thought that we will play so close throughout the game, let alone win the game. Brad is looking like a real steal by Danny. Better yet, he is still experimenting with our rotation.

[Bahku]

Love the demeanor and attitude of our young coach, and while he has much to prove to reach the same category as Doc in many people's eyes, I love his subbing to this point, managing minutes and keeping guys fresh while maximizing match-ups and play-making ability. Doc's rotations were my biggest gripe with him over the years.

[SHAQATTACK]

Doc would not  have even invited Pressey to the company picnic , much les let a rookie play against the heat in Miami .....

Doc was more worried about his image and Doc Rivers than anything else.......very poor character flaw .....people or fans turned their heads .

[Clench123]

What impressed me the most tonight (besides that Jeff Green's shot of course) was Steven's reaction to it.  There's something chilling seeing a man so calm amidst ruckus.  Something about it made Stevens look so badass...like he's been there before. 

Hats off to him bigtime.  Loving the guy

[kozlodoev]

Doc would not  have even invited Pressey to the company picnic , much les let a rookie play against the heat in Miami .....

Doc was more worried about his image and Doc Rivers than anything else.......very poor character flaw .....people or fans turned their heads .

It's so great that you know what Doc would do. It's too bad he isn't here to do it.

[mainevent]

Stevens is a great coach because he thinks the game from a matchup point of view. That's how he got the most out of those Butler teams that no one gave a second thought about until they began making it deep in the ncaa tourneys. He studies match ups and always puts his teams in position to win.  He gonna play who has the best match-ups. Period. He figures that out by knowing the personnel he has on hand and his extensive study of the opposing teams players. We have YET to be out of a game this season and we are a team of mostly new pieces that have never played together! Wait until we have more continuity, a little more talent in certain positions and give Stevens a chance to see these other teams up close and in person. Ainge is a genius! Gave this guy a SIX year deal! WIN!!

[Tr1boy]

I bet Rondo would tell you that Stevens is smarter than Rivers. Like many have said his lack of trust in rookies and horrid substituions eventually got us to be a mediocre team

[kozlodoev]

Stevens is a great coach because he thinks the game from a matchup point of view. That's how he got the most out of those Butler teams that no one gave a second thought about until they began making it deep in the ncaa tourneys. He studies match ups and always puts his teams in position to win.  He gonna play who the best match-ups. Period. He figures that out by knowing the personnel he has on hand and his extensive study of the opposing teams players. We have YET to be out of a game this season and we are a team of mostly new pieces that have never played together! Wait until we have more continuity, a little more talent in certain positions and give Stevens a chance to see these other teams up close and in person. Ainge is a genius! Gave this guy a SIX year deal! WIN!!

For a person who supposedly "knows the personnel he has on hand", he's had an inordinate amount of games where he ran 11-men rotation. And has used multiple starting lineups already.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Stevens is a great coach because he thinks the game from a matchup point of view. That's how he got the most out of those Butler teams that no one gave a second thought about until they began making it deep in the ncaa tourneys. He studies match ups and always puts his teams in position to win.  He gonna play who the best match-ups. Period. He figures that out by knowing the personnel he has on hand and his extensive study of the opposing teams players. We have YET to be out of a game this season and we are a team of mostly new pieces that have never played together! Wait until we have more continuity, a little more talent in certain positions and give Stevens a chance to see these other teams up close and in person. Ainge is a genius! Gave this guy a SIX year deal! WIN!!

For a person who supposedly "knows the personnel he has on hand", he's had an inordinate amount of games where he ran 11-men rotation. And has used multiple starting lineups already.

And?

[mainevent]

Stevens is a great coach because he thinks the game from a matchup point of view. That's how he got the most out of those Butler teams that no one gave a second thought about until they began making it deep in the ncaa tourneys. He studies match ups and always puts his teams in position to win.  He gonna play who the best match-ups. Period. He figures that out by knowing the personnel he has on hand and his extensive study of the opposing teams players. We have YET to be out of a game this season and we are a team of mostly new pieces that have never played together! Wait until we have more continuity, a little more talent in certain positions and give Stevens a chance to see these other teams up close and in person. Ainge is a genius! Gave this guy a SIX year deal! WIN!!

For a person who supposedly "knows the personnel he has on hand", he's had an inordinate amount of games where he ran 11-men rotation. And has used multiple starting lineups already.

I think that adds to my point! Boy you're a bright one.

[kozlodoev]

Stevens is a great coach because he thinks the game from a matchup point of view. That's how he got the most out of those Butler teams that no one gave a second thought about until they began making it deep in the ncaa tourneys. He studies match ups and always puts his teams in position to win.  He gonna play who the best match-ups. Period. He figures that out by knowing the personnel he has on hand and his extensive study of the opposing teams players. We have YET to be out of a game this season and we are a team of mostly new pieces that have never played together! Wait until we have more continuity, a little more talent in certain positions and give Stevens a chance to see these other teams up close and in person. Ainge is a genius! Gave this guy a SIX year deal! WIN!!

For a person who supposedly "knows the personnel he has on hand", he's had an inordinate amount of games where he ran 11-men rotation. And has used multiple starting lineups already.

And?

So far he's demonstrated he's mostly learning about personnel by trial and error, and he seems to overreact to a couple of poor games (Faverani went from a 30-minute starter to 2 minutes off the bench in the span of 3 games or so). Likewise, I don't think even Stevens can tell you who's starting, who is finishing, and how much anyone would play. I don't think any of these are markings of a great coach. Stevens reminds as much of a work in progress as he was 2 games ago.

There was stuff that worked out. And of course everyone has quickly forgotten the stuff that has flopped spectacularly (rotations, in particular, have been quite horrible). But fans are fickle and all of this can be erased with a miracle shot by Jeff Green.

[droopdog7]

How can we seriously compare rotations between doc and Stevens?  When doc was here, we were competing for championships.  He was going to play the best players and if a rookie wasn't ready, he wasn't ready .  Now , ALL we can do is play the future because the present doesn't matter.

[DarkAzcura]

How can we seriously compare rotations between doc and Stevens?  When doc was here, we were competing for championships.  He was going to play the best players and if a rookie wasn't ready, he wasn't ready .  Now , ALL we can do is play the future because the present doesn't matter.

Doc didn't even play rookies when we were bad. Doc was terrible with rotations and lucked out several times with injuries to players (which is when he finally gave guys like Rondo, Jefferson, Gomes, Perkins, Davis, etc their shot).

Stevens is a great coach because he thinks the game from a matchup point of view. That's how he got the most out of those Butler teams that no one gave a second thought about until they began making it deep in the ncaa tourneys. He studies match ups and always puts his teams in position to win.  He gonna play who the best match-ups. Period. He figures that out by knowing the personnel he has on hand and his extensive study of the opposing teams players. We have YET to be out of a game this season and we are a team of mostly new pieces that have never played together! Wait until we have more continuity, a little more talent in certain positions and give Stevens a chance to see these other teams up close and in person. Ainge is a genius! Gave this guy a SIX year deal! WIN!!

For a person who supposedly "knows the personnel he has on hand", he's had an inordinate amount of games where he ran 11-men rotation. And has used multiple starting lineups already.

And?

So far he's demonstrated he's mostly learning about personnel by trial and error, and he seems to overreact to a couple of poor games (Faverani went from a 30-minute starter to 2 minutes off the bench in the span of 3 games or so). Likewise, I don't think even Stevens can tell you who's starting, who is finishing, and how much anyone would play. I don't think any of these are markings of a great coach. Stevens reminds as much of a work in progress as he was 2 games ago.

There was stuff that worked out. And of course everyone has quickly forgotten the stuff that has flopped spectacularly (rotations, in particular, have been quite horrible). But fans are fickle and all of this can be erased with a miracle shot by Jeff Green.

I'm not sure what you are talking about with Stevens having bad rotations. His rotations in the regular season have been very, very good so far. He does everything I ever wanted Doc to do. He actually gives players a shot to perform in game before deciding whether to stick them in the doghouse. He clearly will be the kind of coach to use statistics to his advantage so his combinations and matchups will only improve as the season goes on. You can already see a big improvement in how the Celtics are playing, and I wouldn't be surprised if it is the result of Stevens finally finding some combos that work well with the somewhat increased sample size.

Your idea of what makes a great coach largely differs from mine also. Knowing how much players will play doesn't make or break a great coach. I actually appreciate a coach who is willing to change it up based on who is playing well. I hated Doc's set rotations and how some players could get hot for a few minutes then remain on the bench for the rest of the game. It was probably easy to gameplan against us because of Doc's inflexibility. Just look at Hump today. He was huge for us for a few minutes. Left the game, and we went a little cold. Hump almost came back in immediately, and he did really well again. Doc would never do this, and it used to drive me nuts. I think Stevens willingness to adjust within the game is the marking of a great coach, which is something you disagree with for some reason.