Brad Steven rotations - I am impressed

[clover]

Stevens always looks so stoic and calm.......this has a nice effect on the team executing and not panicking .

He frankly coached one of the most amazing games I ve seen in a long time,  and I go back a long time.

So we ll see if he is really Boy wonder.

The one difference between I can point to between Stevens as a college coach and other NbA college coaches who have failed  is this.......Rick Pitino and others came from schools with all blue chip players, Stevens was winning with pretty much the same thing he has now on the Celtics ,  not the greatest talent , but coaching Butler to levels far above their talent level .....is this what Danny saw?  I think so.....

Amazing stuff to consider.

Yep. Exactly the environment in which Doc doesn't want to coach.

[Celtics4ever]

I wish we had him instead of Doc the last few years but that is just me.   I always hated the give up the boards philosophy.

Stevens plays rooks, Doc would not.   You should play the best players regardless of their tenure.   Stevens has us rebounding and getting back on D.   I am not crazy about our bigs shooting all the threes but other than that it's been fun.

[Ogaju]

Brad is doing something I always wondered coaches do not do in Basketball. That is play without a set starting five. Play the players that match up the best with your opponent. Play the players that give your opponents the most problems.

This means you are going to have different rotations depending on the team you play. This means the coach really has to coach.

Doc Rivers was not a coach at all. He just rode his star players - that is why he bailed to the Clippers, and why he would run off to watch his kids play when the Celtics had a game the next day. He will fail woefully with the Clippers.

Doc Rivers had three first ballot Hall of Famers for five years and all he could show was two finals appearances and one chip.

[BballTim]

Brad is doing something I always wondered coaches do not do in Basketball. That is play without a set starting five. Play the players that match up the best with your opponent. Play the players that give your opponents the most problems.

This means you are going to have different rotations depending on the team you play. This means the coach really has to coach.

  Most teams have a large enough gap in talent between starters and reserves that this isn't really feasible. What situations did you see over the last few years where we'd have been better off with players like PP/KG/RR on the bench and not in the lineup?

Doc Rivers was not a coach at all. He just rode his star players - that is why he bailed to the Clippers, and why he would run off to watch his kids play when the Celtics had a game the next day. He will fail woefully with the Clippers.

Doc Rivers had three first ballot Hall of Famers for five years and all he could show was two finals appearances and one chip.

  He didn't have KG available in 2009 or he'd have done better than two finals appearances. If you look at the run for that team it went title, KG's knee injury, finals, Rondo's elbow injury, ECF, Rondo's knee injury. Not exactly an underachieving bunch.

  I am hopeful he fails with the Clips though.

[Ogaju]

that is what I mean.... he relied on the stars and did not develop the bench.

There are many instances that he could have designed plays that did not involve the stars playing so much, or Pierce ISOs at the end of games.

[NYDan]

Brad Stevens really seems to be coaching to each opponent - there is no set rotation, just favorable matchups and combinations. I'm sure the fairly even talent level across the board has a lot to do with it, but still nice to see. Players are starting to buy in and check their ego at the door as well, which is key for making this work moving forward.

Impressed with his substitutions and drawn up plays but really excited about his demeanor. The way he didn't even flinch when Green hit the game winner, that's cold blooded. Would have been exactly the same if he missed. Going to spook opponents and inspire confidence in his players with that killer poker face.

[Meadowlark_Scal]

Brad Stevens is already showing what doc could not understand..that within your bench you have the right combo to win....but, you have to be willing to try other things.......also....your "starters" need to realize WHO is running the team....so there are NO starters....only players...offensive rebounding is...improving..but you can still see some doc residue left in players minds as they stand still when the shot is about to go up....you know where it is probably going to land...go after it..GO GET IT.....bball is 100% all the time..move without the ball....BS is doing very well..!!!

[Meadowlark_Scal]

Brad Stevens really seems to be coaching to each opponent - there is no set rotation, just favorable matchups and combinations. I'm sure the fairly even talent level across the board has a lot to do with it, but still nice to see. Players are starting to buy in and check their ego at the door as well, which is key for making this work moving forward.

Impressed with his substitutions and drawn up plays but really excited about his demeanor. The way he didn't even flinch when Green hit the game winner, that's cold blooded. Would have been exactly the same if he missed. Going to spook opponents and inspire confidence in his players with that killer poker face.

I added mine..then saw yours....as mine is now last in order....I agree with you also....tp..!

[Meadowlark_Scal]

Brad is doing something I always wondered coaches do not do in Basketball. That is play without a set starting five. Play the players that match up the best with your opponent. Play the players that give your opponents the most problems.

This means you are going to have different rotations depending on the team you play. This means the coach really has to coach.

Doc Rivers was not a coach at all. He just rode his star players - that is why he bailed to the Clippers, and why he would run off to watch his kids play when the Celtics had a game the next day. He will fail woefully with the Clippers.

Doc Rivers had three first ballot Hall of Famers for five years and all he could show was two finals appearances and one chip.

Tp..that is also how I believe....we have PLAYERS...not starters...I think if it helps a player..all should start now and then...but be a TEAM....give everyone a stake in it.....all for one.....there will be teams where different lineups work better...and combos of bigs with small quick pg's...brooks and pressey, fav, Kelly and green....things like that....

[SHAQATTACK]

If Stevens can some how  manage to get the team to return to Boston ,  and win a game that Orlando is looking for payback.....

I would just be amazed......

So far he is getting a lot of mileage out of this hodgepodge team of players.

I think the guy ....loves the mental challenges

[sicyon]

It was great to see the Celtics beat the Heat. I'm a bit surprised though that this game would excite anyone about the rotations of the coach though.

On defense they let the Heat do whatever they wanted. The only reason they won is because the Heat wanted to play even less defense and the C's jumpers went in.

On offense players were standing around looking at eachother instead of getting into their offensive sets. Crawford was stamping his feet trying to get someone to move. Clearly there's no familiarity with each other. The Celtics ended up with a lot of contested jumpers at the end of the shotclock. Granted, the shots went in but that's not a recipe for success.

Now it's great that the coach is willing to try some things, but at some point people have to fall into their role. You can't develop chemistry as a starting unit if you're playing with different guys in different roles every other game. I understand the season is young but this isn't an approach you can keep up I think. Olynyk is hanging out around the 3-point line, not sure whether to set a screen or get ready for a pass. He needs to know instinctively what Crawford is expecting and that's only going to come if they play together more. AB needs to go back to his cutting and slashing style and Crawford needs to find him when he's open for an easy one.

There's too much wasting of time, double guessing their decissions. That should improve though with more time on the floor together.

[Section301]

I'm happy to see the C's winning, for sure, and I'm reasonably happy with Stevens' coaching to date, but...seriously guys?  The fawning over what he's done seems a little premature.  Certainly, if it's too soon to come back with a negative evaluation, it's way too soon to come back with an evaluation that anoints him as reminiscent of Red Auerbach. 

As others have pointed out, his fluid lineups are based on both his lack of familiarity with the team and the NBA game (he's still feeling his way, as are his players) AND the fact that there are no outstanding players on this team.  It seems to go without saying that if he had 5 players who were unequivocally better than the rest, he would settle into a regular starting lineup and leave it that way.  If he failed to do that, we'd all kill him for messing with a good thing.  But since there is so little separation between any given starter and the next guy in line, someone is always going to be pleased when his favorite guy gets a shot, feeling it's proof of his binky's superiority over the stiff that was starting ahead of him. 

Please...just please...can we pump the brakes a little on this one?  Based on his prior track record at Butler I'm not ruling out the possibility that Stevens is an exceptional coach.  But the objective data does not yet support that argument.  We expected this would be at best a mediocre team, and that's pretty much what their record says they are right now - on track for 35 wins.  Let's see where they are at the end of the month.  If they're still near .500 at that point, then maybe we've got something.

[kozlodoev]

Stevens plays rooks, Doc would not.

Ah, the Doc detractor bonanza cometh. I guess it matters little that Stevens mostly has "rooks", and has been charged with no particular mandate about winning games. Also, I guess Al Jefferson, Kendrick Perkins, Rajon Rondo, Delonte West, Tony Allen, and Jared Sullinger all happened in some sort of parallel universe.

It's going to be a long year.

[Snakehead]

Stevens plays rooks, Doc would not.

Ah, the Doc detractor bonanza cometh. I guess it matters little that Stevens mostly has "rooks", and has been charged with no particular mandate about winning games. Also, I guess Al Jefferson, Kendrick Perkins, Rajon Rondo, Delonte West, Tony Allen, and Jared Sullinger all happened in some sort of parallel universe.

It's going to be a long year.

I feel like you and I need to work on our jabs at Doc to fit in around here.

[kozlodoev]

Brad Stevens really seems to be coaching to each opponent - there is no set rotation, just favorable matchups and combinations.

I'd believe that if there was any evidence that he went into games knowing what the "favorable matchups" are. Instead, we seem to be throwing players against the proverbial wall until something sticks. I'm impressed by the three wins, but can't see a particular "coaching master plan" behind them.