The team seems to love Stevens and his approach

[aingeforthree]

Bradley's quote is precisely the reason why I didn't want somebody like Stan Van Gundy to be the next coach.  His sideline demeanor is awful.

I'm not going to judge Stevens on the win/loss record this season.  He's doing a terrific job so far with a mismatched roster.

I don't think Stevens thinks its a mismatched roster.  The versatility on the team is right up his alley.

[BballTim]

Doc provided some great leadership while he was here but I suspect he probably got a bit set in his ways and expected players to fit in with the way he did things.  I mean, there's some reason for the amazing change in Courtney Lee.

Mike

Stevens is actually using Sully offensively, too. And whatever it is, Bass is rebounding unlike ever before.

Bass is actually setting career lows in rebounding percentage. He's definitely not rebounding any better than he did in the past.

Just shows that people see what they want to see.

Not really. He may be wrong about Bass, but he wouldn't be wrong about the team. The team is statistically rebounding better than the last two seasons (based on differential between us and out opponents, which I personally value a lot more than raw ranking based on totals). Much better in fact. Close to '09-'11 rebounding levels (not as good as '08 obviously, though). Obviously it's only been a couple weeks, but it's looking good so far.

  Our offensive rebounding is much better but our defensive rebounding is much worse. Overall we might be a little better but it's definitely an odd trend.

[kozlodoev]

Doc provided some great leadership while he was here but I suspect he probably got a bit set in his ways and expected players to fit in with the way he did things.  I mean, there's some reason for the amazing change in Courtney Lee.

Mike

Stevens is actually using Sully offensively, too. And whatever it is, Bass is rebounding unlike ever before.

Bass is actually setting career lows in rebounding percentage. He's definitely not rebounding any better than he did in the past.

Just shows that people see what they want to see.

Not really. He may be wrong about Bass, but he wouldn't be wrong about the team. The team is statistically rebounding better than the last two seasons (based on differential between us and out opponents, which I personally value a lot more than raw ranking based on totals). Much better in fact. Close to '09-'11 rebounding levels (not as good as '08 obviously, though). Obviously it's only been a couple weeks, but it's looking good so far.

I don't use totals, they're pretty meaningless.

We're 24th in the league in total rebounding percentage, driven mostly by our atrocious defensive rebounding rate.

To add to this, a lot of our key players are considerably worse in this department than they've been in recent years, and by no small margin.

We are a pretty bad rebounding team. Perhaps the fact that our offensive rebounding has gone from "non-existent" to "occasionally flashy" is fooling some people, but in the grand scheme of things, this is the sad truth.

[SCeltic34]

Bradley's quote is precisely the reason why I didn't want somebody like Stan Van Gundy to be the next coach.  His sideline demeanor is awful.

I'm not going to judge Stevens on the win/loss record this season.  He's doing a terrific job so far with a mismatched roster.

I don't think Stevens thinks its a mismatched roster.  The versatility on the team is right up his alley.

I suppose it depends on how you look at it.  There is clearly a logjam at PF with Bass, Sully, KO, and Hump, although each of these players spend time at the C position.  Not sure at this point whether this is ideal or not.  Also a logjam at SG.  I wouldn't mind having another true SF on the roster in case Wallace or Green goes down.

[action781]

I imagine Stevens being somewhat of an architect of a coach... wanting a game executed how he envisions it.  Rondo is more of an instinctual player.  I'm curious to see how the relationship between Stevens and Rondo will be when Rondo returns.

[sed522002]

I imagine Stevens being somewhat of an architect of a coach... wanting a game executed how he envisions it.  Rondo is more of an instinctual player.  I'm curious to see how the relationship between Stevens and Rondo will be when Rondo returns.

I actually think the opposite. Stevens has a game plan but if something isn't working he's not afraid to switch it up and all the players say he let's them play freely..that's up Rondo's alley.

[D.o.s.]

The guys responding best to a change in coaching are the guys who had struggled to carve out space under the earlier coach.

Go figure.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

I think he's probably a fantastic coach.  If we eventually sputter out and settle in as a 25 win team, I'm not going to blame it on Stevens.  He's here for the long-haul.

Yep, that's exactly how I feel. I'm thinking about the "process" lol.

[dang] right. 

[Sketch5]

I think we are seeing the benefit of the preseason when Stevens was messing with the line ups.

I loved Doc, but one thing he did was try to make players into what they weren't. He tried to get things out of them they couldn't do.

Stevens has had over a month now to evaluate his roster, know who does what well and what they don't do well. He mixes players strength and weakness's together to complement each other so there isn't lack of offense or defense for too long.

I also heard that he doesn't get on players like some other coach's when they are shooting poorly. He keeps the same demeanor and stay's positive. It's been pretty reflective on the team.

Of course its 8 games in, and only 4 games ago people were saying he wasn't ready to be in the NBA. We'll see how he handles the rest of the season. But as of right now, even if we start on a loosing stretch again, its still promising what this guy could possible do when Rondo gets back, and if they ca pull in an other start player at some point.