Grantland Interview with Brad Stevens (12/11)

[BleedGreen1989]

Was there a "Come to Jesus" talk with Jordan Crawford? Did you sit him down and tell him how he'd have to play in order to save and prolong his NBA career? There must have been a frank conversation.

I never had it.

Really?

It was more about talking collectively about: "What do we all do well?" And then thinking about what our teammates on the floor do well, and how we all can make them better at what they do. There are very few guys in the NBA who don't have things they don't do well. Some of the better players don't have very many, but everybody is here because they have a strength. So you just try to find your strengths and soar with them.

[Crawford] has done a good job of recognizing his strengths and recognizing his teammates' strengths.

There was really no conversation? Did he pipe up and tell you he could play this distributor role?

The only thing I wanted to make sure he knew from my standpoint was that it's a fresh start — that we believe in him. I had seen him be almost unstoppable in college [at Xavier], in a game I coached against him. I knew he was a tough shot-maker. The other thing I knew was, he's not scared of the moment. I watched him play us, but also watched him play Kansas State [in the 2010 tournament] from the front row, because we were gonna play the winner. And he made huge shots. And in the NCAA tournament, in that tense of an atmosphere, that takes a lot of guts.

I've been told to ask you to identify the funniest thing Crawford has said to you this season.

[Laughs.] He hasn't been a comedian! He's been pretty serious.

I didn't mean to say he hasn't been serious! He's just a funny dude.

He's received us really well. I can't think of anything funny that he's said — at least to me.....

Its a very good article but a little long to post the whole thing.

Make sure you give it a read!

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/85347/qa-coach-brad-stevens-on-his-surprising-celtics-and-the-new-jordan-crawford

[Interceptor]

This was a good read. Zach Lowe asks smart questions.