Stevens not adjusting

[Tr1boy]

Rookie coach after all. But i find that he has a great pre game plan , but is having issues adjusting to the other teams adjusting.

- He keeps sticking with the same starting 5 and bench 5 instead of switching it up. Sullinger and Bass upfront is not going to help you get the job done defensively late in the game. Bass especially shouldn't be playing in the 4th quarter

-  Gerald wallace and humphries are having good games, but they don't play the mins they should

- Olynyk has been struggling, but i find that after one or two mistakes he is getting yanked.  The kid should have a chance to screw up here and there and build his confidence

- Jcraw is killing the offensive flow in the 2nd half.  I'm getting tired of him jacking "shocking" threes.  He is no Ray Allen or Steph Curry and should not do it

In the end of course it could be mainly the lack of elite talent thats the issue.  Especially not having Rondo , nor a center. But he should get back to mixing and matching, adjusting, instead of sticking with the same routine.  It's like these guys got us 30 pts or 40 pts in the 1st quarter, so they must be good enough to close out the games. But that is not the case.

[celticpride17]

He took out sullinger with over 3 minutes to go in the 3rd  quarter and  then didn't put sully back in the game until there was 6 minutes and 33 seconds to go in the game! all that time on the bench,makes it hard to get warm again and a player loses his rhythem, and the other team gets confidence as they stay close then take the lead in the game.I think stevens lets to many teams make a run, scoring 9 points or more in a row before calling a time out. He needs to stop the momemton of the other team sooner! he is a very good coach though and he will learn to adapt to the nba game.

[alley oop]

- He keeps sticking with the same starting 5 and bench 5 instead of switching it up. Sullinger and Bass upfront is not going to help you get the job done defensively late in the game. Bass especially shouldn't be playing in the 4th quarter

-  Gerald wallace and humphries are having good games, but they don't play the mins they should

The coach went away from what was working in the 4th quarter. Phil Pressey had 5 assists in 14 minutes and no turnovers in the game; the 8 point lead was built with him in. Kris Humphries was hitting his jumper, Bass had been missing his, and he pulled Kris.

[Boris Badenov]

Some data on this point, showing Celtics' scoring and points surrendered by quarter:


            Scored         Allowed        Diff
1st Q         25.2           23.4         +1.8
2nd           24.6           24.3         +0.3
3rd           22.2           24.5         -2.3
4th           23.4           24.0         -0.6


Pretty much supports your story. We start well and finish badly. There could be other explanations, of course, but the numbers are consistent with what you're saying.

http://www.teamrankings.com/nba/team-stat/scoring-defense

[cltc5]

It was mentioned on the podcast, not sure by who that perhaps the team is burnt out because of the break neck start.  That by the time they get to the 4th, they have no energy, and with not having any bigs, the other teams bigs just lumber on them.  I think they had 30 some points and nearly that many rebounds by their bigs alone in the second half.  So, in defense of stevens, again we have a problem with the need for some BIG help that Danny has yet to adequately address.

[BballTim]

  It's hard to make too many adjustments when you're given a roster that's mainly comprised of power forwards and light-scoring shooting guards.

[Snakehead]

I disagree with about all of your points so of course he isn't making those adjustments.. and I'm glad.  Bass is one of our best defenders (and should be playing in the 4th), Crawford needs to be aggressive to shooting (we lack players who can create their own shot and he is still shooting a good percentage on the year), why play Wallace and Humphries over young players we need to develop?, etc.

I think he's a COY candidate and should be applauded.  To me he is clearly a coach who dictates his decisions based of the personnel at his disposal (not a coach who forces their strategy without the proper personnel, always a big pet peeve).

[nickagneta]

Isaid this in defense of Doc Rivers and I will say it again in defense of Brad Stevens. Maybe some people will learn and actually see this is true.

Coaches coach their system and stick to their rotations. They stick with these things throughout there career. Coaches do not coach based on game to game adjustments. They set their rotations and play them and that's that. Doc did it and Stevens is doing it and just about every good coach in the league does it.

Players respect consistency of a coach and knowing what their role is and that they will consistently be given that role so long as they play their best. Jerking players in and out of rotations and games based solely on the perception of what is happening in the game is something fans dream up. Its not something coaches do unless a playoff series is happening or players get injured or into foul trouble.

Stevens has a system with players locked in certain roles and the success of the team is based on players performing well in those roles. There was zero that needed to be adjusted to in today's game. The players simply had to shoot better, defend better and play better and they would have won.

[hwangjini_1]

and did anyone mention that the celtics are basically a team with mismatched and poor talent? yes, starting out stevens' game plan works well. but other teams adjust, as they should.

what can stevens counter with i ask you? who is it that can come off the bench and carry this team with any regularity? how do you consistently, game after game "adjust" when your team has mediocre to poor talent?

but most important is that stevens is not playing these games to win. winning is nice, but secondary this season. number one is to develop players and the team. he gives everyone lots of time and chances to see what they do with certain combinations, sets, etc. stevens doesnt judge on 1, 2, or 20 situations it seems. it seems to me that stevens waits to see what players learn, how they can or cant adjust.

good for him.

for me, i dont mind that the celtics are losing, we knew they would. in fact, stevens has this team winning at a rate far in excess of what many of us thought. impressive.

so stevens, after a grant total of 28 games as an nba coach, with a team that was blown up by ainge and now has players with mismatched and uneven talent, and many of whom are wondering what team they will be traded too soon, is having trouble adjusting? let's be a bit more patient, shall we?

a number of pundits and posters before the season predicted the celtics would have trouble scoring, and especially scoring in the 4th quarter when other teams' defenses wake up and they play with greater intensity. these people were correct and the celtics players have trouble scoring against good defenses.

folks, i just dont get the "stevens not adjusting" argument only 28 games into his first nba season. how much can a team absorb in terms of coaching in that span of time?

again, let's revisit this concept and thread at the end of the season, if not later.

[pokeKingCurtis]

Stevens can't combine our mediocre players into a good player. Maybe if the game were 7v7 instead of 5v5 we'd have better showings.

[billysan]

When we lose games in the fourth quarter after leading, it is a clear indication that we are not executing offensively or getting defensive stops. Look at how many shots we are missing and how many points we are giving up in crunch time. It really is that simple. This team has to do one or the other effectively to help offset the adjustments other teams are making.

Having a 'go-to' scorer and defensive stopper type player will help when Danny gets around to adding them. Most consider this a big man who can protect the rim and a higher quality (offensive) wing player than we currently have.

I think Sullinger should remain in the end of game unit no matter what. Until he fouls out, he is an invaluable end of game post threat. Adding Rondo to the lineup with him will help tremendously.

[Tr1boy]

Lee and olynyk playing less than a 10 min is not good imo. We were a much better team when the min were spread out and bench contributed more

[hpantazo]

Bradley today shot extremely well for a stretch, which took the ball away from the effective post play of Sullinger and from attacking the rim in general. Down the stretch the jumper stopped falling and that was that. Sometimes it's on the players, not the coach.

[Celtics4ever]

Rookie coach after all. But i find that he has a great pre game plan , but is having issues adjusting to the other teams adjusting.

- He keeps sticking with the same starting 5 and bench 5 instead of switching it up. Sullinger and Bass upfront is not going to help you get the job done defensively late in the game. Bass especially shouldn't be playing in the 4th quarter

-  Gerald wallace and humphries are having good games, but they don't play the mins they should

- Olynyk has been struggling, but i find that after one or two mistakes he is getting yanked.  The kid should have a chance to screw up here and there and build his confidence

- Jcraw is killing the offensive flow in the 2nd half.  I'm getting tired of him jacking "shocking" threes.  He is no Ray Allen or Steph Curry and should not do it

In the end of course it could be mainly the lack of elite talent thats the issue.  Especially not having Rondo , nor a center. But he should get back to mixing and matching, adjusting, instead of sticking with the same routine.  It's like these guys got us 30 pts or 40 pts in the 1st quarter, so they must be good enough to close out the games. But that is not the case.

You presume to know more than this coach?   That is laughable.   I think he is bright and he is good and he is making this team play way above their talent level.

NBA is a player's league.   Phil Jackson was great when he has the best player in the game but he knows if he doesn't have that he won't coach.  I think Stevens will be fine.

[SCeltic34]

Lee and olynyk playing less than a 10 min is not good imo. We were a much better team when the min were spread out and bench contributed more

Lee and Olynyk did absolutely nothing in the first half.  I don't fault Stevens for not playing them thereafter.  I can certainly see the argument for Hump getting more minutes though.

Overall, his rotations have been fine.  If someone is playing well, Brad leaves them in there longer.  His rotations are not set in stone.  For example, he let Faverani finish the game the other night because he was giving us a huge lift, and we ended up winning the game. 

We lost the last 2 games primarily because of ill-timed turnovers.  And gotta give Washington credit, they played some solid ball after their slow 1st quarter.