Stevens : "When it gets tough, we haven't"

[CFAN38]

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4716014/stevens-when-it-gets-tough-we-havent?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter


Not what you want to hear about a young team that is suppose to be developing. This reflects particularly poorly on the vet "leaders" of this team. I think this perceived lack of toughness will be helped when Smart returns but may ultimately require some lateral roster moves to shake things up.   

[Who]

Olynyk = difficult to develop hard working mentality when key part of your interior game repeatedly climbs into the fetal position whenever he misses a few shots.

Stevens = alongside Olynyk as biggest culprit. Repeatedly favors offensively orientated lineups over defensive & rebounding orientated lineups. If you want more physical and mental toughness from your team, play the guys that bring it.

[D.o.s.]

Stevens : "The sun rises in the East, and sets in the West."

Stevens : "I'm better than Gordon Hayward at Starcraft."

Stevens : "Never fight a land war in Asia."

[TwinTower14]

Missed the game last night but I saw the box score.  Nice to see Rondo 1-8, with 7 TO's and 0-3 from 3pt.  I am sure he more than made up for it with his stellar defense....

[MBunge]

You can't really argue with what he's saying but it seems like he's deflecting blame.

His rotation and substitution decisions are quite terrible and his coaching is clearly part of the problem on defense.  And maybe, just maybe, it's moronic to expect these players to perfectly execute an offense that it took even the Spurs several years to nail down.

Mike

[TwinTower14]

You can't really argue with what he's saying but it seems like he's deflecting blame.

His rotation and substitution decisions are quite terrible and his coaching is clearly part of the problem on defense.  And maybe, just maybe, it's moronic to expect these players to perfectly execute an offense that it took even the Spurs several years to nail down.

Mike

I like Stevens and I think he will be a good coach!  However, I feel like the C's are pretty bad on offense coming out of a TO?  What do you guys think?

[GetLucky]

I love Stevens, but he says stuff like this way too often. It needed to be said, but he's beginning to sound like the coach from The Fish that Saved Pittsburg. Here's to hoping he doesn't start saying "Fingertip control!" or "When the going get's tough, the tough get going!"

[gpap]

You can't really argue with what he's saying but it seems like he's deflecting blame.

His rotation and substitution decisions are quite terrible and his coaching is clearly part of the problem on defense.  And maybe, just maybe, it's moronic to expect these players to perfectly execute an offense that it took even the Spurs several years to nail down.

Mike

I like Stevens and I think he will be a good coach!  However, I feel like the C's are pretty bad on offense coming out of a TO?  What do you guys think?

I noticed that too.

On almost every play out of a timeout, the Celts fall flat.

I did think Green was fouled at the end of the game yesterday (which would've been huge, cuz I believe Green would've gone to the line) but, oh well.

Can't believe the Celts squandered a 23 point lead.

Furthermore, I really don't think Schroder is that good as he was the point throughout most of the 2nd half (which I found strange), yet we still lost.

[GetLucky]

Stevens : "The sun rises in the East, and sets in the West."

Stevens : "I'm better than Gordon Hayward at Starcraft."

Stevens : "Never fight a land war in Asia."

That's the second laugh you've gotten from me. I would give you another TP if not for the 1 hour rule.

[sofutomygaha]

I'm starting to think that we need some kind of a bullpen rotation to slow the game down and hold a lead (unless, as many believe, the extended high pace is part of an intentional losing strategy).

We keep blowing the doors off of people in the first half, only to get beat even worse in the second. Why, when we have a huge lead, do we not slow down the game and switch the focus to defense?

After last night's game, I was imagining constructing some kind of bizarro Celtics, where whenever Rondo, Turner, Green, Sullinger, and Olynyk manage to score 60 in the first half, we follow up with Smart, Bradley, Powell, Wallace, and Zeller in the second half to try to play Thib-style ball.

[Clench123]

You can't really argue with what he's saying but it seems like he's deflecting blame.

His rotation and substitution decisions are quite terrible and his coaching is clearly part of the problem on defense.  And maybe, just maybe, it's moronic to expect these players to perfectly execute an offense that it took even the Spurs several years to nail down.

Very accurate assessment

[BballTim]

You can't really argue with what he's saying but it seems like he's deflecting blame.

His rotation and substitution decisions are quite terrible and his coaching is clearly part of the problem on defense.  And maybe, just maybe, it's moronic to expect these players to perfectly execute an offense that it took even the Spurs several years to nail down.

Mike

 

I like Stevens and I think he will be a good coach!  However, I feel like the C's are pretty bad on offense coming out of a TO?  What do you guys think?

The execution's fairly poor. One of the games where Rondo ended up throwing up a last second three two guys (maybe Green and Sully) almost collided with each other running to the same spot to set a pick. Another play Rondo was driving and had to stop to avoid running into KO, who ran right into Rondo's path and suddenly stopped. There are other examples, but you see enough of that type of thing that it's obvious we aren't going to be great after timeouts.

[PickNRoll]

I'm starting to think that we need some kind of a bullpen rotation to slow the game down and hold a lead

Stevens tried exactly this last night with a lineup including Zeller, Bass, and Wallace.  The trouble was that they had a lot of trouble handling defensive pressure.  Every pass seemed on the verge of a 5 second violation.

[PickNRoll]

You can't really argue with what he's saying but it seems like he's deflecting blame.

His rotation and substitution decisions are quite terrible and his coaching is clearly part of the problem on defense.  And maybe, just maybe, it's moronic to expect these players to perfectly execute an offense that it took even the Spurs several years to nail down.

Mike

I like Stevens and I think he will be a good coach!  However, I feel like the C's are pretty bad on offense coming out of a TO?  What do you guys think?

I think blaming the coach for execution out of a timeout is overdone.  The players have seen all of  these plays hundreds or thousands of times.  If they fail to execute, it has more to do with increased defensive pressure, or the simple fact that a side out is tougher to negotiate than dribbling the ball up the court.

[D.o.s.]

You can't really argue with what he's saying but it seems like he's deflecting blame.

His rotation and substitution decisions are quite terrible and his coaching is clearly part of the problem on defense.  And maybe, just maybe, it's moronic to expect these players to perfectly execute an offense that it took even the Spurs several years to nail down.

Mike

I like Stevens and I think he will be a good coach!  However, I feel like the C's are pretty bad on offense coming out of a TO?  What do you guys think?

I think blaming the coach for execution out of a timeout is overdone.  The players have seen all of  these plays hundreds or thousands of times.  If they fail to execute, it has more to do with increased defensive pressure, or the simple fact that a side out is tougher to negotiate than dribbling the ball up the court.

Depends on the play, I think. I had a pretty dour outlook on Stevens' offense at the end of last season, but I haven't been able to watch more than 1-2 games this year, so I don't know if anything has changed.

Stevens : "The sun rises in the East, and sets in the West."

Stevens : "I'm better than Gordon Hayward at Starcraft."

Stevens : "Never fight a land war in Asia."

That's the second laugh you've gotten from me. I would give you another TP if not for the 1 hour rule.

Highlight of my Wednesday so far!