It's time to clear out the roster before CBS loses the team

[knuckleballer]

I was impressed with the job Stevens did last year.  He had a number of veteran role players and young guys on a roster that made no sense.  It could have gotten very ugly on and off the court, yet everyone played hard, shared the ball, and had a decent if not good attitude.  It was mostly the same deal for the first part of this season until the Rondo trade.  That signaled to the team that it is definitely tanking and added three new guys to an already oversized rotation.  Now the rotations are a mess, guys don't know what's expected of them, some are playing hero ball, the ball movement is awful, and guys looks disinterested.  Now, Crowder is speaking up and even Sully made comments and Stephens may be on verge of losing the team.  It's time for Ainge to clean house before things get real ugly.

Ainge's most difficult job will be to move Green.  Green appears to be disinterested the last several games and he needs to go soon.  I'd hope to get a late first for him, but being a rental that might be difficult.  He needs to auction him off and take the best offer even if it's just for second round picks.  Nelson needs to go too as he doesn't fit this team and has killed the ball movement when he's played.  He only makes $3 million so he shouldn't be difficult to unload even if he fetches nothing in return.  I believe I heard they have to wait another 6 weeks to trade him.  If that's true, I'll tell him to take a six week vacation.  Bass and Thornton aren't going to fetch anything in return.  They are rentals, make decent salaries, and are mediocre role players.  As far as I know they have decent attitudes, but they are taking minutes away from young guys who need to play.  I'd just cut the two of them and eat their salaries.  Wallace is another veteran, but he seems content not playing and helping the younger guys, so I'd leave him in that role.

After making these moves, Stephens will be able to condense the rotations and give guys defined roles.  I'd play Smart, Turner, and Bradley 30 minutes a game and not worry about Pressey's minutes.  He's only a fringe level player.  I'd split time between Crowder and Young at the three, giving more minutes to and starting Crowder.  Zeller, Sully, Olynyk, and Wright will be in the rotation at the 4 and 5.  I'd give the bulk of the minutes to the former three and 15-20 to Wright. 

After these changes, they would likely be headed to the 4th or 5th worst record in the league.  But at least the rotations will make sense and guys will know their role.  The young guys will have a chance to develop while the team heads towards a top draft pick.

Starters
Smart - 30 mins
Turner - 30 mins
Crowder - 28 mins
Sully - 25-30 mins
Zeller - 25- 30 mins

Rotation guys
Avery Bradley - 30 mins
Young - 20 mins
Olynyk 25-30 mins
Wright 15- 20 mins

end of roster
Pressey - less than 10 mins
Wallace - dnp

Gone
Green - trade
Nelson - trade/bench/cut
Bass - cut
Thornton - cut

They may have to sign a couple of D leaguers to fill out the roster depending on what they get in return for Green

[bobbyv]

I'm willing to give Stevens more time. I honestly thought he did a great job at the beginning of last season, then did a decent job after the Courtney Lee trade. I don't blame him for Danny trading the leader of the team.

[the_Bird]

He had trouble with veteran players last year.  Gerald Wallace speaking out wasn't unexpected, but Courtney Lee acting out was.  Another of the veterans last year - can't remember who - was spouting off in the media.  Now, we hear about how Rondo was never really pushed to play defense.  Bass is p---ed off about his playing time.  We've got a brand-new guy talking about how there's no accountability on the team.  Playing time seems to be allocated on a willy-nilly basis, with no consequences meted out for lack of effort or not playing within the system.

I mean, I get that it's a challenging environment, for any coach.  Trying to keep a group of players together and engaged when they know that they've got no hopes of playing meaningful games in the spring, and when they know that many of them will likely be traded in the next few months.  You've got fifteen players all playing with the exact same goal in mind - trying to look the best for whoever next employs them.

So, it's been a tough environment for Stevens to really excel as a coach...  but really, what have we seen from him?  Guys aren't playing together.  There's zero unity.  No consistency of effort.  No consequences for poor performance.  No real sign that I can see that his players respect him.  Hell, Rondo went out of his way to talk about how great of a coach Doc Rivers was, but never mentioned Stevens.

From what I can see, Stevens just seems to be *a guy*.  Not a leader of men.  Maybe he'll be an excellent coach at his next gig.  Maybe he's a guy who should be in college. 

To me, he looks like a guy who would be an ideal (absolutely ideal) assistant coach, to apprentice under Doc Rivers or Greg Popovich or some other coach who knows how to get through to their players.

My personal belief; I think players look at Stevens as a guy who was just handed the job, and they don't respect him. 

Hell, if Danny wanted a babyface to be the head coach, he never should have let Lawrence Frank leave!

[KingofDaPlayazBall]

I was impressed with the job Stevens did last year.  He had a number of veteran role players and young guys on a roster that made no sense.  It could have gotten very ugly on and off the court, yet everyone played hard, shared the ball, and had a decent if not good attitude.  It was mostly the same deal for the first part of this season until the Rondo trade.  That signaled to the team that it is definitely tanking and added three new guys to an already oversized rotation.  Now the rotations are a mess, guys don't know what's expected of them, some are playing hero ball, the ball movement is awful, and guys looks disinterested.  Now, Crowder is speaking up and even Sully made comments and Stephens may be on verge of losing the team.  It's time for Ainge to clean house before things get real ugly.

Ainge's most difficult job will be to move Green.  Green appears to be disinterested the last several games and he needs to go soon.  I'd hope to get a late first for him, but being a rental that might be difficult.  He needs to auction him off and take the best offer even if it's just for second round picks.  Nelson needs to go too as he doesn't fit this team and has killed the ball movement when he's played.  He only makes $3 million so he shouldn't be difficult to unload even if he fetches nothing in return.  I believe I heard they have to wait another 6 weeks to trade him.  If that's true, I'll tell him to take a six week vacation.  Bass and Thornton aren't going to fetch anything in return.  They are rentals, make decent salaries, and are mediocre role players.  As far as I know they have decent attitudes, but they are taking minutes away from young guys who need to play.  I'd just cut the two of them and eat their salaries.  Wallace is another veteran, but he seems content not playing and helping the younger guys, so I'd leave him in that role.

After making these moves, Stephens will be able to condense the rotations and give guys defined roles.  I'd play Smart, Turner, and Bradley 30 minutes a game and not worry about Pressey's minutes.  He's only a fringe level player.  I'd split time between Crowder and Young at the three, giving more minutes to and starting Crowder.  Zeller, Sully, Olynyk, and Wright will be in the rotation at the 4 and 5.  I'd give the bulk of the minutes to the former three and 15-20 to Wright. 

After these changes, they would likely be headed to the 4th or 5th worst record in the league.  But at least the rotations will make sense and guys will know their role.  The young guys will have a chance to develop while the team heads towards a top draft pick.

Starters
Smart - 30 mins
Turner - 30 mins
Crowder - 28 mins
Sully - 25-30 mins
Zeller - 25- 30 mins

Rotation guys
Avery Bradley - 30 mins
Young - 20 mins
Olynyk 25-30 mins
Wright 15- 20 mins

end of roster
Pressey - less than 10 mins
Wallace - dnp

Gone
Green - trade
Nelson - trade/bench/cut
Bass - cut
Thornton - cut

They may have to sign a couple of D leaguers to fill out the roster depending on what they get in return for Green

Olynlyk need to be in the group that gets cut.  team would instantly be twice as physical and twice as tough if he gets 0 minutes on the court.

[SHAQATTACK]

The only player that needs to go TODAY as we speak . Is Nelson.  His attitude and mind set doesn't belong on this team .

Bass , Wallace , and maybe Green should be traded, along with Wright .

The coach is a nice guy , but he has not earned any NBA respect .....and his personality is not of the automatic commanding type.

He is captain of a Chess team , not a NBA team.

[Evantime34]

I think we need to trade Green because he doesn't look like he's giving consistent effort.

We should trade Bass, Wright and Nelson because their playing time will come at the expense of a young player we can develop.

Get rid of what you can and just build with hungry young players that are trying to get better.

[Who]

Agreed -- Ainge needs to protect his coach here. CBS is struggling to handle deep roster. Clear out some of the vets and make things easier for your coach to handle.

[PAOBoston]

I feel bad for Stevens as this is a borderline impossible job to do right now. Ainge gave him an unbalanced roster to begin with. He then added 3 more pieces to it to complicate matters even worse. It's like a no win situation as CBS tries to balance rotations, develop, and showcase players to increase/keep their value.

The veterans like Green, Bass, Thornton, Nelson need to go, especially Green/Bass. Between Bass' complaints of playing time last week and Green going into full turtle mode since the Rondo trade, I've had quite enough about both. They are going through the motions and I think they were (at least Green) that Crowder was referring to last night. Thornton coming off an injury might be tough to trade since he isn't healthy. Nelson can be bought out.

At this point, we all know whwre the season is going. Let the kids get some experience and see what you have. At least they will be hungry to prove themselves.

[the_Bird]

Stevens needs to get a pair. 

He needs to lay out his expectations, and when players aren't meeting those expectations, he needs to sit them down. 

He needs to tell Danny - you find me the players, but you need to let me coach.  He can't let Ainge dictate playing time, in a futile effort to showcase our marginal talent to other teams. 

He needs to let it be known that frustrations get expressed in the locker room and in his office - not in the media.

Stevens has a long-term contract, but that doesn't mean the fans and the media won't ride him out of town.  If he wants a thirty-year career coaching in The Show, he needs to begin showing that he can actually be a leader.

[kozlodoev]

I don't think we can talk about Stevens losing the team in future tense anymore.

[TA9]

I'm sorry but could anyone tell me who or what CBS is

[knuckleballer]

Stevens needs to get a pair. 

He needs to lay out his expectations, and when players aren't meeting those expectations, he needs to sit them down. 

He needs to tell Danny - you find me the players, but you need to let me coach.  He can't let Ainge dictate playing time, in a futile effort to showcase our marginal talent to other teams. 

He needs to let it be known that frustrations get expressed in the locker room and in his office - not in the media.

Stevens has a long-term contract, but that doesn't mean the fans and the media won't ride him out of town.  If he wants a thirty-year career coaching in The Show, he needs to begin showing that he can actually be a leader.

I don't see how can possibly win over this team as it's currently constructed.  There are too many guys that deserve to play.  If he goes to an 8 or 9 man rotation, he is going to anger several guys who will likely act out.  If he plays everyone, the rotations are a disaster.  He's in a no win situation until they ship guys out.  The roster is a disaster right now.  Ainge needs to act sooner than later.

[knuckleballer]

I'm sorry but could anyone tell me who or what CBS is

Coach Brad Stephens

[TA9]

I'm sorry but could anyone tell me who or what CBS is

Coach Brad Stephens

TP Thanks for the help!
What a funny abbreviation

[the_Bird]

Stevens needs to get a pair. 

He needs to lay out his expectations, and when players aren't meeting those expectations, he needs to sit them down. 

He needs to tell Danny - you find me the players, but you need to let me coach.  He can't let Ainge dictate playing time, in a futile effort to showcase our marginal talent to other teams. 

He needs to let it be known that frustrations get expressed in the locker room and in his office - not in the media.

Stevens has a long-term contract, but that doesn't mean the fans and the media won't ride him out of town.  If he wants a thirty-year career coaching in The Show, he needs to begin showing that he can actually be a leader.

I don't see how can possibly win over this team as it's currently constructed.  There are too many guys that deserve to play.  If he goes to an 8 or 9 man rotation, he is going to anger several guys who will likely act out.  If he plays everyone, the rotations are a disaster.  He's in a no win situation until they ship guys out.  The roster is a disaster right now.  Ainge needs to act sooner than later.

Do we have 10 or 12 players who are consistently giving good effort on the defensive end, who are sharing the ball offensively and playing within the system that Stevens is trying to implement?

Then we don't have 10 or 12 players who deserve playing time.