It has been almost two seasons now, and like all of Celtic nation I have watched the college coach turned pro attempt to lead the Celtics back to respectability and winning ways. And while Stevens certainly hasn’t had a great cast surrounding him, it is my opinion that he has failed, and continues to fail nightly in coaching the Celtics. Further, I do not think he is the right coach for the C’s, in their rebuilding project. Of all of Ainge’s moves in the rebuilding effort, hiring Stevens, by far, is his worst.
Please allow me to elaborate.
I have two major issues with Stevens, (and numerous other small issues that I won’t get into, as most of them are nit picking). The first issue is his rotations.
In short, they make little to no sense. I don’t know, (and I doubt Stevens knows either), if he’s tanking or playing to make the playoffs. His rotations are at times mindboggling, replacing key rebounders and scorers with players cold off the bench in critical situations where runs are either getting us back in games, or taking us out of games. How many times have we seen opposing teams guards scoring at will, while Stevens leaves Bradley, Smart and Wallace on the bench? How many times have we seen the Celtics struggling to score points while Marcus Thorton, Avery Bradley, Jeff Green and Olynyk sat on the bench wondering why they were not in the game?
Stevens seems to almost forget he has players on his bench, (James Young, Gerald Wallace, and even Brandon Bass), then uses them in situations where it’s difficult to contribute cold off the bench. I can only imagine the psyche of James Young, not used for the first half of the season, now a regular in the rotation – for now. Kelly Olynyk, whose starting job it was to lose, apparently lost it, and Stevens has decided he can do nothing to ever earn it back. Phil Pressey is no longer even a consideration despite providing useful, if not stellar minutes, in the past, particularly last season.
I also feel that Stevens’ offensive schemes, mainly relying on the three point shot so heavily, is a poor strategy, and reminds me of Pitino’s strategy that; “You only need to hit 1/3rd of your shots if you take 3 point field goals, versus 2 point shots.” Stevens, like Pitino, is in love with the 3 point shot, and lets players who really aren’t good 3 point shooters, (Jared Sullinger comes to mind), shoot them with regularity, and shoot the Celtics out of games.
The second major issue I have is with Stevens’ complete lack of emotion on the court. When Celtics legend Bill Russell first took the court for the C’s he vividly remembers a call going against him. When Red Auerbach rose up and stormed towards the official, defending his player, Russell felt as though this was a man that would have his back, and in turn he could play to the best of his ability, being backed up by his coach, creating a sense of team and unity.
Since then, this is one aspect in coaching I have barely noticed, as standing by, and for your players is an expected norm in NBA basketball.
Apparently not for Stevens.
Most of the time the “coach” looks lost, bored, or confused. And while his assistant coaches have picked up technical fouls in defense of their players, Stevens has seen fit to take a back seat, and done nothing to support his men. I wonder how he can expect his players to want to fight and win on a sub .500 team, when their coach won’t say an unkind word in their defense. More to the point, last night when Isaiah Thomas was ejected against the Lakers, the second technical foul an unnecessary, bad call, Stevens gives Joe Resnick of the Associated Press the following comment; “''We have to do a better job of handling our emotions.'' Really Brad? Way to support your players. Isaiah was upset over a bad call and slammed the ball in frustration; the second technical foul was completely unwarranted. And how do you support your newest player? Simply put, you don’t. Way to support your men, “coach”.
In a game against Chicago late in October this season, it is my opinion that Stevens’ lack of support cost the Celtics a win. In a play that took place right in front of Stevens, Evan Turner was obviously fouled. Anybody with eyes could see the hard contact. Stevens, who had a better view than most, saw it, yet only muttered a couple of words to the official. In the end that lack of call prevented from the Celtics from winning a tight game. It was just one game of many where Stevens never working the officials or standing for his players chiefly aided in costing us the game.
It’s fortunate that the Celtics players don’t act or adopt Stevens persona, can you imagine 12 catatonic players who just stare vacantly while chewing a fingernail when a call doesn’t go their way.
With no offense meant to the man personally, Brad Stevens was a good college coach; he should go back to being one. He reminds me more of Rick Pitino than I’d like to admit.
Topic: The Problems with Brad Stevens (Read 11483 times)