Great podcast / Brad Stevens catching buzz around league w/ players and coaches

[2short]

pourin' one out for Celtics Stuff Live:




(and not just b/c i was once a featured "cap expert" guess; this was Pre-KG when it wasn't cool to know all that junk.... )

Gosh African Queen! Bogie needs his booze.  Nice throw back

[Denis998]

I Love Zach Lowe, such a good podcast! I also subscribe to Celtics Beat/CLNS Radio, host voice is a bit annoying but he is knowledgeable and his guest are usually pretty high profile.

thank you

Love your stuff as well, make it a point to listen in every week.

[NYDan]

The Celtics shine is nice to hear for sure but there's a lot of great stuff in this interview. Jason Kidd giving tests before games and keeping score, why every team wants a Draymond Green, Kings>>>76ers as a destination, Marcin Gortat living like Jordan in Poland, the upcoming CBA talks. Love hearing current players talk candidly like this, insightful stuff from Dudley.

[max215]

I Love Zach Lowe, such a good podcast! I also subscribe to Celtics Beat/CLNS Radio, host voice is a bit annoying but he is knowledgeable and his guest are usually pretty high profile.

thank you

Yep, Celtics Beat is a staple for me on Sunday mornings. It's the best Celtics-centric media I've been able to find outside of CB.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Zach Lowe is the best. I wish there was somebody out there that's a diehard celtics fan that can run a podcast somewhere near the level he can.

Hopefully when Simmons' deal with HBO starts he brings the BS report back under a different name.

Will this be a paid subscription? Man, I don't have HBO.

[Gainesville Celtic]

I liked the part about him bashing Philly.  Basically saying what many argue matters: how you run your organization and if you're giving an honest effort to wins games matters.  Dudley says he doesn't like how they do business and has no interest in playing there.  He is fine with being in situation where you maybe "tank" part of your season and gets it but no effort for multiple years he has no interest in participating in.

For context, he was asked if he'd rather play for the Kings or 76ers and he said Kings by far.

Ehhh... Feeling's mutual there.

He's the exact type of the guy the Sixers have no interest in right now... Rebuilding teams don't need a Jared Dudley, he's a viable back end of the rotation guy. It makes no sense for either side to go for the other.

I disagree. Teams like the Sixers actually do need 1-2 Jared Dudley's to teach the rebuilders how to win. It was fascinating hearing how he did that w Giannis. In fact I think this is PHI's fatal flaw -- IMO you can't wait to instill culture and teach winning until you have the pieces to win with -- it's gotta be concurrent.

How much better would a guy like Antoine have been if he'd not been "the man" on a horrible team and allowed to develop lots of small bad habits? Injuries aside Embiid seems to be floundering (reports of blowing off rehab, putting on weight, etc.). Who's gonna speak into his life? One of their 23 min salary guys? Wroten or another guy their same age? Maaaaybe Jason Richardson...

Jared Dudley's, Gerald Wallace's even 39 y.o. KGs will stop that nonsense on a team. Wall and Beal both talked about Pierces influence even though he's clearly a fraction of THE TRUTH at this point...

[Snakehead]

I liked the part about him bashing Philly.  Basically saying what many argue matters: how you run your organization and if you're giving an honest effort to wins games matters.  Dudley says he doesn't like how they do business and has no interest in playing there.  He is fine with being in situation where you maybe "tank" part of your season and gets it but no effort for multiple years he has no interest in participating in.

For context, he was asked if he'd rather play for the Kings or 76ers and he said Kings by far.

Ehhh... Feeling's mutual there.

He's the exact type of the guy the Sixers have no interest in right now... Rebuilding teams don't need a Jared Dudley, he's a viable back end of the rotation guy. It makes no sense for either side to go for the other.

I disagree. Teams like the Sixers actually do need 1-2 Jared Dudley's to teach the rebuilders how to win. It was fascinating hearing how he did that w Giannis. In fact I think this is PHI's fatal flaw -- IMO you can't wait to instill culture and teach winning until you have the pieces to win with -- it's gotta be concurrent.

How much better would a guy like Antoine have been if he'd not been "the man" on a horrible team and allowed to develop lots of small bad habits? Injuries aside Embiid seems to be floundering (reports of blowing off rehab, putting on weight, etc.). Who's gonna speak into his life? One of their 23 min salary guys? Wroten or another guy their same age? Maaaaybe Jason Richardson...

Jared Dudley's, Gerald Wallace's even 39 y.o. KGs will stop that nonsense on a team. Wall and Beal both talked about Pierces influence even though he's clearly a fraction of THE TRUTH at this point...

TP.  Well put.

You hear every great player talk about the vets that showed them the way, and often it's not even some top level player that is that veteran leader type that was their mentor.  It's a reality of how the game works and how players developing isn't like NBA 2K where it happens no matter what is around them.  It takes a positive environment.  Veterans, coaches, and the organization matter.  Giving an effort to win matters. 

I think it's pretty plain to see and you hear the same stories over and over that all this matters but lots of fans these days act like it doesn't.  Do they just not believe all these players that have been there and said this is how it works?  Do they not see all the failures?  Obviously there are no guarantees either way, but I love how the Celtics are going about things and think that this style will develop all our young players to their best potential, wherever that lies.

And I think we are seeing that players respect that honest approach.  I hope it works to land a big free agent.  I know it hasn't yet, but you see talk that Love possibly had us as his second choice and you see Dudley saying Boston would be in the top 2 or 3 choices based on Stevens and the rest.

I think there's a lot more basic humanity in basketball than people say.  Having a mentor and a veteran to be a leader is a real factor.

[pokeKingCurtis]

After watching We Need to Talk about Kevin, kids need to be raised properly. Also, you probably should avoid having a bad kid.

[SCeltic34]

Hiring Stevens was probably Ainge's most underrated move of the rebuild.  We all bicker about recent trades, our recent draft selections, and overall roster construction.  But one thing that I have noticed on CelticsBlog - a site where criticism is an accepted norm, and rightfully so on any passionate sports forum - is the death of the criticism of Brad Stevens.

That's not to say that fans here don't have question marks about our future and Stevens himself.  I think Stevens is the best young coach in league, but I myself am not truly convinced just yet.  What can he achieve once he gets a roster worthy of contending for a title?

But we're on the right track.  Yeah, we don't have a star player yet.  But we do have: A proven and crafty GM; A young roster with potential and a plethora of assets at our disposal; A great young coach who is open-minded, personable, and above all has a great basketball mind.  When you look at the way the landscape of the NBA has changed, where star players and upcoming talents no longer have been flocking to prime big market destinations like LA and NY, I think we're sitting [dang] pretty.  We have class.  We have quality.  We've built a winning culture, even though we haven't actually won anything of significance since we truly started rebuilding.

A little more more patience and we're going to be a Finals contender in the East.  We're going to have a nice mix of veterans and young talent that can propel us over the top.

[obnoxiousmime]

I liked the part about him bashing Philly.  Basically saying what many argue matters: how you run your organization and if you're giving an honest effort to wins games matters.  Dudley says he doesn't like how they do business and has no interest in playing there.  He is fine with being in situation where you maybe "tank" part of your season and gets it but no effort for multiple years he has no interest in participating in.

For context, he was asked if he'd rather play for the Kings or 76ers and he said Kings by far.

Ehhh... Feeling's mutual there.

He's the exact type of the guy the Sixers have no interest in right now... Rebuilding teams don't need a Jared Dudley, he's a viable back end of the rotation guy. It makes no sense for either side to go for the other.

I disagree. Teams like the Sixers actually do need 1-2 Jared Dudley's to teach the rebuilders how to win. It was fascinating hearing how he did that w Giannis. In fact I think this is PHI's fatal flaw -- IMO you can't wait to instill culture and teach winning until you have the pieces to win with -- it's gotta be concurrent.

How much better would a guy like Antoine have been if he'd not been "the man" on a horrible team and allowed to develop lots of small bad habits? Injuries aside Embiid seems to be floundering (reports of blowing off rehab, putting on weight, etc.). Who's gonna speak into his life? One of their 23 min salary guys? Wroten or another guy their same age? Maaaaybe Jason Richardson...

Jared Dudley's, Gerald Wallace's even 39 y.o. KGs will stop that nonsense on a team. Wall and Beal both talked about Pierces influence even though he's clearly a fraction of THE TRUTH at this point...

TP.  Well put.

You hear every great player talk about the vets that showed them the way, and often it's not even some top level player that is that veteran leader type that was their mentor.  It's a reality of how the game works and how players developing isn't like NBA 2K where it happens no matter what is around them.  It takes a positive environment.  Veterans, coaches, and the organization matter.  Giving an effort to win matters. 

I think it's pretty plain to see and you hear the same stories over and over that all this matters but lots of fans these days act like it doesn't.  Do they just not believe all these players that have been there and said this is how it works?  Do they not see all the failures?  Obviously there are no guarantees either way, but I love how the Celtics are going about things and think that this style will develop all our young players to their best potential, wherever that lies.

And I think we are seeing that players respect that honest approach.  I hope it works to land a big free agent.  I know it hasn't yet, but you see talk that Love possibly had us as his second choice and you see Dudley saying Boston would be in the top 2 or 3 choices based on Stevens and the rest.

I think there's a lot more basic humanity in basketball than people say.  Having a mentor and a veteran to be a leader is a real factor.

Well, what about the Cavs? The league's laughingstock last year with constant rumors of turmoil, front office incompetence, etc. Besides LeBron, they added a bunch of guys from lottery teams like Shumpert, JR Smith, and Mozgov. Kevin Love was widely considered a quitter who was overrated and cared only about his numbers in Minnesota. Still, they went to the Finals their first season together.

Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of the Celtics valuing team culture and all that. I like to root for a team that does things the right way instead of just rooting for laundry. However, I'm fully aware that just having team chemistry doesn't guarantee anything, talent is just as or even more important.

If Ainge could trade a bunch of these so-called hard-working, smart, team-oriented non-stars for noted malcontent DeMarcus Cousins tomorrow, he would do it in an instant.

[Rondo9]

I liked the part about him bashing Philly.  Basically saying what many argue matters: how you run your organization and if you're giving an honest effort to wins games matters.  Dudley says he doesn't like how they do business and has no interest in playing there.  He is fine with being in situation where you maybe "tank" part of your season and gets it but no effort for multiple years he has no interest in participating in.

For context, he was asked if he'd rather play for the Kings or 76ers and he said Kings by far.

Ehhh... Feeling's mutual there.

He's the exact type of the guy the Sixers have no interest in right now... Rebuilding teams don't need a Jared Dudley, he's a viable back end of the rotation guy. It makes no sense for either side to go for the other.

I disagree. Teams like the Sixers actually do need 1-2 Jared Dudley's to teach the rebuilders how to win. It was fascinating hearing how he did that w Giannis. In fact I think this is PHI's fatal flaw -- IMO you can't wait to instill culture and teach winning until you have the pieces to win with -- it's gotta be concurrent.

How much better would a guy like Antoine have been if he'd not been "the man" on a horrible team and allowed to develop lots of small bad habits? Injuries aside Embiid seems to be floundering (reports of blowing off rehab, putting on weight, etc.). Who's gonna speak into his life? One of their 23 min salary guys? Wroten or another guy their same age? Maaaaybe Jason Richardson...

Jared Dudley's, Gerald Wallace's even 39 y.o. KGs will stop that nonsense on a team. Wall and Beal both talked about Pierces influence even though he's clearly a fraction of THE TRUTH at this point...

TP.  Well put.

You hear every great player talk about the vets that showed them the way, and often it's not even some top level player that is that veteran leader type that was their mentor.  It's a reality of how the game works and how players developing isn't like NBA 2K where it happens no matter what is around them.  It takes a positive environment.  Veterans, coaches, and the organization matter.  Giving an effort to win matters. 

I think it's pretty plain to see and you hear the same stories over and over that all this matters but lots of fans these days act like it doesn't.  Do they just not believe all these players that have been there and said this is how it works?  Do they not see all the failures?  Obviously there are no guarantees either way, but I love how the Celtics are going about things and think that this style will develop all our young players to their best potential, wherever that lies.

And I think we are seeing that players respect that honest approach.  I hope it works to land a big free agent.  I know it hasn't yet, but you see talk that Love possibly had us as his second choice and you see Dudley saying Boston would be in the top 2 or 3 choices based on Stevens and the rest.

I think there's a lot more basic humanity in basketball than people say.  Having a mentor and a veteran to be a leader is a real factor.

Well, what about the Cavs? The league's laughingstock last year with constant rumors of turmoil, front office incompetence, etc. Besides LeBron, they added a bunch of guys from lottery teams like Shumpert, JR Smith, and Mozgov. Kevin Love was widely considered a quitter who was overrated and cared only about his numbers in Minnesota. Still, they went to the Finals their first season together.

Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of the Celtics valuing team culture and all that. I like to root for a team that does things the right way instead of just rooting for laundry. However, I'm fully aware that just having team chemistry doesn't guarantee anything, talent is just as or even more important.

If Ainge could trade a bunch of these so-called hard-working, smart, team-oriented non-stars for noted malcontent DeMarcus Cousins tomorrow, he would do it in an instant.

Hopefully he can get Cousins without sacrificing 3/4 of the team.

[tarheelsxxiii]

I would give up 2 or 3 guys and a pick or two for Adams.

'

Wow why? What do you think his potential is?  He's just a utility bench big that are easily found around the league.

Well, it depends on the players were talking about. Adams would immediately become the best defending big on our team, we have a major log jam of offensive minded bigs and I think Adams has the potential to average a double double with excellent defense.

That kid was drafted in the same class as KO, and I believe he's younger. I like Amir Johnson and I think he's gonna really help our defense this season, but Adams would be our center of the future. I think OKC traded for Kanter because they desperately want a championship before Durant has the chance to leave, but I think long term it was a mistake.

If your Ainge and you believe in the guys you drafted this year, would you consider:

BOS: Tyler Zeller, Evan Turner and the 2016 MIN 1st for Adams? I sure would. I might include Sullinger instead of Zeller if they'd listen to that and your not satisfied with his conditioning progress.

Just before the draft, the concensus was Adams would require multiple 1sts and a replacement for their bench. I don't think that's changed much. It's easier to replace what Zeller brings than Adams.

Depending on the progress of Hunter and Rozier, I would even consider Bradley and a mediocre pick or two for him. Replace Waiters with Bradley and OKC becomes a seriously dangerous team.

Good post. I like the Amir signing a lot too, but I would've preferred acquiring Adams and Tobias if it had been possible. We would've filled our major needs nicely. Clearly, it wasn't.

Agree on that trade, would also include a combo of Turner and Sully (Zeller backs up at 5, KO at 4), or KO more hesitantly (think he would be nice at the 4, Adams at the 5). Could be argued that Lee may make KO expendable, but I don't see Lee here for more than a year to re-establish himself as a nice piece for a contender. Hope I'm wrong on that, but it makes sense.

[colincb]

I liked the part about him bashing Philly.  Basically saying what many argue matters: how you run your organization and if you're giving an honest effort to wins games matters.  Dudley says he doesn't like how they do business and has no interest in playing there.  He is fine with being in situation where you maybe "tank" part of your season and gets it but no effort for multiple years he has no interest in participating in.

For context, he was asked if he'd rather play for the Kings or 76ers and he said Kings by far.

Ehhh... Feeling's mutual there.

He's the exact type of the guy the Sixers have no interest in right now... Rebuilding teams don't need a Jared Dudley, he's a viable back end of the rotation guy. It makes no sense for either side to go for the other.

I disagree. Teams like the Sixers actually do need 1-2 Jared Dudley's to teach the rebuilders how to win. It was fascinating hearing how he did that w Giannis. In fact I think this is PHI's fatal flaw -- IMO you can't wait to instill culture and teach winning until you have the pieces to win with -- it's gotta be concurrent.

How much better would a guy like Antoine have been if he'd not been "the man" on a horrible team and allowed to develop lots of small bad habits? Injuries aside Embiid seems to be floundering (reports of blowing off rehab, putting on weight, etc.). Who's gonna speak into his life? One of their 23 min salary guys? Wroten or another guy their same age? Maaaaybe Jason Richardson...

Jared Dudley's, Gerald Wallace's even 39 y.o. KGs will stop that nonsense on a team. Wall and Beal both talked about Pierces influence even though he's clearly a fraction of THE TRUTH at this point...

TP.  Well put.

You hear every great player talk about the vets that showed them the way, and often it's not even some top level player that is that veteran leader type that was their mentor.  It's a reality of how the game works and how players developing isn't like NBA 2K where it happens no matter what is around them.  It takes a positive environment.  Veterans, coaches, and the organization matter.  Giving an effort to win matters. 

I think it's pretty plain to see and you hear the same stories over and over that all this matters but lots of fans these days act like it doesn't.  Do they just not believe all these players that have been there and said this is how it works?  Do they not see all the failures?  Obviously there are no guarantees either way, but I love how the Celtics are going about things and think that this style will develop all our young players to their best potential, wherever that lies.

And I think we are seeing that players respect that honest approach.  I hope it works to land a big free agent.  I know it hasn't yet, but you see talk that Love possibly had us as his second choice and you see Dudley saying Boston would be in the top 2 or 3 choices based on Stevens and the rest.

I think there's a lot more basic humanity in basketball than people say.  Having a mentor and a veteran to be a leader is a real factor.

Well, what about the Cavs? The league's laughingstock last year with constant rumors of turmoil, front office incompetence, etc. Besides LeBron, they added a bunch of guys from lottery teams like Shumpert, JR Smith, and Mozgov. Kevin Love was widely considered a quitter who was overrated and cared only about his numbers in Minnesota. Still, they went to the Finals their first season together.

Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of the Celtics valuing team culture and all that. I like to root for a team that does things the right way instead of just rooting for laundry. However, I'm fully aware that just having team chemistry doesn't guarantee anything, talent is just as or even more important.

If Ainge could trade a bunch of these so-called hard-working, smart, team-oriented non-stars for noted malcontent DeMarcus Cousins tomorrow, he would do it in an instant.

Don't think you can look at the Cavs situation as anything but atypical. Don't think LBJ is going to put up with any BS from some kid or some guy like JR who's going to make a lot of money off the king, TT, Delly. You're  getting bad habits you're gone. Wiseazz kid who won't buckle down?:

Waiters’ name had been getting tossed around the trade rumor mill since last season due to the aforementioned issues, but Cleveland never pulled the trigger. You definitely got the sense this year was his last chance to lose his trademark stubbornness. Especially since, if there was anyone who could get the message across to Waiters, surely it would be the team’s biggest offseason acquisition: LeBron James.

It would’ve been impossible for Waiters to look at James and pull the same routine he did against Irving. Waiters is not better than James – or Irving, while we’re being honest – and it’s tough to look at someone who’s been through as much as James has in the league and assume he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. It certainly didn’t seem like a crazy thought to assume James could be the one to finally get the message across to Waiters.

As we all know, this didn’t work out as planned.

Buh-bye.

[colincb]

I liked the part about him bashing Philly.  Basically saying what many argue matters: how you run your organization and if you're giving an honest effort to wins games matters.  Dudley says he doesn't like how they do business and has no interest in playing there.  He is fine with being in situation where you maybe "tank" part of your season and gets it but no effort for multiple years he has no interest in participating in.

For context, he was asked if he'd rather play for the Kings or 76ers and he said Kings by far.

TP.

I was taken aback about how negative he was about what the Sixers were doing and he even got into the contracts for the second rounders that the Sixers are known to play hardball with. This kind of lends credence to the stuff I've read about Hinkie's p---ing off NBA-types and agents. There was no doubt that he didn't like the non-building rebuilding where there isn't any real movement toward fielding a competitive team. He was adamant that SAC was a far better situation. I'd bet most players in the league feels the same way.

Contrast the reaction you get from guys who cane through here, got showcased, got rejuvenated and went on to other things. Crawford for example, recently was pretty effusive for the chance he got here.

Like the post with the ambassador analogy.  Going to look for it next and give it a TP too.

[colincb]

Until reading this from dudley i hadnt realized s great fringe benefit from the revolving door roster last year. We axquired and traded away tons of stevens ambassadors!

TP. Like the image of ambassadors for guys we didn't even keep.