Crowder says team needs identity, set rotations

[fairweatherfan]

I think Stevens is to blame for a lot of the inconsistency problems right now. Especially the bigs who are all clearly uncomfortable with their status. Not knowing when they will come into games. Or how long they will get to play. Or who will be alongside them.

Stevens has created this problem with his own inconsistent minute / substitution patterns.

It's no surprise that they are struggling for consistency when their own coach makes so many changes game-to-game.

It hasn't really been all that inconsistent, though.  Amir and Sully are the starters.  Kelly and D. Lee are the bench bigs.  For the most part, the two starters have been playing together and getting the bulk of the minutes, with Lee and KO acting as the "bench bigs."  When the bench bigs play well, their minutes are extended a bit, when they aren't they get an earlier hook.

A few times, when someone has been really struggling, he's given T. Zeller a look. 

For all the hand-wringing, the rotation hasn't really been unusually inconsistent.

Yeah, since we switched up the starters it's been fairly consistent.  Olynyk and Lee have been trading off on the 1st big/2nd big off the bench, but otherwise it's pretty settled.  However, while the pecking order hasn't changed much, the number of minutes each guy gets is pretty variable. Amir went from low-20s most games to getting about 33 against Miami.  Olynyk sometimes gets 25 minutes and sometimes 10.  It is fairly volatile in that sense.

The backcourt has been inconsistent at times too, but that's mostly due to Smart's injury and IT's varying effectiveness as a starter.  That'll hopefully shake out when Marcus gets back.

[D Dub]

it's funny, I ended up watching the Heat broadcast of this last game.  Their announcers were going on and on about what a strong identity we have as a defensive team.  Leading the league in Steals and Turnovers forced by a wide margin.

so I while Jae might be wrong, I'm glad he's being hard on himself to get better. 

that, he's right about; this team can be better. 

[Evantime34]

I hope you guys know I respect you as regulars posters here a lot, but I just think it's ridiculous to say that nothing we do this season matters, and I think just about everyone in the Celtics organization and a lot of NBA guys think the same way.

You're right.  It goes too far to say that nothing that happens in this regular season matters.

Instead, I'd say that the impact of where those picks fall, and who the Celts get, or don't get, as a result of where those picks fall, will have a much, much greater impact than anything they do on the floor this season.

There are plenty of nice stories to follow with this Celtics team.  I'm still not sure that anybody in the rotation right now will still be on the team a few years from now.  That is why I feel like this team is little more than an amusing distraction while we wait to see how those draft assets turn out, and what Ainge can do with them.

I think this season is extremely important. With cap space and a bunch of trade assets anything the C's can do this year to improve their outlook among players is vital.

We might not have a ton of guys on the team that will still be here when we are competing for a title. We do however, have a chance to make ourselves a destination for players that will eventually contribute to a title team.

 If we can become attractive enough to add a player like Horford then the players currently playing have effected future improvements even if they aren't a part of the future.

[Celtics18]

While I agree with BDeCosta, Evantime, and the others who say that what happens this season could very well have an important impact on what the future of this team looks like, it's not really the main reason that I'm engaged with this team. 

The main reason I'm so engaged with this year's team is that I find them to be very exciting to watch  right now.

They are a team devoid of superstars with a gritty, defensive identity.  So far they look like this formula is going to keep them in the playoff hunt in the improved East all season long.

They're fun, they're exciting, they're tough as nails.  They seem to know that ultimately their success depends on effort and unity.

All in.  I'll worry about the future in June.  Right now it's all about the 2015-2016 Celtics for me. 

[Eja117]

Just lost a ton of respect for Crowder.

What Crowder need to do is shut the heck up and let the best coach in the game coach.

If I'm Stevens I'm going all Belichick on him and telling he can sit and watch till he figures it out and go with Evan and RJ and Jerebko. Maybe they can figure it out.

What's so hard about playing defense, taking open shots, taking advantage of mistmatches, and moving the ball (possibly to IT or Avery coming off a screen)?

[Celtics18]

Just lost a ton of respect for Crowder.

What Crowder need to do is shut the heck up and let the best coach in the game coach.

If I'm Stevens I'm going all Belichick on him and telling he can sit and watch till he figures it out and go with Evan and RJ and Jerebko. Maybe they can figure it out.

What's so hard about playing defense, taking open shots, taking advantage of mistmatches, and moving the ball (possibly to IT or Avery coming off a screen)?

Luckily, you're not Brad Stevens.  The approach you suggest doesn't seem very Stephens-esque to me.

[The Oracle]

I think Stevens is to blame for a lot of the inconsistency problems right now. Especially the bigs who are all clearly uncomfortable with their status. Not knowing when they will come into games. Or how long they will get to play. Or who will be alongside them.

Stevens has created this problem with his own inconsistent minute / substitution patterns.

It's no surprise that they are struggling for consistency when their own coach makes so many changes game-to-game.

I disagree with much of this. I mean, I'm with you with the theory of giving players consistency and a decent amount of games as you mention as well.

But I'm not going to put the blame here on Stevens. No one's minutes had been more inconsistent in the beginning of the season than Amir, Sullinger, and Lee and all three are actually performing well. Heck, Lee starting playing better when his minutes became even more inconsistent.

Jerebko is getting consistent minutes off the bench, that was always going to be his role anyways, and he's simply not performed well at all. That's not on Stevens.

Zeller's problem was on the defensive end, he simply wasn't getting it done... getting played with and showing little resistance, so this is not on Stevens. He's playing what he deserves to play up to this point, though a case could be made for him to start playing and Stevens benching Olynyk, but I'm not seeing it.

Then we have Olynyk, Steven's binky who often gets more minutes than he deserves to be playing since he got on the league. No one gets more chances to establish himself on Stevens' team than Olynyk does, and he just hasn't made the progress some have expected of him. Thankfully his defense seems improved, but his shot selection has been as terrible as it's always been and combine it with him shooting it poorly and turning the ball over, and there's simply no way to rescue it. But his role on this team has been the same from the get go this season, being decreased a bit lately as others in the team have widened the gap.

So no, I don't think Stevens is actually to blame here.

Rotations wise, I actually think Stevens is doing a very good job this year. It would be quite easy to keep giving minutes to all our bigs, but he cut one of them out of the rotation fairly early (because of defense as I mentioned) and others have stepped up enough keep him on the bench for the time being.

The only gripes I could see is with the insertion of Rozier and Hunter more often than maybe Stevens should, but I'm also a believer of giving young players minutes, but I think Stevens is giving them too much.

The other is with Jerebko, but he's active and brings energy, Stevens likes that... so I'll deal with it.

One thing though I do not like is how long Stevens takes to put back his starters in the game after they go to the bench, particularly with Sullinger and Amir.

But minutes wise, I think players are playing what they should be playing for the most part... maybe a bit more playing time for our starting bigs is warranted, but that's a small thing really. The struggling players need to step it up, all of their struggles are really on them. They've gotten more chances than they should be getting as it is, with the exception of Zeller, but he's simply been outplayed.

I have read a lot of inaccurate posts on this forum but this might take the cake.  Almost nothing you just wrote Budweiser is accurate. 

[BudweiserCeltic]

I think Stevens is to blame for a lot of the inconsistency problems right now. Especially the bigs who are all clearly uncomfortable with their status. Not knowing when they will come into games. Or how long they will get to play. Or who will be alongside them.

Stevens has created this problem with his own inconsistent minute / substitution patterns.

It's no surprise that they are struggling for consistency when their own coach makes so many changes game-to-game.

I disagree with much of this. I mean, I'm with you with the theory of giving players consistency and a decent amount of games as you mention as well.

But I'm not going to put the blame here on Stevens. No one's minutes had been more inconsistent in the beginning of the season than Amir, Sullinger, and Lee and all three are actually performing well. Heck, Lee starting playing better when his minutes became even more inconsistent.

Jerebko is getting consistent minutes off the bench, that was always going to be his role anyways, and he's simply not performed well at all. That's not on Stevens.

Zeller's problem was on the defensive end, he simply wasn't getting it done... getting played with and showing little resistance, so this is not on Stevens. He's playing what he deserves to play up to this point, though a case could be made for him to start playing and Stevens benching Olynyk, but I'm not seeing it.

Then we have Olynyk, Steven's binky who often gets more minutes than he deserves to be playing since he got on the league. No one gets more chances to establish himself on Stevens' team than Olynyk does, and he just hasn't made the progress some have expected of him. Thankfully his defense seems improved, but his shot selection has been as terrible as it's always been and combine it with him shooting it poorly and turning the ball over, and there's simply no way to rescue it. But his role on this team has been the same from the get go this season, being decreased a bit lately as others in the team have widened the gap.

So no, I don't think Stevens is actually to blame here.

Rotations wise, I actually think Stevens is doing a very good job this year. It would be quite easy to keep giving minutes to all our bigs, but he cut one of them out of the rotation fairly early (because of defense as I mentioned) and others have stepped up enough keep him on the bench for the time being.

The only gripes I could see is with the insertion of Rozier and Hunter more often than maybe Stevens should, but I'm also a believer of giving young players minutes, but I think Stevens is giving them too much.

The other is with Jerebko, but he's active and brings energy, Stevens likes that... so I'll deal with it.

One thing though I do not like is how long Stevens takes to put back his starters in the game after they go to the bench, particularly with Sullinger and Amir.

But minutes wise, I think players are playing what they should be playing for the most part... maybe a bit more playing time for our starting bigs is warranted, but that's a small thing really. The struggling players need to step it up, all of their struggles are really on them. They've gotten more chances than they should be getting as it is, with the exception of Zeller, but he's simply been outplayed.

I have read a lot of inaccurate posts on this forum but this might take the cake.  Almost nothing you just wrote Budweiser is accurate. 

Cool.

[Eja117]

Just lost a ton of respect for Crowder.

What Crowder need to do is shut the heck up and let the best coach in the game coach.

If I'm Stevens I'm going all Belichick on him and telling he can sit and watch till he figures it out and go with Evan and RJ and Jerebko. Maybe they can figure it out.

What's so hard about playing defense, taking open shots, taking advantage of mistmatches, and moving the ball (possibly to IT or Avery coming off a screen)?

Luckily, you're not Brad Stevens.  The approach you suggest doesn't seem very Stephens-esque to me.

Oh I'm not so sure. Where is Rondo these days?

[Celtics18]

Just lost a ton of respect for Crowder.

What Crowder need to do is shut the heck up and let the best coach in the game coach.

If I'm Stevens I'm going all Belichick on him and telling he can sit and watch till he figures it out and go with Evan and RJ and Jerebko. Maybe they can figure it out.

What's so hard about playing defense, taking open shots, taking advantage of mistmatches, and moving the ball (possibly to IT or Avery coming off a screen)?

Luckily, you're not Brad Stevens.  The approach you suggest doesn't seem very Stephens-esque to me.

Oh I'm not so sure. Where is Rondo these days?

I don't think Brad Stevens was the one who got rid of Rondo.