Brad Stevens on Player Development

[LooseCannon]

According to Scott Souza on Twitter:

#Celtics coach Brad Stevens: player development is not achieved by giving away minutes, it's by watching, learning & earning them.

I endorse this philosophy of player development.

[__ramonezy__]

Though I respect this point of view,  I'm  not in total agreement. For the most part the big difference between college and nba is the speed and intensity of the game. It's about responding to pressure when the lights are brightest and the stakes are highest... these are things that can't be simulated in practice or even D league and as such high level prospects have to be force-fed to get acclimatized

[moiso]

Though I respect this point of view,  I'm  not in total agreement. For the most part the big difference between college and nba is the speed and intensity of the game. It's about responding to pressure when the lights are brightest and the stakes are highest... these are things that can't be simulated in practice or even D league and as such high level prospects have to be force-fed to get acclimatized

So what's wrong with earning those minutes in practice? 

[Csfan1984]

Though I respect this point of view,  I'm  not in total agreement. For the most part the big difference between college and nba is the speed and intensity of the game. It's about responding to pressure when the lights are brightest and the stakes are highest... these are things that can't be simulated in practice or even D league and as such high level prospects have to be force-fed to get acclimatized

So what's wrong with earning those minutes in practice?

You also have to earn them on the court.

[alldaboston]

This is true. But a lot of times I feel Brad doesn't give young players the opportunity to earn those minutes or those roles on the team. Maybe it's because they're just bad (like Young), but then again, you have to see whether they work out or not, right? Or am I being too nice to the young guys?

[saltlover]

This is true. But a lot of times I feel Brad doesn't give young players the opportunity to earn those minutes or those roles on the team. Maybe it's because they're just bad (like Young), but then again, you have to see whether they work out or not, right? Or am I being too nice to the young guys?

You're being too nice.  Stevens doesn't just care about results, he cares about process.  It doesn't matter if James Young misses shots, as long as he makes the right decisions and is the right place on the court.  But he doesn't meet those goals, ever.  And I'm betting the same happens in practice.

Phil Pressey got plenty of minutes as a young guy because he made the right decisions and practiced hard.  Jaylen Brown will get a lot of minutes for the same reason.  Stevens owes it to all 15 members of his team to put the players on the floor who've earned it.  Cream roses to the top, and young guys will be better for it, and the ones who aren't weren't going to be successful in the NBA anyway.
 

[nickagneta]

I have been saying the exact same thing on this site for years to all the people who call for young players to get minutes. The coaches know what they are doing by making youth earn their minutes. The only thing that is accomplished by giving a young player minutes he didn't earn is to quell the thirst of fans who want to see the young players play at the expense of vets that have earned the minutes and at the expense of wins.

[CelticsJG]

Disagree with Brad. Trial by fire is the best way to learn in the NBA. Let players know what part of their game they need to work on

[KG Living Legend]

This is true. But a lot of times I feel Brad doesn't give young players the opportunity to earn those minutes or those roles on the team. Maybe it's because they're just bad (like Young), but then again, you have to see whether they work out or not, right? Or am I being too nice to the young guys?

You're being too nice.  Stevens doesn't just care about results, he cares about process.  It doesn't matter if James Young misses shots, as long as he makes the right decisions and is the right place on the court.  But he doesn't meet those goals, ever.  And I'm betting the same happens in practice.

Phil Pressey got plenty of minutes as a young guy because he made the right decisions and practiced hard.  Jaylen Brown will get a lot of minutes for the same reason.  Stevens owes it to all 15 members of his team to put the players on the floor who've earned it.  Cream roses to the top, and young guys will be better for it, and the ones who aren't weren't going to be successful in the NBA anyway.

 Same with Marcus Smart. I guarantee he was hitting all his shots in practice Lol. But he's the hardest worker and tough as nails, so Stevens just loves the kid and plays him a ton.

 I hope for Smart that he imposes his Basketball will and leadership more on offense this year.

 That's the one thing in college that really stood out. It was his team Emotionally and spirituality in both ends.

[LarBrd33]

Disagree with Brad. Trial by fire is the best way to learn in the NBA. Let players know what part of their game they need to work on

I think it really depends on the player.  Some might benefit from getting force-fed a bunch of minutes and playing through their mistakes.  That can sometimes cause them to develop bad habits though.  Sometimes, having a strong winning environment to slowly earn minutes will help a player's development.  Just really depends on the guy.

[bdm860]

For those who want trial by fire, how much playing time does that require?  I actually think Stevens does a decent job of giving players a chance.  For example:

James Young got a 5 game stretch in December where he was playing double digit minutes every night averaging 17mpg.  The year before, Young got a stretch where he played in 13 out of 14 games, averaging 14mpg.

Then as soon as Young's chance ended this year, RJ Hunter got a 4 game stretch where he was averaging 18mpg.

Then in March Rozier got a stretch where he played 13 out of 14 games, averaging 14mpg.

So when I see stretches like that, I see Stevens basically saying I'm going to give you consistent minutes over a few games to gain some experience and prove yourself.  Also looking at the game logs for all of them, you see pockets of games where those guys are getting some minutes, inconsistent, but still regular minutes.  He definitely has given most of the roster a chance to learn and earn, well except Mickey (so maybe that should tell us something about Mickey?).

[dannyboy35]

Disagree with Brad. Trial by fire is the best way to learn in the NBA. Let players know what part of their game they need to work on

It's a nice idea but I disagree too. Playing  Pressey, who 100 percent was not part of the future was infuriating to me. Never playing Rozier anything but garbage mins until he was needed and how he played proved to me he should have received more time. Sully getting fatter playing over Ilynyk who worked his butt ifc in the off season makes Stevens stance on this a bunch of bs to me.

[rollie mass]

remember last years three way tie,one game
how important was home court advantage to the collective team-
the use of marginal rookies should be judicious
rozier, benefited with red claws as did mickey ,they needed the experience
hunter did well early season as his bbiq gave him an early advantage but as the season wore on, he became exposed and his shot %betrayed him
i feel the philly experience hurts players  turner,okafor, noel rather than developing in a winning system
thats where the celts have been gifted  those high nets net picks-while winning
danny didn't tank and pass on isaiah
brad didn't have to suffer another losing season and the magic began
isaiah thrilled and fascinated the fans,the defensive identity was being built with accumulation of crowder,isaiah made all star,turner made 70mill and horford came to boston-winning counts
future great players will force their way onto the court or it might take lesser players an injury or just time
the amount of time some players get, might be influenced by the standings or how disruptive the player is to flow of game
i hate garbage time-a term of disrespect and just a time of " gotta show something" its better to blend them into rotations
i am a hunter fan and i have said this before-rookies have so much to learn and adjust too faster game,quicker ,longer players,crowds travel and playing defense-
this i believe hurt hunter as well a physique on defense
point guards take time to mature,there is just so much interaction in running a team,lets see how rozier acts under some full court pressure,a couple games missed shots, some bad passes-now he has d league,playoff and summer league to fall back on and knows how much he has advanced
 when his confidence takes a wack-
how could a true fan not enjoy the rebuild process that ainge has engineered
all those banners did not get there by accident

g

[bdm860]

Disagree with Brad. Trial by fire is the best way to learn in the NBA. Let players know what part of their game they need to work on

It's a nice idea but I disagree too. Playing  Pressey, who 100 percent was not part of the future was infuriating to me. Never playing Rozier anything but garbage mins until he was needed and how he played proved to me he should have received more time. Sully getting fatter playing over Ilynyk who worked his butt ifc in the off season makes Stevens stance on this a bunch of bs to me.

I'm curious who was Pressey playing over that you wanted to see or thought should have been playing more?  Similarly, who did you want to sit to give Rozier more minutes?

And sadly, Sullinger is one of the better rebounders in the league, finishing 16th in the league in DRB%, 18th in TRB% and 14th in rebounds per 36 (with Kelly never cracking the top 100 for any of those stats).  Unfortunately, the C's needed to play him, especially considering they were already a poor rebounding team finishing 20th in the league in rebound differential and 25th in DRB%.

[BitterJim]

I have been saying the exact same thing on this site for years to all the people who call for young players to get minutes. The coaches know what they are doing by making youth earn their minutes. The only thing that is accomplished by giving a young player minutes he didn't earn is to quell the thirst of fans who want to see the young players play at the expense of vets that have earned the minutes and at the expense of wins.

Exactly.  It's not NBA2k, playing young guys more doesn't just magically make them develop more