Brad rips the team after the loss - "We're a 'finesse' (AKA soft) team."

[Ilikesports17]

Call out Ainge as well!

Only a matter of time before BS is back in Indiana..

I like the call out, terrible effort by a playoff team..

Lol Brad is under contract for 6 years.

Does it really matter how long the contract is? Rivers was under contract as well, He Gone.

There Is Always an out clause, it's called, "I'm moving on"

are you ignorant? Rivers was TRADED. Rivers basically had to send out assets from the team he will coach just to be able to move. There is basically nothing Rivers coulve done if Ainge didnt consent, thats why they had to give Ainge an incentive to do so. 

No, I'm a realist.
IF a Coach wants out, he gets out. It's called a buyout.
Rivers did not want to be here. Ainge used his contract as leverage to obtain a pick which was a very good move since Doc was coveted by LA.

Don't think for a second Stevens wouldn't move on if a Kentucky or Duke came a calling and Ainge wouldn't be able to do a [dang] thing about it but let him out.
The NBA is purgatory for 26 Teams and Boston is one of 26

who are the other 4?

San Antonio, Golden State, Cleveland and who?

relax. Brad isnt going anywhere. He signed an extension this year and unless we make a move to vastly change the direction of this team (basically wed have to tank) without his OK, then he will continue to not go anywhere.

[alldaboston]

Call out Ainge as well!

Only a matter of time before BS is back in Indiana..

I like the call out, terrible effort by a playoff team..

Lol Brad is under contract for 6 years.

Does it really matter how long the contract is? Rivers was under contract as well, He Gone.

There Is Always an out clause, it's called, "I'm moving on"

are you ignorant? Rivers was TRADED. Rivers basically had to send out assets from the team he will coach just to be able to move. There is basically nothing Rivers coulve done if Ainge didnt consent, thats why they had to give Ainge an incentive to do so. 

No, I'm a realist.
IF a Coach wants out, he gets out. It's called a buyout.
Rivers did not want to be here. Ainge used his contract as leverage to obtain a pick which was a very good move since Doc was coveted by LA.

Don't think for a second Stevens wouldn't move on if a Kentucky or Duke came a calling and Ainge wouldn't be able to do a [dang] thing about it but let him out.
The NBA is purgatory for 26 Teams and Boston is one of 26

ok then. let me know when Kentucky gets rid of Coach Cal, or Duke gets rid of Coach K. I'll be waiting here.

and our purgatory sucks so much, doesnt it? despite the poor defense, a healthy celtics team can go to the ECF. with two more top 10 picks coming, man, just think. this purgatory sure sucks doesnt it? it's horrible to be winning now, and 10 years from now, isnt it?

poor Brad, whatever will he do?

[Bobshot]

Quotes sound like a bunch of rubbish. They are thin up front, and can't afford to lose Horford and Crowder, not to mention Olynyk. What's the big secret? Everybody knows Zeller is soft--isn't a starter. Stevens got burned last year this time starting him with Lee up front (remember?), and he got burned again. This time, he almost had no choice with the injuries, though Mickey deserves a more serious shot. He is bound to be tougher defensively.

[hagar55voa]

Anyone who watched last night's game to see that Zeller was the only Celtic who had a bad game...Everyone else was absolutely flawless...Shame on Zeller...

[iadera]

I wonder why he's saying this when we are missing two of our best defenders. Who's he calling out?

They were missing against Cavs as well, but we still played well. We could have lost at home even against Nuggets, but not in 1st half already. No excuses for this shameless defeat.

[YoungOne87]

well marcus and jae are our only really physical players and they have the body to be physical.

The rest of our team is rather skinny or lean (IT, Bradley, Rozier, Olynyk, Zeller, Mickey, Jerebko)

They will always struggle against more physical and more athletic players.

Maybe this is a problem of our roster not being build very balanced.

[Celtics4ever]

I also think we have been complacent, and been playing like teams are going to lay down and die while we beat them.   That has not been the case, most teams now bring their " A " game against us.

[Bobshot]

Hopefully, he's talking about Zeller, and hopefully, we never see Zeller on the court again. Zeller is up there with Pau, Mirotic, David Lee, and Scola among my most hated players in the league.

Stevens should be complaining to Ainge about drafting soft bigs like Zeller and Olynyk, and then paying Zeller more money than IT and about the same as Bradley. Is there a problem with that with some players? Maybe.

Ainge said during one of the NBA network shows team decisions are made equally between himself, Wyc and Stevens.  They are all responsible for personnel issues.

[alldaboston]

Hopefully, he's talking about Zeller, and hopefully, we never see Zeller on the court again. Zeller is up there with Pau, Mirotic, David Lee, and Scola among my most hated players in the league.

Stevens should be complaining to Ainge about drafting soft bigs like Zeller and Olynyk, and then paying Zeller more money than IT and about the same as Bradley. Is there a problem with that with some players? Maybe.

Ainge said during one of the NBA network shows team decisions are made equally between himself, Wyc and Stevens.  They are all responsible for personnel issues.

You can't just call Olynyk soft and not appreciate his skill set, how his game helps us, and how his defensive rating was one of the best on the team last year.

Also, the money is not a matter at all. It's not a problem with players either. You can't compare the contract that Zeller signed (which, let's be clear, is purely for the sake of matching salaries in a trade) in 2016, with the contracts that Isaiah and Avery signed in 2014.

[fairweatherfan]

Olynyk's a long way from a bruiser, and will never be one, but he's not nearly as soft as he used to be. It's part of his game that's actually come a ways since his rookie season.

[The Oracle]

You cannot produce good defense with most of your best defenders out of the lineup and replaced by rookies, inexperience and poor replacements.  Having an expectation that this team would produce anything but a lousy defense without Horford, Olynyk, Crowder and Smart missing the 1st 3 games is crazy talk.  Brad knows this and is just trying to survive this and motivate the players he currently has available.  A big man rotation of Horford/Olynyk/Amir/Jerebko will be excellent and very likely produce a defensive rating well below 100.  Olynyk will be back tonight and is light years better than people give him credit for.

[kozlodoev]

You cannot produce good defense with most of your best defenders out of the lineup and replaced by rookies, inexperience and poor replacements.  Having an expectation that this team would produce anything but a lousy defense without Horford, Olynyk, Crowder and Smart missing the 1st 3 games is crazy talk.  Brad knows this and is just trying to survive this and motivate the players he currently has available.  A big man rotation of Horford/Olynyk/Amir/Jerebko will be excellent and very likely produce a defensive rating well below 100.  Olynyk will be back tonight and is light years better than people give him credit for.

The rotation in the first three games was Horford/Amir/Zeller/Jerebko, and it produced a DRTG well north of 110. You think 20-25 min of Kelly Olynyk is worth 10+ DRTG on its own?

Heck, his individual DRTG last season (as irrelevant as the stat may be) was ~103. If nothing else, this gives you an idea of the order of magnitude of team defense with Olynyk on the floor.

[tankcity!]

Idk why we haven't played good defense. I think it's fair to call out the starters and not just point to Zeller who yes sucks, but the whole team has not performed well on that end. It seems like everyone is more focused on offense. I think it will be fixed personally. We never start out well.

And we won't be a soft team once Crowder and Horford are back. Sully was that guy for us last year and Horford has taken his role.

[tankcity!]

You cannot produce good defense with most of your best defenders out of the lineup and replaced by rookies, inexperience and poor replacements.  Having an expectation that this team would produce anything but a lousy defense without Horford, Olynyk, Crowder and Smart missing the 1st 3 games is crazy talk.  Brad knows this and is just trying to survive this and motivate the players he currently has available.  A big man rotation of Horford/Olynyk/Amir/Jerebko will be excellent and very likely produce a defensive rating well below 100.  Olynyk will be back tonight and is light years better than people give him credit for.

The rotation in the first three games was Horford/Amir/Zeller/Jerebko, and it produced a DRTG well north of 110. You think 20-25 min of Kelly Olynyk is worth 10+ DRTG on its own?

Heck, his individual DRTG last season (as irrelevant as the stat may be) was ~103. If nothing else, this gives you an idea of the order of magnitude of team defense with Olynyk on the floor.

Well Jerebko has played awful this year. Also, you're using a 3 game sample size to make your point.

[alldaboston]

You cannot produce good defense with most of your best defenders out of the lineup and replaced by rookies, inexperience and poor replacements.  Having an expectation that this team would produce anything but a lousy defense without Horford, Olynyk, Crowder and Smart missing the 1st 3 games is crazy talk.  Brad knows this and is just trying to survive this and motivate the players he currently has available.  A big man rotation of Horford/Olynyk/Amir/Jerebko will be excellent and very likely produce a defensive rating well below 100.  Olynyk will be back tonight and is light years better than people give him credit for.

The rotation in the first three games was Horford/Amir/Zeller/Jerebko, and it produced a DRTG well north of 110. You think 20-25 min of Kelly Olynyk is worth 10+ DRTG on its own?

Heck, his individual DRTG last season (as irrelevant as the stat may be) was ~103. If nothing else, this gives you an idea of the order of magnitude of team defense with Olynyk on the floor.

Well first off, that stat is interesting. Chris Forsberg has a different number: https://twitter.com/ESPNForsberg/status/796442467809820681

Secondly, Zeller is pretty bad dude. Removing him alone should help the defensive numbers a bit. Give Horford some more reps and more unity/chemistry with the starters, and i honestly dont think it's that outlandish to see a major improvement of the defensive rating.