My Brad Theory - Guy spent 80%+ of regular season looking for 'happy accidents'

[smokeablount]

We all saw Brad do a simply masterful job in the playoffs last year, ECF game 7 aside, and exceed expectations every single season before this year.  He was even voted the best coach in the league by his peers this year.  He has forgotten more about basketball than any of us know.

But this year, the team massively underachieved and he did / continued making head-scratching decisions that drove any number of us crazy. 

He failed to call timeouts to stop runs, seemingly attempting to let the team figure out what to do on their own.  He started Hayward well before he was ready, seemingly because he needed reps for us to thrive at this point in the year.  He played downright silly rotations at times, perhaps looking to find an unconventional lineup of players that worked, or to get everyone used to playing with any lineup of teammates.

But in big games like the final home game vs the Raptors, in the last 2 Indy games, on the road against GS, he pretty much 'cut the crap.'  He played to win, played our best players bigger minutes, called the strategic timeouts at exactly the right time, etc. 

And now in the playoffs, we are firing on all cylinders, seemingly doing everything right.  Even Rozier is playing smart and staying in line.

What is my explanation for Brad making so many rookie mistakes for almost all the year, and then suddenly becoming 2018 playoffs genius Brad overnight?  The only thing that seemingly makes sense for why a basketball genius could look dumber than people on this site.

He's experimenting throughout the regular season.  He's letting players figure things out, trying different things, and looking for 'happy accidents.'  Even the greatest geniuses and inventors credit luck and random accidents for some of the world's greatest innovations and achievements.  I think this is what he's doing, and in this context the frustrations of the regular season make a lot more sense.

Knowing this, and/or accepting it, it will be easier to calm down when/if we struggle next year doing illogical things and making mistakes.

What does everyone else think?  If you agree we made a lot of mistakes this year, it seems unlikely Brad just forgot how to be a good coach at the beginning of the year, and then suddenly remembered how to dominate and out-think his peers on the eve of the playoffs.

[Spicoli]

As one of Stevens' biggest haters i have no explanation for what's occurring so far in these playoffs. Other than refusing to insert Williams instead of Theis, he is making all of the right calls, adjustments, and game plans. He did the exact opposite in the regular season. All i can do right now is eat crow and enjoy the ride if he continues coaching like this in the playoffs.

[KG Living Legend]

As one of Stevens' biggest haters i have no explanation for what's occurring so far in these playoffs. Other than refusing to insert Williams instead of Theis, he is making all of the right calls, adjustments, and game plans. He did the exact opposite in the regular season. All i can do right now is eat crow and enjoy the ride if he continues coaching like this in the playoffs.

 That's a fat TP Spicoli, Daniella Brigogi, catch me outside girl.

 Anytime u own up to mistakes TP

[Spicoli]

As one of Stevens' biggest haters i have no explanation for what's occurring so far in these playoffs. Other than refusing to insert Williams instead of Theis, he is making all of the right calls, adjustments, and game plans. He did the exact opposite in the regular season. All i can do right now is eat crow and enjoy the ride if he continues coaching like this in the playoffs.

 That's a fat TP Spicoli, Daniella Brigogi, catch me outside girl.

 Anytime u own up to mistakes TP

If Stevens is going to coach like this then his genius title might be justified. It's looking more likely that the guy just doesn't care about the regular season at all, and he coaches like it. It's infuriating for fans to see that but if this is the result we're going to get in the playoffs then i can live with that.

[smokeablount]

As one of Stevens' biggest haters i have no explanation for what's occurring so far in these playoffs. Other than refusing to insert Williams instead of Theis, he is making all of the right calls, adjustments, and game plans. He did the exact opposite in the regular season. All i can do right now is eat crow and enjoy the ride if he continues coaching like this in the playoffs.

 That's a fat TP Spicoli, Daniella Brigogi, catch me outside girl.

 Anytime u own up to mistakes TP

If Stevens is going to coach like this then his genius title might be justified. It's looking more likely that the guy just doesn't care about the regular season at all, and he coaches like it. It's infuriating for fans to see that but if this is the result we're going to get in the playoffs then i can live with that.

I had a mental breakdown on this site one night when I couldn't take the idiocy any longer, but I feel like it will be a lot less infuriating if we know that he's doing that, and we know that he's going to revert to God Mode when it counts.  It removes the feeling of helplessness a bit. 

[Triplenickle]

As one of Stevens' biggest haters i have no explanation for what's occurring so far in these playoffs. Other than refusing to insert Williams instead of Theis, he is making all of the right calls, adjustments, and game plans. He did the exact opposite in the regular season. All i can do right now is eat crow and enjoy the ride if he continues coaching like this in the playoffs.

 That's a fat TP Spicoli, Daniella Brigogi, catch me outside girl.

 Anytime u own up to mistakes TP

Not yet, because like Paul...I don't see the Bucks changing much because of their makeup, and we have too many players to take up the scoring slack for anyone they decide to focus on.

Now, if they beat Toronto i'll be convinced and happy to say I was wrong.

I'll even already say that Brad's decision about Hayward was correct.

[ozgod]

It's probably because he put a higher price on experiential learning during the regular season than winning 60 games like we all expected. In the playoffs you need to manage the game a lot more tightly because it's win or go home.

It's going to be a chess match though - Budenholzer will make adjustments for Game 2, and Brad will have to figure those out and adapt.

[Ogaju]

Brad is a giant killer he relishes that role. Looks like he played possum during the regular season. Right now he is calling all the right numbers and no one can argue with that.

[liam]

It's probably because he put a higher price on experiential learning during the regular season than winning 60 games like we all expected. In the playoffs you need to manage the game a lot more tightly because it's win or go home.

It's going to be a chess match though - Budenholzer will make adjustments for Game 2, and Brad will have to figure those out and adapt.

Coach Bud is a really good coach for the regular season but his playoff adjustments leave a lot to be desired.

[nickagneta]

I do not believe in any way that Stevens purposely was trying to find happy accidents, play possum or any of the other things people are saying. I think he was dealt a tough hand/situation(needing to get Hayward minutes to recoup, trying to get Tatum, Brown and Rozier to step into role player roles when used to starring roles, dealing with a split in the locker room, dealing with conflicting personalities, handling the whole Kyrie free agency/Davis trade/Rich Paul drama, etc.).

Stevens never dealt with these types of problems before while still needing to win to meet expectations. Simply put, this wasn't his best year and it was probably a huge learning experience for him.

But, Stevens is still a brilliant coach and knew that he just had to get this group to the playoffs healthy and all on the same page. Now Stevens is in his element and you see his brilliance.

Regarding timeouts, yes, I think during the season he does try to let his players figure it out. In some ways, over time, it makes sense to try to make the players self aware of what they need to do to adjust in game. But now the learning time is over so now he is using his timeouts much better. Also, I think fans forget about TV timeouts. I have seen fans screaming for timeouts only 60-90 seconds before a TV timeout is coming. In those situations, during the regular season, it makes more sense to let the TV timeout be his timeout and work things from there. That way, you have a bunch of timeouts late if you need them in a close game.

[Ogaju]

I do not believe in any way that Stevens purposely was trying to find happy accidents, play possum or any of the other things people are saying. I think he was dealt a tough hand/situation(needing to get Hayward minutes to recoup, trying to get Tatum, Brown and Rozier to step into role player roles when used to starring roles, dealing with a split in the locker room, dealing with conflicting personalities, handling the whole Kyrie free agency/Davis trade/Rich Paul drama, etc.).

Stevens never dealt with these types of problems before while still needing to win to meet expectations. Simply put, this wasn't his best year and it was probably a huge learning experience for him.

But, Stevens is still a brilliant coach and knew that he just had to get this group to the playoffs healthy and all on the same page. Now Stevens is in his element and you see his brilliance.

Regarding timeouts, yes, I think during the season he does try to let his players figure it out. In some ways, over time, it makes sense to try to make the players self aware of what they need to do to adjust in game. But now the learning time is over so now he is using his timeouts much better. Also, I think fans forget about TV timeouts. I have seen fans screaming for timeouts only 60-90 seconds before a TV timeout is coming. In those situations, during the regular season, it makes more sense to let the TV timeout be his timeout and work things from there. That way, you have a bunch of timeouts late if you need them in a close game.

Are the TV timeouts pre-scheduled or given during normal flow of the game?

[MattyIce]

I do not believe in any way that Stevens purposely was trying to find happy accidents, play possum or any of the other things people are saying. I think he was dealt a tough hand/situation(needing to get Hayward minutes to recoup, trying to get Tatum, Brown and Rozier to step into role player roles when used to starring roles, dealing with a split in the locker room, dealing with conflicting personalities, handling the whole Kyrie free agency/Davis trade/Rich Paul drama, etc.).

Stevens never dealt with these types of problems before while still needing to win to meet expectations. Simply put, this wasn't his best year and it was probably a huge learning experience for him.

But, Stevens is still a brilliant coach and knew that he just had to get this group to the playoffs healthy and all on the same page. Now Stevens is in his element and you see his brilliance.

Regarding timeouts, yes, I think during the season he does try to let his players figure it out. In some ways, over time, it makes sense to try to make the players self aware of what they need to do to adjust in game. But now the learning time is over so now he is using his timeouts much better. Also, I think fans forget about TV timeouts. I have seen fans screaming for timeouts only 60-90 seconds before a TV timeout is coming. In those situations, during the regular season, it makes more sense to let the TV timeout be his timeout and work things from there. That way, you have a bunch of timeouts late if you need them in a close game.

Are the TV timeouts pre-scheduled or given during normal flow of the game?

pre-scheduled

[JBcat]

In hindsight it was probably best to have Hayward come off the bench to start the year, and Brown started off the year with nagging injuries (hand, back, and I think maybe a foot issue plantar fasciitis).  Having 2 of your important wings start off the year in a funk didn’t help, Horford himself started off slow, and Rozier struggling with a smaller role.

By the time Stevens made the switch to Smart and Morris in the lineup I think we were 10 and 10.  If it wasn’t for Morris’s play we would have probably been worse, but then Morris started cooling off the 2nd half of the season which didn’t help.  Maybe he should have been pulled from the starting lineup sooner. I always preferred Baynes And Horford starting together, and once we did that the last couple weeks of the season we looked really solid.

Hayward and Brown both look like completely different players from the beginning of the season.

Always easier to pick at things in hindsight. Stevens might have seemed slow to make changes at times, but you would be hard pressed to find better available coaches.

[angryguy77]

If not having HCA bites us, will his coaching still be considered great?

We probably win it all in 2010 if we had it.....

[alt]

Stevens has been increasingly reluctant in using timeouts to stop opponents momentum in the regular season and I don't think he did it any less than the last 2 seasons. I think people just noticed it more because the Celtics were playing worse, especially re: expectations.

Lots of coaches believe there's more to be gained in the long run by not baby-sitting the players with timeouts. Roy Williams is a classic (and extreme) example of a coach who doesn't believe in timeouts.

Plus, there's growing statistical evidence that the efficacy of calling timeouts to stop runs has been overstated.