Celtics Notebook: Ainge lines up behind Stevens

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2015/12/celtics_notebook_ainge_lines_up_behind_stevens



Celtics Notebook: Ainge lines up behind Stevens


Steve Bulpett Tuesday, December 01, 2015






Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens reacts in the second quarter of his team's play against the Miami Heat in an NBA basketball game, Monday, Nov. 30, 2015, in Miami. (AP Photo/Joe Skipper)




MIAMI — Danny Ainge stood up for his coach in the wake of Celtics players taking issue with the club’s lack of a set rotation.

Though both Jae Crowder and Isaiah Thomas agreed it is up to the players to command court time with their efforts, they said after Sunday’s 19-point loss in Orlando that the changing rotation was hurting the team’s performance.

“This has come up in the past. It comes up with teams all around the league,” Ainge told the Herald yesterday before the Celts topped the Heat last night, 105-95. “But there’s nobody that wants a set rotation more than a head coach.

“That’s what people don’t understand is that coaches are looking at film and they’re trying to figure out their rotations and figure out who to play. There’s nobody on earth who wants a set rotation more than Brad Stevens right now, so he can plan and organize offenses around those players.

“But inconsistent play has made that a challenge, and the quality of the talent level has made that a challenge for Brad,” Ainge went on. “I think at this time, there are players that are playing a lot of minutes every night and there are players whose minutes are fluctuating. And I think everybody understands that in short minutes it’s challenging to play your best, but you have to do the best with what you get to try to earn more minutes, it really is that simple.

“It’s not a coach’s job to give opportunities for everybody. To me, it’s a player’s job to make that coach feel like he needs you on the court to win — because every coach wants to win.”

Stevens has spoken about the need to find the combinations that work best together, a task that is even more difficult now with Marcus Smart still out with an injured left leg.

“Obviously everybody wants it to be as set as possible, probably nobody more than me,” the coach said before tipoff. “But they’ve been pretty set the past couple of nights, and it just so happens we were up 25 in the fourth quarter of the first one (Washington) and down 20 in the second one (Orlando).”

Stevens then put the onus on the players, saying, “The one thing that I do think is really important is that we play as well as we can and that every time we take the floor we do our jobs to the best of our ability and control the controllables and let everything else take care of itself. Like I said, I’d like nothing more than to know which nine to play and exactly what minutes and everything else, but with

Marcus out there’s going to be some different people that have to step up, especially in the backcourt.

“I still think the strength of our team from a depth standpoint is more in the frontcourt. So hopefully we can get to the point where people feel more secure in that, and I’d lose a lot less sleep over it if we did.

“Listen, people were frustrated (Sunday) night. I mean, that’s part of the game and I get it. We got beat pretty good, and I think that that’s part of what we have to realize is that, no matter what, we have to play really well to win.”


Justise served

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra waxed eloquently about rookie Justise Winslow before the game, and he laughed when someone cracked, “So you’re saying you had no trouble turning the Celtics down when they came after the 10th overall pick in last June’s draft.

Spoelstra called Winslow “mature physically and mentally for someone his age (19),” adding, “He’s a competitor. That’s probably the most underrated aspect of his game.”

The Celts tried hard to trade for Charlotte’s No. 9 pick to get the Duke product and turned their attention to the Heat when the Hornets took Frank Kaminsky, offering a package of first-round picks and players.


A tip to Kobe

Stevens doesn’t have much history with Kobe Bryant, who announced Sunday that this will be his last season. Kobe has played against the Celts just once in the last two years.

“(But) obviously I’m a basketball fan, so I have a great deal of respect for him,” Stevens said.

“I hear the players talk about him as a guy that they’ve looked up to and that they’ve studied and that they’ve tried to learn as much as they can from. And hats off to him for having a great career and for going out the way that he wants to, and he’ll certainly get a lot of applause along the way over the next couple of months — and deservedly so.”



bob
MY NOTE:  I don't know why Danny should feel he even needs to stand up for Brad.  Brad is still working with a flawed team, a team without a true shotblocker (Mickey doesn't play), whose baseline defender is a 6'9" PF and whose "center" is another 6'9" PF and we are still an elite defensive team.


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Is it necessary for them to tell us what we already know? Geez

dboss

dboss wrote:Is it necessary for them to tell us what we already know?  Geez

I don't think he's telling us; I think he's telling the players. They're nipping any nonsense from the players about rotations and playing time in the bud.