Celtics coach Brad Stevens joins elite company with win No. 300

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/celtics-coach-brad-stevens-joins-025717074.html



Celtics coach Brad Stevens joins elite company with win No. 300



A. Sherrod Blakely
NBC Sports Boston
January 24, 2020, 6:57 PM PST



BOSTON -- For most of Brad Stevens' time as Boston Celtics coach, he tends to get more out of his teams than most expect.

So, it was only fitting that on the night he came up with a historic win No. 300 with the Celtics, it would come in a game where his team was at far from full strength.

No Jaylen Brown (ankle).

No Jayson Tatum (groin).

No Enes Kanter (hip bruise).

No problem for the Celtics, who rallied from a 16-point deficit before pulling away for a 109-98 win.

And with the victory, Brad Stevens became just the fifth coach in Celtics history reach the 300-win milestone, a group that includes Red Auerbach (795 wins), Tommy Heinsohn (427), Doc Rivers (416), K.C. Jones (308) and now, Stevens.


Celtics on NBC Sports Boston

@NBCSCeltics
That's win No. ��� for Coach Stevens


668
6:21 PM - Jan 24, 2020


It is an impressive mark when you consider the company he now finds himself in, a fitting accomplishment that speaks to how Stevens has immersed himself into being an NBA head coach after arriving from the college ranks.

In Stevens' first couple of seasons in the NBA, when the Celtics weren't nearly as successful as the Stevens-coached teams at Butler, there were steadily rumblings that Stevens would get tired of the NBA coaching lifestyle and losing, and eventually return to college coaching.

Despite such speculation, Stevens has consistently maintained that he wants to be in the NBA coaching this team.

Stevens downplayed the milestone and deflected credit when asked about the milestone after the game:


Celtics on NBC Sports Boston

@NBCSCeltics
Coach Stevens sounding like Belichick after his 300th career win
(Presented by http://BuyFordNow.com )
https://twitter.com/NBCSCeltics/status/1220900609370533888
6:46 PM - Jan 24, 2020


And games like the comeback win over Orlando on Friday night remind us that Stevens is not only all-in on this Celtics team, but he's all-in on being one of the winningest coaches in franchise history. He got it done with an undermanned, injury-riddled bunch and it was similar to a number of wins he has amassed that have led him to where he is now.


bob
MY NOTE:  To be fair we haven't had anywhere near as many coaches as a lot of teams in the league have, so being in the Top 5 Celtic coaches isn't quite as impressive.  Hell, how many coaches have the Lakers had in just the last 10 years?  Phil Jackson, Mike Brown, Mike D'Antoni, Byron Scott, Luke Walton and Frank Vogel.  That's 6 coaches in 10 years.  The Boston Celtics have had a grand total of 14 coaches since the BAA folded and we joined the NBA.  Of those 14 coaches Alvin Julian whom, to be honest I have never heard of before I did this research, was the leftover coach from the BAA years and he got fired after our first year in the NBA (we were 22-46 that year) and got replaced by Red (and, as they say, the rest is history).  Also, there was the 2 years of Jimmy Rodgers, an excellent assistant coach and obvious successor to KC Jones, but not good as a head coach; 2 years of ML Carr, when he was flat-out told by owner Paul Gaston to lose and the painful 3 1/2 Pitino years, when we were told that Bird and McHale weren't walking through that door and we found out to our dismay that Red and Tommy weren't neither.  We have had, overall, a very stable coaching history.  We're not San Antonio, certainly not over the past 20 years, but we're damn lucky nevertheless.

8 more wins for Brad and he is in 4th place, passing KC. That's not too bad for a kid fresh out of the college coaching ranks and being handed a complete tear down.


.