1 on 1 with Brad. (Psssst, James Brown once had hit song, “Talking Loud and Saying Nothing”………….).

From his new seat, Brad Stevens has watched an inconsistent Celtics team.
During Stevens’ first season as the team’s president of basketball operations, the Celtics are on pace to match last season’s .500 record. Entering Monday’s game against the Pelicans, Boston ranks 11th in the Eastern Conference, which would leave the team one spot out of the Play-In Tournament. The slow start has sparked questions about the Celtics’ direction as next month’s trade deadline approaches.
Three weeks from the Feb. 10 deadline, Stevens chatted with The Athletic about his takeaways from the first half of the season. During a wide-ranging interview, Stevens discussed the partnership between Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the Celtics’ need for more shooting and Robert Williams’ promising progression, among other topics. Here is the conversation, which has been lightly edited for length, style and clarity.

There has been some recent chatter about how Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown fit together. Do you still view them as the two pillars to build around?

Well, I think, first of all, all that chatter is obviously when your team is .500 and you go back and forth and we haven’t found any real consistency, the obvious bit of attention usually goes to the highest-profile people and the best players. At the end of the day, I think they’re by far the least of my concerns. I’ve talked about this a ton, they are 23 and 25 and they are carrying new burdens. The burdens that really began last year and just continue to increase and that you just have to get used to as the best players in the building. So if you look at it kind of in totality of what those guys have done in their first five years and six years in the NBA, I think that there’s a reason to just take a step back and just remember how unique and good they are, and continue to try to find our best way as a group to help complement them. And they need to continue to improve, there’s no doubt about that. But they’ve shown no reason for anyone not to think they will.

How do you view where they are in their partnership? In what ways do they need to develop to cultivate more team success?

I just think it’s such a different step going from a good young player to a player that can impact in the playoffs, which they both did at a really young age, to a really good starter, to an All-Star. Even the next step might be the hardest, taking that next step into the realm where you’re talking about the 10 to 15 best guys in the league who just do it every single minute of every single game, you just know when you turn on the TV what they’re going to do. But I think that they again have shown that they’ll just keep working. And they are striving to get there. I think that sometimes we lump them together and I guess I have in these first couple of minutes (of the conversation). But at the end of the day, they’re much different. And in a day and age where the versatility of your team is really, really important — because you’ve gotta be able to extend defensively out to 25 feet on almost every guy on almost every possession, and you’ve gotta be able to both shoot it and drive it and score in a variety of ways – those two guys make a lot of sense to build around.

You said before the season that one of your goals was to surround your best players with teammates who accentuate them. How do you gauge the job you’ve done there? What do you feel the supporting cast still needs?

I think it’s been interesting. I do think we’re a better shooting team than we’ve shot. And I think it helps when you have all of your guys there, just everybody’s a little bit more open. And then there’s a couple of guys that I do think can shoot that will help us that haven’t played as much. You’re starting to see Payton (Pritchard) play more extended time as a result of some of the injuries, and I’m guessing that when we have everybody back that time will continue, just because he was struggling earlier in the year but he’s obviously not now. He’s playing great. So I think that all those things add up. I don’t think we’re as bad of a shooting team as we shot during that stretch, but that’s a big part of what we need to be able to focus on is just continuing to create good shots and then have guys step up and knock them in confidently.
If there is a need as far as a very short-term need that we would look to address — and again, you do it either by looking at your bench and figuring out rotation tweaks or you do it by small deals — then that would be something that we’ll certainly look at from a shooting standpoint. Defensively, I feel pretty good about where we’re at overall. I think our record is .500. Our point differential suggests we should be a little better than that. And I think that that’s probably due — not probably — it’s definitely due to the close games. But we’ve played better as of late in those scenarios. So that’s good. But I would say shooting would be the part where we can do a better job of accentuating those guys’ strengths.

You brought up the close games. With the exception of (Saturday) night, this team has had very little fourth-quarter success. Dating back to last season even, the record in close games has been damaging. You could probably look at that and think you’re due for some better luck. But top down — from your seat to the players — what needs to change to set the table for better performances down the stretch?

I just think we’re inconsistent throughout the whole year, but we’re inconsistent throughout a game. I mean, it’s like wild swings to me. And I’m obviously watching from a totally different viewpoint than I had been before. So I’m wondering if I feel it even more (while) not standing in the minutiae of every play. But that’s the thing to me. And certainly, in the fourth quarters you see that when the screws get tightened on both sides or it just becomes harder to score, it just becomes harder to do things that you have to be able to execute, perform and be up to that moment. I think we’ve shown capabilities not only throughout this early part of the year, but last year as well. But we haven’t been consistent in that. So we just have to become a little bit more consistent, focus on doing your jobs as well as you can, execute perfectly on every possession on both sides of the ball and let the chips fall where they may.

Can you put your finger on what causes those inconsistencies?
Yeah. Sure.

And what do you think that has been?

There’s all kinds of different things. I’ll leave it at that. But I think that the bottom line is everybody can do better. And again, that starts with we can accentuate each other better, we can just be more consistent as a group. And I think we will improve. I’ve been encouraged (recently). (Saturday night’s win against the Bulls) was encouraging, but the wild swings throughout the game in the first 40 minutes were not. And then the Indiana game, same thing. The one we won at home, we didn’t play well in that game, but Tatum made a great play to tie it, we showed good poise throughout down the stretch and then in overtime we played well. So those are encouraging because you have to see the ball go in and you have to feel good about yourself. And sometimes that’s what it takes to kind of get a string or a run going of good fourth-quarter success. But I just think if we just find more consistency throughout the entire game on every possession, just play better possession to possession, we’re certainly capable of that.

How do you evaluate the job Ime Udoka has done so far?

I think he’s been good. I’ve told him this several times: He’s been through pretty much everything that you can go through as a head coach in Boston already. Right? Except for maybe like a 10-game winning streak, which then you just see how wildly outlandish the praise gets. It’s like, don’t get too high when that happens and don’t get too low when it feels like nothing’s going right and everybody’s down. I think you just have to navigate that journey in that manner. And that’s what I’ve been most impressed with is he’s very consistent. When things don’t go well, he goes back to the film room, he looks at it, he goes back to work, his staff goes back to work. I think he’s done a good job of communicating and done a good job of creating and developing relationships.
And I think as you get into this — I don’t remember how many games I coached, but it was a lot. And I just think each game, you take something with you. And you just kind of put it in your back pocket. And you put it in the back of your mind. And you use it later. So that’s part of the experience that he’s going through. It’s so different — and I feel it in this job right now — it’s so different to be the one thinking about all the things you’d do and then to be the one that’s actually having to do it in the moment. And I get to make those decisions over time with this job. He’s got to make those decisions right away, quickly, in the moment, and be decisive, and make sure it’s the right one with a lot of moving parts. So I have a great deal of respect for how hard that job is. But I have a great deal of belief that he’s the right guy. And when you go through it, each moment just adds to you being even better in the next moment.
You always wanted your teams to move the ball and have a lot of player movement. Ime Udoka came in and preached similar things. What do you believe has caused the disconnect that has kept your preferred style from taking shape on the court consistently?
I think there’s a lot of factors to that. But when we’ve been at our best offensively, that’s what’s happened. So I think the bottom line is that’s what we have to be. The side-to-side thing matters. The quick swings and the multiple touches and the playing inside out and the paint attacks and creating closeouts. And all the stuff that everybody follows and does a good job of identifying. I mean, there’s a reason why everybody’s trying to get those: Because that’s the best offense. And then shot distribution and shot selection is a big part of that. Not turning the ball over, which we have not done a good job with that this year or last year. And before that, we were really good. So I think there’s all those things.

How has your adjustment been to the front office? What has been the biggest part of the learning curve?

It’s so different. The biggest part of the learning curve is how many people I’ve worked with for so long have done all the things that go into the daily operations of a professional basketball team, like, just how much goes into it, how many people are doing their jobs really, really well to try to help you have success in the margins. And I’m just really impressed by all the people around me. I’ve worked closely with the coaches and trainers and have been with the front office or been with the analytics group or been with the scouts and those people before, but we’ve added a few people to kind of bolster up our group as a whole, but for the most part that group has remained the same. And they are extremely knowledgeable and have been extremely helpful. It’s complicated stuff when you start getting into the salary caps and the flexibility issues and those types of things that you have to figure out as you’re trying to hopefully build towards being in the mix to compete for that next banner.

The trade deadline will be here in a few weeks. At this stage do you have a good idea of what you hope to accomplish? What are some goals you have in mind?

We have a good idea of some of the things that we will look at, that we will pursue. We obviously will be active in both calling and answering. And every decision that we make, the question that we have to ask is, “Does this make sense in this one deal to do to give us the best chance to be in the mix for competing for a banner?” That’s it. That’s the driving force in each one. So each deal would be its own separate entity in that, but at the same time that’s the north star.
Dennis Schröder’s contract situation is a little different because you won’t have his Bird rights. How will your team’s success or lack thereof shape the way you handle his future at the deadline?
First of all, he’s done a really good job. He’s had a good year, he’s done a really good job. As I told him in August, I wanted him to come here and be the best version of himself. And he’s done that. And I would never get into specifics about different guys as we get closer to that because I wouldn’t want people to misread that from a context standpoint.

What have been some of the bright spots for you this season?

I think everybody has shown great capability. Especially if you take the best of our top eight or nine rotation players, they’ve all had terrific moments. And really I don’t think you can point to very many of them that you would say haven’t had good, long stretches of really good basketball. But I just think collectively we can play a little bit better. Everybody’s talked about Jayson and Jaylen — and rightfully so, they’re our two best players. I think (Marcus) Smart’s last month and a half has been really good. Dennis and Josh (Richardson) have given us good boosts. Dennis, whether he’s off the bench or whether he’s starting. Al (Horford) hasn’t shot it as well as he wants to, but I think has certainly solidified our defense.
And I think the guy that just keeps ascending, which you could see this coming over the last couple of years — really ever since our practices in the bubble, I thought that’s when he took just a totally different look and step — is Rob Williams. I’m so encouraged by his progress. When people talk about guys that are about the team, guys that only want to win, that usually you know exactly what you’re getting, I think that Rob is at the top of that list. And I think our last six games, since we lost the New York game, he’s been awesome. I usually don’t say that without really looking at it. But those six games I’ve just seen a different level of consistency to his game. He always has made — sometimes I think we overreact, because every team has guys that can do things that make the highlight film, the NBA is pretty special in that regard — but sometimes we all just look at the highlights of what he can do, blocking shots or dunking, whatever, he wasn’t playing as well as that would indicate until the last period of time. And then I just think he’s been awfully, awfully good.

Payton Pritchard, Aaron Nesmith and Romeo Langford have been lost in the shuffle at times this season. What is the balance there between wanting veterans who can contribute and then possibly clearing room for some of the young guys to get more of a chance? What have you seen from some of those younger guys as you evaluate who could be a significant part of the team moving forward?

When I was coaching, I used to say this all the time: Just because somebody’s not playing minutes doesn’t mean they’re not improving. And I think that’s huge. And I think Rob Williams is the greatest example. Rob didn’t play much his first year, played a little bit his second year but was hurt for 50 games, played in one series out of three basically against Toronto, and now has taken two years later a step that’s pretty drastic as far as he can be a guy that can really, really help you win not only in the regular season but beyond. And I think we have to look at these guys as not only what they do in their minutes, but what they’re doing in practice, what they’re doing in the small group work. I believe in all three of them. Payton has gotten a lot more opportunity lately. Romeo got a lot more opportunity early. Romeo’s last game was one of his best, or the last game that he played a lot of minutes, the Phoenix game. And then Payton’s been pretty consistent. And I have no doubt about Aaron. Like, I don’t lose any sleep over what he can be. And he is in a little bit of a pinch numbers-wise with the guys we have. And we’ll see how that all shakes itself out. But regardless of if he plays zero minutes or 25 minutes, he’s going to have a successful career. He’s going to be a really good player.


Jay King


It’s been said that in order to be good at this job you need to be a good Liar and have a Poker face. Brad has a Poker face

ktron

You are a bit too critical of Brad's comments.

A couple of things that he said provide some clarity to our expectations

The #1 issue was addressed.  Jayson and Jaylen.  The build around strategy still makes sense for Brad.

"But at the end of the day, they’re much different. And in a day and age where the versatility of your team is really, really important — because you’ve gotta be able to extend defensively out to 25 feet on almost every guy on almost every possession, and you’ve gotta be able to both shoot it and drive it and score in a variety of ways – those two guys make a lot of sense to build around."

His take on improving the team through trades at or before the deadline contemplates if a move makes us a title contender.

"Does this make sense in this one deal to do to give us the best chance to be in the mix for competing for a banner?” That’s it."

His support for Coach Udoka.

"But I have a great deal of belief that he’s the right guy."

The one thing I will burden him with is a belief he has that this team is a better shooting team than has been shown.

The numbers say no.  They are a worse shooting team.  I am not one bit surprised except for one Player.  

Jayson Tatum.  

He has been way way below his career averages.  shooting from the field and shooting from deep.

Brad did not add one reliable shooter to this team and that is his biggest problem.  He has tried to spin it in the other direction a bit but we already know the win/loss impact of not being able to shoot that damn 3 ball.

Fans should not be too disappointed if nothing of substance happens by February 10th.

This is a bridge year with an added possible benefit of making it to the playoffs.

dboss wrote:ktron

You are a bit too critical of Brad's comments.

A couple of things that he said provide some clarity to our expectations

The #1 issue was addressed.  Jayson and Jaylen.  The build around strategy still makes sense for Brad.

"But at the end of the day, they’re much different. And in a day and age where the versatility of your team is really, really important — because you’ve gotta be able to extend defensively out to 25 feet on almost every guy on almost every possession, and you’ve gotta be able to both shoot it and drive it and score in a variety of ways – those two guys make a lot of sense to build around."

His take on improving the team through trades at or before the deadline contemplates if a move makes us a title contender.

"Does this make sense in this one deal to do to give us the best chance to be in the mix for competing for a banner?” That’s it."

His support for Coach Udoka.

"But I have a great deal of belief that he’s the right guy."

The one thing I will burden him with is a belief he has that this team is a better shooting team than has been shown.

The numbers say no.  They are a worse shooting team.  I am not one bit surprised except for one Player.  

Jayson Tatum.  

He has been way way below his career averages.  shooting from the field and shooting from deep.

Brad did not add one reliable shooter to this team and that is his biggest problem.  He has tried to spin it in the other direction a bit but we already know the win/loss impact of not being able to shoot that damn 3 ball.

Fans should not be too disappointed if nothing of substance happens by February 10th.

This is a bridge year with an added possible benefit of making it to the playoffs.

I didn’t issue any criticism on what Brad said at all. It’s what he didn’t say…..

Ktron wrote:

dboss wrote:ktron

You are a bit too critical of Brad's comments.

A couple of things that he said provide some clarity to our expectations

The #1 issue was addressed.  Jayson and Jaylen.  The build around strategy still makes sense for Brad.

"But at the end of the day, they’re much different. And in a day and age where the versatility of your team is really, really important — because you’ve gotta be able to extend defensively out to 25 feet on almost every guy on almost every possession, and you’ve gotta be able to both shoot it and drive it and score in a variety of ways – those two guys make a lot of sense to build around."

His take on improving the team through trades at or before the deadline contemplates if a move makes us a title contender.

"Does this make sense in this one deal to do to give us the best chance to be in the mix for competing for a banner?” That’s it."

His support for Coach Udoka.

"But I have a great deal of belief that he’s the right guy."

The one thing I will burden him with is a belief he has that this team is a better shooting team than has been shown.

The numbers say no.  They are a worse shooting team.  I am not one bit surprised except for one Player.  

Jayson Tatum.  

He has been way way below his career averages.  shooting from the field and shooting from deep.

Brad did not add one reliable shooter to this team and that is his biggest problem.  He has tried to spin it in the other direction a bit but we already know the win/loss impact of not being able to shoot that damn 3 ball.

Fans should not be too disappointed if nothing of substance happens by February 10th.

This is a bridge year with an added possible benefit of making it to the playoffs.

I didn’t issue any criticism on what Brad said at all. It’s what he didn’t say…..

Well I guess I cannot read between the lines if there were no lines to read between.

dboss wrote:

Ktron wrote:

dboss wrote:ktron

You are a bit too critical of Brad's comments.

A couple of things that he said provide some clarity to our expectations

The #1 issue was addressed.  Jayson and Jaylen.  The build around strategy still makes sense for Brad.

"But at the end of the day, they’re much different. And in a day and age where the versatility of your team is really, really important — because you’ve gotta be able to extend defensively out to 25 feet on almost every guy on almost every possession, and you’ve gotta be able to both shoot it and drive it and score in a variety of ways – those two guys make a lot of sense to build around."

His take on improving the team through trades at or before the deadline contemplates if a move makes us a title contender.

"Does this make sense in this one deal to do to give us the best chance to be in the mix for competing for a banner?” That’s it."

His support for Coach Udoka.

"But I have a great deal of belief that he’s the right guy."

The one thing I will burden him with is a belief he has that this team is a better shooting team than has been shown.

The numbers say no.  They are a worse shooting team.  I am not one bit surprised except for one Player.  

Jayson Tatum.  

He has been way way below his career averages.  shooting from the field and shooting from deep.

Brad did not add one reliable shooter to this team and that is his biggest problem.  He has tried to spin it in the other direction a bit but we already know the win/loss impact of not being able to shoot that damn 3 ball.

Fans should not be too disappointed if nothing of substance happens by February 10th.

This is a bridge year with an added possible benefit of making it to the playoffs.

I didn’t issue any criticism on what Brad said at all. It’s what he didn’t say…..

Well I guess I cannot read between the lines if there were no lines to read between.

RIF!