Celtics Hire Brad Stevens as Head Coach

Updated: July 3, 2013, 6:00 PM ET
ESPN.com news services

BOSTON -- The Boston Celtics have hired Butler's Brad Stevens as head coach.

The team and the university made the announcement Wednesday afternoon.


Keep on top of the Green throughout the offseason with ESPNBoston.com's Chris Forsberg. Blog


Stevens has spent the last six years as the head coach of Butler, twice leading the Bulldogs to the NCAA championship game.

Stevens replaces Doc Rivers, who was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers.

"Brad and I share a lot of the same values," said Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. "Though he is young, I see Brad as a great leader who leads with impeccable character and a strong work ethic. His teams always play hard and execute on both ends of the court. Brad is a coach who has already enjoyed lots of success, and I look forward to working with him towards Banner 18."

Stevens, who led Butler to two consecutive appearances in the NCAA championship game, had extended his contract with the Bulldogs through 2021-22.

"Our family is thrilled for the opportunity given to us by the leadership of the Boston Celtics, but it is emotional to leave a place that we have called home for the past 13 years," Stevens said.

Stevens led the Bulldogs to a 166-49 record, including a 12-5 record in the NCAA tournament. Stevens also earn four conference regular season championships, three league tournament titles and six trips to postseason tournament play. His 166 wins is the most for any NCAA Division I basketball coach over the first six years to start a career.

Butler is set to enter its first year as a member of the reconfigured Big East.
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NESN BOSTON

Brad Stevens’ Hire as Celtics Coach Brings Analytics Out of Front Office, On to Bench by Ben Watanabe

They’re not just for front-office guys anymore. Contrary to popular belief, the NBA of the last half-decade has not been defined by team-hopping stars or an epidemic rise in flopping.

Nope, the defining characteristic of the modern NBA is the swift move from traditional methods of scouting and game-planning into innovative, computer-drive models of doing the same. This is neither good nor bad. It just is. As a result, self-proclaimed stat nerds like Houston general manager Daryl Morey have become fast celebrities in some circles. Players like Shane Battier have found their way onto championship-caliber squads thanks to all the nice things advanced statistics say about them. Exactly 10 years after Moneyball was published and changed the way people thought about baseball, basketball has finally gotten around to accepting the idea that there are different ways of thinking about its sport, too.

What does this all have to do with Brad Stevens, who was hired Wednesday to be the head coach of the Boston Celtics? Stevens won’t be in the front office. Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge will still be the guy pulling the strings in personnel matters, while his son Austin Ainge is known to voice his opinions with a more analytical bent. With or without Stevens, the Celtics would evaluate players and opponents by more than their vertical leap and what offensive sets they run, respectively. But Stevens hammers home the point.

Stevens built his reputation as one of basketball’s bright young coaching minds through his ability to beat college basketball’s heavyweights with supposedly inferior talent at Butler. He led the Bulldogs to two NCAA championship games, where they lost to Duke and UConn after beating the likes of Syracuse, Michigan State and Florida.

Those Butler teams boasted some incredible players, such as current pros Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack, and even the best system is useless without competent athletes. But Stevens’ use of statistical analysis took on a near-mythic quality the more heavyweight programs Butler took down.

Now, the era of analytics has officially migrated from the front office to the bench. To borrow Bill Parcells‘ analogy, teams aren’t just looking for people with statistical minds to buy the groceries; they want some to make the dinner, too. Mike Budenholzer, formerly Gregg Popovich‘s right-hand stats man on the Spurs’ coaching staff, was gobbled up by the Hawks to be their head coach at the first opportunity.

Vivek Ranadive, the lead owner of the Kings, emphasized that a familiarity with analytics would be a requirement for whomever Sacramento hired as its coach, making Golden State assistant Mike Malone an understandable choice. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, at age 42, is already like the godfather of coaches who started out as lowly video coordinators and stat compilers. Of course, this works both ways. Old-school coaches must adapt or go extinct. Lionel Hollins, fresh off directing Memphis to a franchise-record 56 wins, was let go largely out of his disagreements with Robert Pera‘s analytically minded front office. Hollins was not offered another job this offseason. So it goes.

Stevens should have no such disagreements with Ainge. He’ll have some disagreements, naturally, but they won’t be about the relevance of efficiency ratings or pace factors. In those aspects of the game, the Celtics front office will be on the same page as its coach, and that is a battle many of the new breed in basketball executives are still fighting: They come to their coaches with an iPad full of charts and graphs, only to have the coach smile, shake his head and toss the iPad off to the side.

Stevens’ hire may or may not translate into success with the Celtics. The impact his familiarity with statistical methodology will have on the Celtics’ success cannot be predicted until he gets some time under his belt, as the college and pro games remain light years apart in scheme and speed. Truth be told, Ainge would probably rather have Doc Rivers coaching his club, if he had his wish. If the Celtics can’t have one of the best coaches for where the game is, though, they went out and got one of the best coaches for where the game is headed. Basketball is changing, and Stevens’ hire shows that the Celtics are not fighting the current.

Read more at: http://nesn.com/2013/07/brad-stevens-hire-as-celtics-coach-brings-analytics-out-of-front-office-on-to-bench/

112288

The Celtics have hired Butler head coach Brad Stevens as their new head coach.

112288,

Great minds think alike! I merged our threads here.

Regards

He has won more games in his first 3 years than any NCAA coach in history. Very well regarded coaching mind....not sure he can handle Rondo, but otherwise this is a solid hire.

Good hire. Will be interesting who he brings in as his ass't bench coach. Could PJ be a good ass't?

112288

Please not PJ brown

Danny rolls the dice and cements his reputation as "The Gambler". This decision is fraught with risk but I've got a good feeling about this. Look for the local rent a vet to close its office. They are looking to teach a young team a way to play and this will be a perfect match for Rondo.

A quick read reveals Steven's is a numbers guy...They say he has an analytical approach to coaching.

This will be a perfect fit for Rondo and the rest of the team.

I like what he did at Butler without super talent and I think he will grow with this team.

Dboss

It's a good gamble and a great time to bring in a fresh approach.

He's done a commendable job at Butler, so why not let him take a swing or two in the majors instead of bringing in the same stale re-treads.

I'm sure we'll see a lot in the press about how it relates to Rondo.  Well, how he deals with Rondo probably has nothing to do with anything except that Rondo will be playing for Stevens.  As if Rondo is Godzilla or some larger than life entity capable of taking down the entire Celtic regime.  Rondo is a talented basketball player. Rondo is fine. The whole Rondo is flawed, Rondo is great, Rondo is perfect, Rondo is The Devil himself notion must have been created by a bored sports-writer!

The hire makes sense from the standpoint that we have a rebuilding team that is expected to  hang closer to the bottom for a few years.  If he bombs, that's OK, we aren't going to be competing for a title anyway and we can cut him loose without much fanfare since there will be low expectations from the start.  If he proves to have something that we and the league can use, however, we uncover a new coaching genius without the critics riding us for bringing in an inexperienced coach on a top tier team.  

A well thought out hire.

NyCelt

And another inspirational and thoughtful post from you.

Dboss

Dboss,

Thanks, but don't think it happens often.  I much prefer to read your insightful thoughts and those of our many other enlightened board members.

Mostly my mind is floating out in left field somewhere, with a periodic hiccup of clarity.  I do find that foggy state to be very calming!

Regards

It's truly an intriguing hire.

I must say that I really didn't see this one coming. I'm not sure anyone did. I hadn't even read so much as a rumor that he was on Boston's shortlist of replacements for Doc. I like the decision.

Brad Stevens certainly understands the game and how to get the most out of his players. While it remains to be seen how he'll deal with professional players, I'm optimistic he'll do well.

Such an interesting start to the offseason.

KJ

This will be a .........VERY INTERESTING SUMMER AND SEASON.......Just when you expect Danny to do one thing..........he gives you a head fake and does another.

I'll go on record now as saying anything is possible now with the Celtic team. Rondo can stay.......he could be traded...........just when you think they will not sign a free agent impact player............they just might turn around and sign an impact player.

Wow my head is spinning.......a very brash........yet very refreshing move......I think it breaths new life.......a new way of playing basketball in Boston.

I'll also go on record now and say this ......if Rondo is going to Detroit.....look at one guy Danny will go after on the Detroit roster...... Greg Monroe

Position: F
Born: 06/04/90
Height: 6-11 / 2.11
Weight: 250 lbs. / 113.4 kg.
College: Georgetown '12

Talented big man with good smarts... Excellent passer... Good rebounder... Already an effective scorer... Must improve defensive skills.

Selected to the NBA All-Rookie 2nd Team in 2010-11.
Selected to the NBA Rookie All-Star Game in 2012.

112288

It'll be interesting to try to catch clues as to how he familiarizes himself with NBA personnel.. Of course, his Butler team may have played many of them in the past. Even more interesting will be what offensive and defensive systems he'll install.

Goodluck, Brad.

Go Celtics!

Sam

NY Daily News piece on Stevens hiring has one VERY curious comment (by the author) - "They’re expected to move their last big chip, Rajon Rondo, when he returns from a major knee injury sometime this season" and one outrageous quote from an unnamed Eastern Conference coach - "This pretty much means the Celtics are not trying to win." What a crock.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/celtics-shock-nba-hiring-butler-stevens-article-1.1389665

Brad Stevens is a very good college coach. Yes, he coached at Butler which is a very small school but he has turned down offers from large schools, I believe one of them was UCLA.

If this was my team, I would rather that they hire a former player such as a Jason Kidd or Derek Fisher type player who knows NBA players and systems. I doubt Stevens has spent much time learning about NBA players.

It's a risk, but we can't really say it was a good or bad hire until Brad is given ample opportunity to succeed or fail. I am a little surprised that Boston committed $22m to Stevens.

Riverboat gambler Danny brings a breathe of fresh air into the Celtics organization. Let's hope it doesn't turn stale.
If this guy is as smart and calm as advertised, he may be the perfect coach for Rondo.
Good luck to Stevens and go Celtics!

Let me also point out that NOBODY saw this coming.  Not the slightest whiff of it.  Just like every other trade Danny has pulled off since he's come here except for the PR fiasco with Doc.


bob


.

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/86026/stevens-to-celtics-a-win-for-everyone-but-butler



Stevens-to-Celtics a win for all but Butler

July, 3, 2013
Jul 3
7:52 PM ET

By  Eamonn Brennan | ESPN.com





Is your jaw still affixed to the floor? Are you still processing the news?

That's OK. We all are. As overused as the term "shock" may be, it is the only acceptable, human reaction to Wednesday evening's news -- released on the eve of a national holiday and miraculously kept secret from the media by all sides -- that Butler coach Brad Stevens is now Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens, the 17th in franchise history.

Yeah. That happened. It's a real thing. Stevens and his family will be introduced in Boston on Friday morning, and a flabbergasted basketball world will have a chance to ask Stevens why he, after years of rejecting every open college job from Georgia Tech to UCLA, decided to take that fateful leap to the NBA.

In the meantime, once you get over the sheer surprise, you'll realize there's very little mystery here. Save for the school Stevens leaves behind, the move is a huge win for everyone involved. Here's why:

Why the Celtics win

Because they got a really good coach! That's the first and most important consideration: Stevens is a very good basketball coach. He will continue to be a very good basketball coach. This shouldn't be worth saying, but in the win-the-news-conference world of college basketball, and the retread carousel that is the NBA coaching phylum, the actual merits of the coach being hired can go overlooked. That is not the case here.

Of course there's more to it than that. The Celtics hired a quality X's-and-O's guy, sure, but Stevens is not merely a young dude with some interesting motion sets. For the past five years, he has done something much more impactful: He has helped revolutionize the way coaches see (or should see) themselves in the sport. In a college coaching fraternity filled with stodgy traditions and fuzzy maxims, Stevens has openly embraced advanced analytics and scouting techniques. In a sport where coaches treat their sidelines like theaters of emotive human distress, Stevens stalks coolly.

The cool isn't for show. His (usually) stoic demeanor is, in fact, of a piece with his overriding philosophy. After Butler's Roosevelt Jones stole a brilliant Hinkle Fieldhouse home win over Gonzaga this past season, Stevens was asked (not for the first time) how he was able to react so coolly in the center of such joyful chaos. Was he a robot? An alien? An alien robot? His response:

"What goes through my mind is, the hay is in the barn," Stevens said. "If a guy makes a shot like that or doesn't, it doesn't define who we are. It doesn't affect how I evaluate our team. It doesn't break our season. I'm a huge person on growth over prize."

In an NBA adrift in analytics revolution, where the argument about process versus prize is constantly debated, the Celtics have hired a 36-year-old coach who gets it. That doesn't mean he's a robot. You can't build out something called the Butler Way -- Stevens' classical all-for-one, one-for-all philosophy on team success at the college level -- and be unaware of how important the things we can't quantify (teamwork, communication, work ethic, generosity of spirit) are in this game we struggle so mightily to understand.

But Stevens realizes what many NBA franchises are still beginning to grasp: The heart and the head need not be mutually exclusive. Indeed, they're best employed in tandem. For the Celtics, then, Stevens is more than a hot young college coach with a book of killer out-of-bounds plays. He's the way forward.

Why Stevens wins

Money? Presumably there will be a lot of money. That's one thing.

But anyone who has followed Stevens' career in recent years knows money has never been a primary factor. Since his back-to-back NCAA national title game appearances, Stevens has had plenty of gold bullion shoved his way by just about every desperate athletic director in the country. Time and again, the Indiana native has reiterated how happy he and his young family were in Indianapolis, and why an extra $500,000 more than his already-ample reported $1.1 million salary wasn't enough to throw that all away.

There is also the matter of Dan Monson. Monson, the former Gonzaga coach who launched the Bulldogs into the college hoops stratosphere -- then took a job at Minnesota, failed miserably, and was left to pick up the pieces in the professional wilderness -- has become an archetypal example. Mid-major coaches like Stevens or Shaka Smart at Virginia Commonwealth are vastly better compensated than they were even 10 years ago. The financial impetus to leave has never been quite so weak.

But make no mistake: Coaching at Butler isn't easy. More specifically, coaching at Butler right now isn't easy.

The Bulldogs are on the cusp of a move to the new Big East; expectations have never been higher. Stevens probably could have spent the next 30 years at the school, but he would have spent much of that time recruiting. He has never been the recruiting type -- this is a compliment, by the way -- and his teams have never been built on top-20 prospects. The fact that he will have a chance to focus his hoops acumen without worrying about finding the next Gordon Hayward hidden away in Brownsburg, Ind. -- well, it has to be exhilarating, right?

And then there's this: He can always go home again. Even if his NBA foray goes as poorly as possible, there will always be dozens of college programs willing to take him at the first sign of interest. Rick Pitino and John Calipari have long since proved that a move to the NBA isn't the end of college desirability or college success. It isn't the end of anything. If you can coach, you can always come back.

Why Butler loses

It's impossible to overstate how devastating this is for Butler. It really is that bad.

Like Xavier, the Bulldogs have a reputation for being coaching incubators. Stevens got his start (after quitting his job at Eli Lilly, and applying for a job at Applebee's) in 2000 as a coordinator under now-Ohio State coach Thad Matta. He was named head coach in 2007 after Todd Lickliter, every bit as attractive as Matta before him, left to take the job at Iowa.

Despite that history, coaches like Stevens don't grow on trees. Before Stevens, Butler was your standard good mid-major. After Stevens -- and his back-to-back runner-up appearances, and his 166-49 record -- it is a member of the Big East. When Stevens turned down every flashy offer thrown his way, the idea that he might see out the rest of his career in the same place was tempting. The template Mike Krzyzewski carved out at Duke 20 years ago seemed totally within reason. Butler could be the new Duke.

Now Butler is just another team with an adorable mascot. Instead of a triumphal beginning to a new era of "major conference" basketball, the Bulldogs will enter the new Big East scrambling to replace the most sought-after young coach in America. What's worse, they have to find said replacement in July, long after the college coaching carousel has settled down, deep into the summer recruiting and individual workout periods. The short term is going to be a massive challenge. The long-term future already looks less bright.

Butler fans are classy types. They'll thank Stevens for the memories and the tangible successes, and they'll blink away tears as they send him off to the pros, proud parents sending their brightest child to the big city. But behind that good cheer, they will be devastated. How could they not?

And you thought you were shocked.


bob


.

http://www.celticsblog.com/2013/7/4/4492756/brad-stevens-the-nbas-next-great-head-coach-boston-celtics-nba-butler-bulldogs-analytics-philosophy


Brad Stevens is the NBA's next great head coach

By Kevin O'Connor on Jul 4 2013, 10:24a  @Kevin__OConnor 44  




Brad Stevens is the next great coach in the NBA. - Andy Lyons  


Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the Boston Celtics would be able to grab Brad Stevens away from the tight grip Butler University had on him and he had on it. For the past six years, Butler has been blessed to have one of the greatest young coaches in college basketball -- no, not just a young coach -- but one of the greatest coaches in college basketball, period.

Somehow Danny Ainge and the Celtics pulled it off.

The attraction of coaching one of the supreme franchises in the history of sports, a six-year deal worth $22 million dollars, and a bright future was enough to lure him away.

Brad Stevens is the perfect fit for this team and I'm putting this on the record: I believe Stevens could quickly become one of the best coaches in the world.

It might seem a little premature for me to make that declaration about a coach with only six years of head coaching experience -- at the college level, no less -- but he has all the tools to become one of the greatest. Like college athletes, hours and hours of scouting go into predicting the ceiling of each player. With coaches the same can be said.

That's why Brad Stevens was the Celtics' number one choice and has been on their list of potential successors to Doc Rivers for quite a long time now. That's why fans of college basketball are distraught over losing him to the NBA after expecting him to be the next "Coach K."

I believe Brad Stevens is brilliant hiring by the Boston Celtics for many reasons, but mostly for his ability to unite his team, his analytic approach to the game, the respect he has received from his coaching peers, and his style of defense.

***

"We Not Me" Philosophy

Ubuntu is a term that many Boston Celtics have become familiar with over the years. Essentially the word means, "I am because we are." At Butler University, Brad Stevens created his own keys to success in the form of a pyramid. Within the pyramid there are four categories, from most to least important: Character, Preparation, Performance, and Results.

When asked about this philosophy Brad Stevens said, "The only thing we talk about is the process. We always say win the next game one possession at a time. You can have a goal of winning a National Championship or getting into the Final Four, or whatever the case may be. But it's baby steps, there's a process to get there and the focus has got to be on that."



The first and most important part of the pyramid is Character. Butler tradition has had something like this for years called, "The Butler Way." The five principles of that are: humility, passion, unity, servanthood, and thankfulness. According to ButlerSports.com, "The Butler Way demands commitment, denies selfishness, accepts reality, and yet seeks improvement everyday while putting the team above self."

Next is Preparation: "In basketball, we look at it like it is life by inches or death by inches," Stevens said. "There are 150 possessions per game. It may be one or two possessions one way or the other." Butler has been known as one of the most well prepared teams in recent years, so it should come as no surprise that preparation has been stressed so much.

The third tier is Performance. Brad Stevens describes this as simply, "doing your job." New England Patriots' head coach Bill Belichick has often been heard saying the same exact thing. Basically, it means doing your specific job over the course of the game and performing as best as you can.

The last part of the pyramid is Results. Stevens says, "Be sure to care about the work and do everything you can to promote character, pay attention to details, expect great performance and let the results take care of themselves."

Sounds a lot like Ubuntu, yes? I'd say so. Team unity is something that Brad Stevens built at Butler and something I believe that he will bring to the Boston Celtics as well.

***

Masters of Analytics

Since Brad Stevens was hired as the head coach of Butler, the school has been regarded as one of the greatest schools in the country at preparing for each and every one of their opponents.

After reaching the Western Conference Finals, former Memphis Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins was let go by the team because of "major philosophical differences." The Grizzlies wanted a coach that would buy into an analytical approach to the game, which seems to be the path the NBA is headed towards.

Brad Stevens is a very progressive hiring for that reason. Stevens was the first coach in the history of college basketball to hire a statistics-based assistant on his staff, Drew Cannon.

Sports Illustrated's Pete Thamel wrote about Stevens' and Cannons' relationship and approach to the game earlier this year. To put it simply, Brad Stevens approaches basketball from a stats-based perspective. As Thamel put it, "Stevens trusts what he sees with his eyes but says, ‘The numbers bear themselves out pretty accurately over the course of time.'"

It's hard to get a read on what's really happening behind closed doors, but here's an excerpt from the article that gives us a little bit of insight:


Butler has found secret weapon in statistical guru Drew Cannon - Pete Thamel - SI.com
What makes Cannon's value tricky to quantify is that he and Stevens are reluctant to share many specifics of his research. There are simple things he does like keep practice statistics, track the efficiency of specific set plays and the statistical tendencies of opponents.

But as far as the in-depth statistical analysis, Stevens gave only a peek as to not forfeit an edge. Cannon sends Stevens a 10-page e-mail breaking down and analyzing the numbers after every Butler game. The report takes 10 to 12 hours for Cannon to put together.

Cannon's greatest value is with lineup analysis, as Stevens terms his work "unreal." "It includes every player, pairs of players, groups of three, big lineups, small lineups, etc.," Stevens said. Cannon will also include the offensive and defensive efficiency of Butler's players from previous matchups with an opponent, which Stevens said, "Will help me determine probable sub patterns, late game lineups, etc."

***

Defensive System

Brad Stevens will be another head coach in the NBA that believes defense is the foundation of a championship contending team. In recent years coaches like Tom Thibodeau and Erik Spoelstra have gained a large amount of respect around the league due to their philosophies on the defensive end of the floor and for the success their teams have had.

In six seasons with Butler, Brad Stevens' teams have averaged as the 206th ranked team in the country in offensive rebounds per game. This technique to not attack the offensive boards aligns with what Doc Rivers and Tom Thibodeau had preached in their time in Boston. Last season, both teams that met in the NBA Finals -- the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs -- were ranked in the bottom three for offensive rebounds per game. The Boston Celtics averaged the least in the league.



Like the Heat, Spurs, and Celtics, simply getting back on defense was Stevens' first step to having a fundamentally sound defense at Butler. He will bring this same philosophy to Boston.

With drastically different personnel in the NBA, Brad Stevens' greatest difficulty to overcome will be getting through to his players. But if he manages to get the team to buy in to his team-first philosophy, the style of defense should remind viewers of some of the more recent great Boston Celtics defenses.

During my internship with Comcast SportsNet New England I was able to discuss defensive philosophies with Brian Scalabrine. Him and I talked about how defending doesn't end when a shot is taken, it's over when the possession of the ball has finally changed. That means that rebounding -- which is often mistaken as a separate entity -- is an integral part of the success of your defense.

This is one part of Stevens' defensive philosophy that I absolutely love; Brad Stevens puts a strong emphasis on boxing out after the shot is taken. One of my greatest criticisms of Doc Rivers was the lack of importance he seemed to place on boxing out. After Tom Thibodeau left to coach the Chicago Bulls, I thought the Celtics tended to rely more on athleticism to grab rebounds instead of technique.




With Butler, Stevens says that he preaches the importance of finishing plays and teaches boxing out based on the individual attributes of each player. He teaches that less mobile players (centers and power forwards) have the responsibility of boxing out the offensive player to keep them from getting the ball and more mobile players (guards and small forwards) may quickly hit their man and then pursue the ball.

If Brad Stevens is able to bring his same philosophy of getting back on defense, boxing out, as well as his extremely complicated half court defensive schemes, the Boston Celtics could have lots of success in the near future.

***

Respect from his Peers

Even though he's only 36-years-old, Brad Stevens has already gained enormous respect for his coaching peers. I'll just let the following quotes speak for themselves:

"Coach Stevens is a Hall of Fame coach. He's just not old enough for you to call him that yet." - Buzz Williams, Marquette head coach

"He's an outstanding coach...He's terrific. It's a great hire for the Celtics. He'll have respect. He's accomplished. Players respect success. He's had great success right away, so I don't think he'll have any problem with the players respecting him. They'll respect him, they respect excellence; he has it. It's a terrific hire." - Mike Krzyzewski, Duke head coach

"The best young coach I have seen in my time." - Jim Boeheim, Syracuse head coach

"I've gone through seven, eight game tapes of Butler. It's the best coaching clinic you can have. Their attention to detail, their execution defensively and offensively is textbook." - Dave Paulsen, Bucknell head coach

***



Brad Stevens has many obstacles to overcome in order to reach his potential as a head coach for the Boston Celtics but he has a lot going for him that many other college-to-pro coaches didn't. Stevens, for one, isn't someone that looks for all the attention like many of the other great college basketball coaches. He brings a calm and cool demeanor to the court, so his teams respect and emulate that.

He s also isn't entering a situation with enormous expectations in year one. While there are no guarantees the Boston Celtics go into full rebuild mold, they are most certainly in a drastic retooling period. Expectations will be relatively low this season, so Stevens will only need to excel in player development -- something he has much success with -- with less emphasis on the win-loss column.

Brad Stevens is also joining an organization with an extremely stable ownership group. From Wyc Grousbeck to Danny Ainge, the front office seems to be well intact. Management has also clearly stated how much confidence in him by signing him to a lengthy and pricey six year, $22 million dollar contract.

The Boston Celtics have traded away most of what has made them great in the past decade in Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Doc Rivers. But with some of the remaining players on the team, the future draft picks, and Brad Stevens as the coach of the franchise, the future is extraordinarily bright.


bob


.

I am so tired of hearing the talking heads put down Rondo and predict he'll be a thorn in Brad's side. Except for Chris Broussard, everyone says Rajon is gone.

I can't imagine Brad Stevens allowing that to happen.

Finally, a topic to sink one's teeth into for those of us who don't thrive on conjecture and would rather discuss facts.

This is a well-written and intelligent article. My only criticism would be that I would have welcomed more detail of Brad's defensive schemes. Obviously, we'll all want to develop our own assessments of his coaching over time. (Has anyone heard whether he might be coaching in a summer league?) But, just based on this article, there's plenty of fodder for drawing implications of his being the Celtics coach.

1. Three little words have spawned many a marriage. But the three little words that make me want to bless the marriage between Brad and the Celtics are: "INTERESTING MOTION SETS." I've been thirsting for more of a motion offense for a long time now. In particular, I believe that a moving offense (especially if some solid picks are involved) will produce many more open players than in the past, very likely meaning that Rondo will have less reason to pound the ball into the floor and allowing him to leverage his passing strengths.

2. The words "classical all-for-one, one-for-all philosophy on team success" could have come out of the Red Auerbach Guide to Celtics Greatness. If there's been one unique ingredient of Celtics basketball through the ages, it's been an inordinate emphasis on team play. If KG and Pierce had stayed around, Brad might have been preaching this philosophy to the choir. But now there will be new choir members who will need to be indoctrinated. And it sounds as though Brad will stand for nothing less than a system in which trusting and enabling teammates is a matter of routine.

3. The fact that Brad is so process-oriented may seem to some like a throwaway line. But I believe it offers an important distinction. I hear so much about being goal-oriented, but I sometimes think goal-orientation can sometimes allow emotion to cloud the fundamentals of the process. That's why a team that's on a roll can sometimes try something too outlandish and wind up with a turnover. If a team is intently focused on executing a process correctly, I believe the goals will take care of themselves.

4. What's not to like about a trio of emphases on character, preparation and performance? I particularly like Brad's comment about "doing your job." Again, this might seem like a throwaway comment, but I believe it carries strong role-playing overtones. I will always feel that the Russell Celtics were a bunch of role players who were exceptional at their roles but, importantly, valued their roles fiercely and policed themselves in the carrying out of those roles. And, to paraphrase the trite saying, the total results really did equal far more than the sum of the roles. I felt that the roles of this past year's team were horribly blurred, and I'm not casting blame-just making an observation that is, no doubt, a function of extenuating circumstances.

5. The types of stats Brad seems to use are, in my opinion, extremely valuable because they're designed to enhance the process rather than to make media points. In essence, the "lineup analysis" is along the same lines as Doc's experimentation with combinations, but conducted and analyzed much more systematically and objectively.

6. On one hand, it sounds as though the holdovers from last season won't have to make major adjustments when learning Brad's defensive system. I like the amount of importance he places on defense. I guess we'll be stuck with mediocre offensive rebounding as he has a "drop back quickly" system similar to Doc's. But I'm hoping Sully can single-handedly improve the offensive rebounding. The one thing about Brad's defensive beliefs that thrills me is another thing I've been braying about for a long time--boxing out on the defensive rebounding boards. It makes such great sense for the less mobile bigs to focus on blocking out their counterparts while the more mobile teammates go for the defensive boards. Whenever I've lobbyed for more gang rebounding, I've never meant that all five Celtics should bang the boards. Good defensive rebounding, just like good offense, involves players executing a variety of roles well.

I want to emphasize that none of this is intended to cast aspersions on Doc and the past. At this juncture (while keeping the distant past in special brain and heart compartments), I'm primarily interested in what happens in the near-future.

While the jury's obviously out on what Danny's ultimate roster will look like, this hire and this article convey the best Celtics news I've had yet this offseason.

Go Celtics!

Sam

Process oriented? Do your job? Never a swear word from the coach's lips?
Who does this remind me of? Tony Dungy! I'll take a coach like that anyday.

Setting hard picks for a movement oriented offense? Sounds like the perfect situation for Colt 37.


Let the games begin!

worcester wrote:Process oriented? Do your job? Never a swear word from the coach's lips?
Who does this remind me of? Tony Dungy! I'll take a coach like that anyday.

Setting hard picks for a movement oriented offense? Sounds like the perfect situation for Colt 37.


Let the games begin!

Worcester,

Maybe Danny will be able to get rid of Gerald Wallace before the season starts and then Colton Iverson can have his number, 45. It's what he wore in college and what he wanted to wear here, but they're reserving it for Wallace.

The games begin, sorta kinda, this Sunday in Orlando.

Thank God. I'm starting to get the shakes from withdrawal.

bob


.

W and Bob,

One thing I like about Brad's defensive principles is that I'm sick of hearing about Olynyk's "alligator arms"  You don't need "elephant arms" to block out effectively on the defensive boards.  There's a popular myth that tall guys are the rebounders.  That's not necessarily true, as Rondo has demonstrated on many occasions--and those occasions generally occurred when Celtics bigs were NOT doing a good job of blocking out.  One area in which Scal excelled without grabbing a load of rebounds was blocking out.

Sam