Brad Stevens And The Boston Celtics Are In It For The Long Haul

by **bobheckler** Tue Dec 23, 2014 9:26 am

http://www.sbnation.com/2014/12/21/7429969/brad-stevens-celtics-rumors-indiana-rebuild-sunday-shootaround

BRAD STEVENS AND THE CELTICS ARE IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL
By Paul Flannery

BOSTON -- Before the question had even been formulated, Brad Stevens was shaking his head. No, no, no. He’s not looking to go back to college. This is where he wants to be, coaching the Boston Celtics even as they go through a transformative time in their history and even as Indiana University message boards light up at the thought of bringing a favored son back to the Hoosier state.

"I’ve committed to being here," Stevens told me before Thursday’s practice at the team’s facility. "I’ve already left a situation once and that was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to choose to do. This is something that as long as they want me to be here, this is what I want to be doing and I’m going to give it everything I’ve got. I know it’s all specific to the rumor mills and the discussion of one spot. I think they’ve got a good coach who’s done a helluva job. He doesn’t deserve that speculation.

"I’m the head coach of the Boston Celtics," Stevens continued. "This is the job. This is where I am. This is what I want to do really well and I’m committed to being as good as I can every single day for the Celtics."

A few hours after we talked, the Celtics traded Rajon Rondo to the Mavericks, effectively closing the door on the old era and beginning the new one. Their fortunes will rise or fall with a developing group of young players, a mountain of draft picks, several other assets that exist only on paper and their coach, who might be the most important piece of all.

If Stevens’ hire was a surprise last summer to casual observers, it wasn’t to league insiders. Several teams had been after him thanks to his run at Butler that included two trips to the national championship game. Most felt it was a matter of when, not if, he would make the jump to the pros. Years ago, before Butler played Duke in the national championship game, Celtics team president Danny Ainge pointed to Stevens and said to one of the team’s owners, "That’s the best coach in college basketball."

Stevens’ first season on the job was a jumbled affair thanks in part to Rondo’s recovery from knee surgery and a maintenance plan that periodically kept him out of the lineup. There were other in-season trades that continued to shuffle the deck and the C’s offense ranked 27th in points per possession, per Basketball-Reference.com. They were able to maintain a degree of competitiveness thanks to an overachieving defense that Stevens credited to former assistant Ron Adams and his players’ willingness to adapt to the new scheme.

This year has been a different story. Stevens’ read-and-react offense has them playing at a faster pace and scoring at a more efficient clip despite lacking a definitive go-to guy. Their defense, after a terrible start playing one of the toughest schedules in the league, has also improved to the point where they are roughly league average, despite lacking much in the way of rim protection.

This is a true collective effort. On their best nights, as many as seven or eight players can reach double figures. Their defense is led by ball-hawking guards who pressure ballhandlers and eat up the shot clock. If any of that breaks down, they can get in trouble quickly as evidenced by an early-season propensity to blow fourth quarter leads. When it works, they’ve been competitive with some of the best teams in the league and picked off enough wins to place them in the lower sphere of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

Where the Celtics were almost painfully dull last season, they have become one of the more entertaining teams to watch this season and an unlikely League Pass cult favorite. All of that helps mitigate some of the growing pains of the young roster and has allowed Jeff Green to post career-best numbers, while furthering the development of players like Kelly Olynyk, Jared Sullinger and Marcus Smart.

Night after night, as teams comes through Boston, opposing coaches and players have praised the Celtics for two things: their competitiveness and their coaching.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich: "He was a hell of a coach before he got here and he’ll be an even better coach as time goes on. He’s a special guy, that’s why Danny Ainge went and got him."

Cavaliers forward Kevin Love: "I think Brad Stevens is an awesome coach. They’re going to be able to figure it out as they accumulate more talent and like I said, I’m a big fan of Brad Stevens."

For his part, Stevens takes all of that in stride. "To be real candid, I don’t pay a whole lot of attention to it," he said. "A couple of the quotes get back to me, but very few. People have a tendency to say nice things. Let’s be real. Now, I do believe that. We are playing hard and we are getting better. But we still have a long way to go."

bob
MY NOTE: There have been rumors about Stevens leaving to coach Indy, which I never believed for a second, but whatever. What I like about this piece by Flannery isn't the shoot down of the rumor but everything he wrowrote after that. About the team's progress on defense, etc. We're improving, and that's what "player development" is all about. Danny could not have gotten a better coach for where we are now for this. Ok, maybe Larry Brown, but he's 74 years old.

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by **gyso** Tue Dec 23, 2014 1:05 pm

Brad Stevens landed on the Island of Misfit Toys and turned them into a competitive group. This season, we were actually in the hunt for the 8th seed, albeit in the weak east.

Now the dealer has traded away Brad's best trump card for three more misfits and the coach now has to figure out how they fit into the mix.

I agree with Bobh, "Danny could not have gotten a better coach for where we are now".

gyso

by **dboss** Tue Dec 23, 2014 1:26 pm

Brad Stevens was a low expectation hire that was picked to coach a bad team. Danny saved a lot of money by not hiring a proven NBA coach. good for Danny. The road to respectability will be a long and arduous road.

One day Brad may very well be a great NBA coach. He is still learning the NBA.

His success will be dependent on the quality of the roster and his ability to coach. Both of which still remain in a fog of uncertainty.

dboss

by **gyso** Tue Dec 23, 2014 2:02 pm

Coaches salaries:

http://www.otherleague.com/contracts/nba-head-coach-contracts-salaries/

For a new coach, the pay scale is not all that low. You will find that by removing the obvious high priced coaches, Brad's pay scale is well above the average of those that remain.

Throw out Doc and Stan Van's numbers because the numbers are ridiculous and they are both GM and Coach for their teams. Throw out Pop's and Carlisle's numbers due to their success level and longevity. You can also probably throw out any coach's numbers from NY or LA, due to their team's nature to overpay for whatever they want.

No one is saying that Brad is perfect, but absolutely no one should be saying he has to prove anything in the first couple of years. Brad has a six year contract for above average salary. The Celtic ownership and management have allowed the team and the coach to grow together. I think the short window of the last rebuild has taught the Celtic management that perhaps a different process; longer to blossom, thus longer to bear fruit, will be better in the long run for all.

I don't know if many people here will take stock in what many fans of the other NBA teams say, but I have noticed a trend. The trend can be found in the many "Comments From The Other Side" threads that bobheckler brings to us. These fans say that they wish their coach had many of the attributes that our coach has shown. The view from the other side suggests that our coach is actually not so bad.

gyso

by **Outside** Tue Dec 23, 2014 2:38 pm

gyso wrote:No one is saying that Brad is perfect, but absolutely no one should be saying he has to prove anything in the first couple of years. Brad has a six year contract for above average salary. The Celtic ownership and management have allowed the team and the coach to grow together. I think the short window of the last rebuild has taught the Celtic management that perhaps a different process; longer to blossom, thus longer to bear fruit, will be better in the long run for all.

This, particularly the part I bolded, is what those who lack patience or default toward a negative viewpoint seem to fail to understand.

by **swish** Tue Dec 23, 2014 3:44 pm

http://bkref.com/tiny/JSQiD 2005-06 Roster
Only 2 players on the 2005-06 team played 1100 or more minutes and were on the roster of the championship 2007-08 club. No need to get bent all out out shape worrying about the game to game performances of the team now when its pure speculation about what the Roster will look like 2-4 years down the road? Rebuilding is never a pleasant scene to witness. Take what ever good you can from individual performances and think down the road 2 -4 years. Our Christmas tree is loaded with future draft picks and will soon be loaded with mucho CAP SPACE to cash in on the free agent market. We Celtic fans endured the dark years of 2005-06 and 2006-07. Give Danny and Brad some time to do their thing. Patience is the order of the day.

http://bkref.com/tiny/ZJhiA 2007-08 Roster

swish

by **wide clyde** Tue Dec 23, 2014 4:08 pm

I hope that Stevens stays for a very long time. Watching the guys he got last year play now shows everyone of these guys are much more skilled in all parts of the game than they were last year (ex: Sullenger, Olynyk, Bass, etc). The guys he got this year are already showing lots of individual improvements (ex. Turner and Zeller).

Stevens seems to develop skills in players and also situational awareness that are so very important when dealing with a young team that the Celtics are likely to be with so many draft choices in the next few years. And, if you debate his (and his staff's) teaching skills you really cannot debate that he has a knack of putting his players in positions to be successful within his offense.

In fact, I will predict that Stevens is the reason why quality, younger NBA free agents may start to sign in Boston
in the very near future.

The Cs are going to be a 'young' team for at least the next 4-5 years until the Sullenger, Young and Olynyk age group guys get to the status of young vets. Ainge seemingly has made a great coaching choice for this total team rebuild.

by **dboss** Tue Dec 23, 2014 4:21 pm

gyso wrote:Coaches salaries:

http://www.otherleague.com/contracts/nba-head-coach-contracts-salaries/

For a new coach, the pay scale is not all that low. You will find that by removing the obvious high priced coaches, Brad's pay scale is well above the average of those that remain.

Throw out Doc and Stan Van's numbers because the numbers are ridiculous and they are both GM and Coach for their teams. Throw out Pop's and Carlisle's numbers due to their success level and longevity. You can also probably throw out any coach's numbers from NY or LA, due to their team's nature to overpay for whatever they want.

No one is saying that Brad is perfect, but absolutely no one should be saying he has to prove anything in the first couple of years. Brad has a six year contract for above average salary. The Celtic ownership and management have allowed the team and the coach to grow together. I think the short window of the last rebuild has taught the Celtic management that perhaps a different process; longer to blossom, thus longer to bear fruit, will be better in the long run for all.

I don't know if many people here will take stock in what many fans of the other NBA teams say, but I have noticed a trend. The trend can be found in the many "Comments From The Other Side" threads that bobheckler brings to us. These fans say that they wish their coach had many of the attributes that our coach has shown. The view from the other side suggests that our coach is actually not so bad.

gyso

If you remove the highs you gotta removes the lows. He is below average overall in terms of average salary which makes him a low cost hire.

by **gyso** Tue Dec 23, 2014 4:51 pm

dboss wrote:
gyso wrote:Coaches salaries:

http://www.otherleague.com/contracts/nba-head-coach-contracts-salaries/

For a new coach, the pay scale is not all that low. You will find that by removing the obvious high priced coaches, Brad's pay scale is well above the average of those that remain.

Throw out Doc and Stan Van's numbers because the numbers are ridiculous and they are both GM and Coach for their teams. Throw out Pop's and Carlisle's numbers due to their success level and longevity. You can also probably throw out any coach's numbers from NY or LA, due to their team's nature to overpay for whatever they want.

No one is saying that Brad is perfect, but absolutely no one should be saying he has to prove anything in the first couple of years. Brad has a six year contract for above average salary. The Celtic ownership and management have allowed the team and the coach to grow together. I think the short window of the last rebuild has taught the Celtic management that perhaps a different process; longer to blossom, thus longer to bear fruit, will be better in the long run for all.

I don't know if many people here will take stock in what many fans of the other NBA teams say, but I have noticed a trend. The trend can be found in the many "Comments From The Other Side" threads that bobheckler brings to us. These fans say that they wish their coach had many of the attributes that our coach has shown. The view from the other side suggests that our coach is actually not so bad.

gyso

If you remove the highs you gotta removes the lows. He is below average overall in terms of average salary which makes him a low cost hire.

Nope, I don't gotta do anything of the sort. This is not a pure math equation.

The two highest are GM/Coach combos, as I said. Those salary levels are not comparable to a coach only salary. There may be even more GM/Coach combos. Removal of that type of combo is enough to show that Brad's salary is above average. The removal of the salary in this category isn't about math, it is about comparing like things.

The next category is about success level and longevity, neither of which relate to hiring Brad Stevens. Again, the removal of the salary in this category isn't about math, it is about comparing like things.

The last category is about the spending habits of NY and LA. For the most part, history will agree with my statement, with only an occasional exception.

I gave reasons why some other coaches could be removed, what reason do you have to remove the lower paid coaches, except for some math function that does not have anything to do with why I chose to remove the three categories that I used.

Five years at $3,666,667 per year left. (Six year, $22 million total contract) Not many of the "leftovers" have that amount of salary per year with that length of commitment.

gyso

by **bobheckler** Tue Dec 23, 2014 6:48 pm

I don't understand what Brad Stevens' contract has to do with anything since it has zero impact on the team's salary cap. If Wyc wants to give him $10M/year, go ahead and congrats to you Brad. It's not my money and it doesn't limit Danny's efforts.

bob

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