Is there a coach in the NBA that you would rather have for the Cs than Brad Stevens?

I know that there are many fine coaches in the NBA.  I like watching them all the time.  They coach their teams well and get well paid for doing so, but I cannot think of even one other current NBA coach that I would rather have coaching the Boston Celtics right now.   Whatever his salary is he is certainly earning every buck he signed for when leaving Butler.

This team most likely does not yet have enough talent to do real well in the playoffs, but their progress in the year and 3/4th since Stevens came on board has been truly very inspiring to watch.  It thrills me to see a team that has had so many roster changes all year long doing so well in just about every aspect of the game.

Watching this team, for me, has been more fun than watching the end of the Rivers era although there is a lot to be said about Rivers teams winning more games.   This bunch just plays so hard that they are fun to watch in every game.  OK,maybe not the last Cleveland game.

Their constant improvements as individuals and as a team are clearly related to what Stevens and his great staff have been doing now since coming to Boston.  The team culture has changed, the play towards the end of every game has changed, players are more skilled and handle difficult situations better, the coaching staff has made great adjustments to put players into situations where they can better contribute, the coaching staff handles game stuff much better, the players seem very happy to play for Stevens and there has been ZERO crying and whining (at least in the press) about individual situations related to playing time, shots, minutes, etc.

He could easily be the coach of the year, but probably will not be because his team is not going to win enough games and there are some really other good coaches in the league as well this year.

Next year will be even better as the Cs have a great chance to get some more talented players via free agency, draft and/or trade who will arrive knowing what the team culture is and how good Stevens has been.  If I had even a single drop of basketball talent, there are more than a few teams that I would not want to play for if I had a chance to play for next year's Celtics.

Danny Ainge is going to have to be quite successful in his job to keep pace with the young coach he hired.

The only one I'd rather watch is Blake Lively.

Remember when some of us were wondering whether Brad would last with the Celtics in the face of the frustration he must have been feeling?

And, right now, I bet there are few coaches who are happier with their teams than Brad is.

Sam

Dboss,

Exhibit number 1 supporting everything you say is the way Phil Pressey was charged up and ready to contribute just what they needed after not playing for weeks.  Pro basketball is very much a matter of trying to keep a step ahead of the opponents and making quick adjustments when you fall a step behind.  Both of those attributes seem to be staples with Brad.

Sam

My, my....the tangled web we weave.

Dboss,

Maybe the lessons stick better when the originate with the players.

I'll have to try that on our cats.

Sam

Sam,

I am not sure that your cats will learn anything from each other.  Ours are 100% untrainable and only do what they want and when they want.

If they happen to do something that we want them to do it only coincides with what 'they' originally wanted to do.

On the basketball side, there is no question that lessons get learned faster and deeper when another player is the teacher.

1/2 game out of the playoffs while the Nets are tanking for us. Do we have their #1 this year?

worcester wrote:1/2 game out of the playoffs while the Nets are tanking for us. Do we have their #1 this year?

No Atlanta does but we have it next year.

Not really a knock against Brad in this instance, but the Hawks' coach is a Popovich disciple...


KJ

k_j_88 wrote:Not really a knock against Brad in this instance, but the Hawks' coach is a Popovich disciple...


KJ

And in reality where would Pops be if Robinson doesn't get hurt and the Ping Pong balls land their way and they land Duncan the following season?

Pops is a good coach no doubt but he really got a huge break.

beat

Dboss,

Peanut butter would be relying heavily on bananas or Marshmallow Fluff.

Sam

dboss wrote:Beat

Pop is  not a good coach.  He is a great coach.  Where would Red be without Russell?

As a matter of fact, where would  peanut butter be without the jelly?

dboss

Dboss

my opinion OK

He is a good coach, I'm not one to award greatness often if ever and getting me to say good is about all you will ever get. Not one to go with superlatives often if ever.

That said What would he have done without Duncan? What banners are there that Duncan did not have a part in?

We can speculate till the cows come home.

Red did not have the pick to get Russell by the way, he risked quite a bit at the time to get him. What did Pop risk to get Duncan? He got him due to some luck with the PP balls and an unfortunate injury to one of the best centers of his time, which greatly increased their chances to have a shot at Duncan.

Again your welcome to say he's great. I'll say good and leave it at that.

beat

beat,

I think that Popovich's success over the years, regardless of how he got Duncan on his team, have shown that he is a great NBA coach. No consistently winning teams have not had similar star players. His team is very competitive every single year (usually winning 50 games), and that indicates that he is doing many things correctly. His NBA rings are a result of his coaching style and his overall program, etc, etc.

If our guy, Stevens, turns out to be as good he will find a way into the HOF with Popovich.

wide clyde wrote:beat,

I think that Popovich's success over the years, regardless of how he got Duncan on his team, have shown that he is a great NBA coach.  No consistently winning teams have not had similar star players.  His team is very competitive every single year (usually winning 50 games), and that indicates that he is doing many things correctly.  His NBA rings are a result of his coaching style and his overall program, etc, etc.

If our guy, Stevens, turns out to be as good he will find a way into the HOF with Popovich.

Wide


I'm allowed an opinion and that is Pops is VERY fortunate.

I've expressed VALID reasons as to why. The way he got Duncan was extremely lucky. What he did with very good players is something not every coach could do. Again he has no rings that Duncan was not a part of.


Seems no one can say what it could have been if Duncan landed somewhere else.............but I doubt SA wins the championships they have.

beat

It's a matter of the right fit. Could Russell have made other coaches great? Well, he's said flat out that Red was the ONLY coach he could have played for. It wouldn't surprise me if Duncan feels the same way about Pop, the only coach he's ever played for. Jordan has said that Jackson was the one coach who brought out the best in him and the team and Jordan had a pretty large basis for comparison.

KC Jones was one of those coaches many discounted because the team had so much talent. But the year before he became head coach the Celtics, with Bird, McHale and Parish, got swept out of the playoffs.

They won #15 with KC as a sort of anti-Fitch.

I doubt that there's any coach who would be the best fit for any situation. But there are a few who have sustained periods of excellence. If anything qualifies them as "great" that would be it.

The year before Pops arrived in SA. They won 59 games under Bob Hill. Then the following season after only a handful of games they lost their 6 year all star center. Hill was 3-15 when he was replaced by pops who guided them to a 17-47 record the rest of the way. They were not the worst team but the PP balls smiled on them and not us then and they landed Duncan. The team was now poised as it was 2 years prior only NOW they had perhaps the best power forward of all time to go with one of the best centers of his day. Tell me how great Pops is is fine but luck played an awful big part of it. SA was very good before he even set foot there.

beat

This one is a tough question for me to answer in any truly in-depth way.  No way to know how any given coach would do with a given group until he's in the mix.

That being said, it's hard not to like the job Stevens has done with a young ever-changing lineup.  The current starting group of Turner, Bass, Zeller, Smart and Bradley came together as much through injury as anything, yet Stevens has this group working together more effectively than any combination yet.  

I'd stick with Stevens, even though I do agree with those who think Pop might be one alternative.  I think Pop is the best of his generation and probably the best since Red; a hands-down, lights-out Hall of Famer.  Who, however, could ask for a coach to do more with less than Stevens has?

Stevens was a low risk, high potential, choice in that he wasn't off the coaching carousel of usual suspects.  Should he crash and burn, you could terminate him without much of a ripple.  His approach being a departure from the familiar faces, however, was worth the risk on a rebuild.  So far he's looking like the small risk taken may pay off.

sam wrote:Dboss,

Peanut butter would be relying heavily on bananas or Marshmallow Fluff.

Sam

Sam,

I'd go to the PB & banana right after the PB & J.  I like butter on the other slice of bread to get the thing to slide down.  No amount of milk is enough.  Ever try a PB & banana fried?  Arteries slam shut at the mere mention of it.

Regards

NYCelt wrote:

sam wrote:Dboss,

Peanut butter would be relying heavily on bananas or Marshmallow Fluff.

Sam

Sam,

I'd go to the PB & banana right after the PB & J.  I like butter on the other slice of bread to get the thing to slide down.  No amount of milk is enough.  Ever try a PB & banana fried?  Arteries slam shut at the mere mention of it.

Regards

PB and chocolate. You guys never heard of Reeses?

For me, though, the Holy Trinity is any combination of banana, chocolate and mint.


bob


.

Making me very hungry guys, but my doctor's face keeps floating in front of mine.

When I was young, Marshmallow Fluff was all the rage with peanut butter.  The Fluff was like eating congealed cotton candy.  I hadn't thought it was still made, but I googled it and found that one can get a vat of it on Amazon.  But I'll hold off because "vat" is just a letter away from "fat."

Sam