Celtics notebook: Brad Stevens sees the future, and it looks a lot like Steph Curry

https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/01/27/celtics-notebook-brad-stevens-sees-the-future-and-it-looks-a-lot-like-steph-curry/




Celtics notebook: Celtics notebook: Brad Stevens sees the future, and it looks a lot like Steph Curry




By MARK MURPHY | markr.murphy@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald
PUBLISHED: January 27, 2019 at 1:40 am | UPDATED: January 27, 2019 at 8:31 am



Brad Stevens has said that the future of the 3-point shot is headed deeper, out to a steady 28 or 30 feet for the best shooters.


And Saturday night, for the first of two times this season, Stevens schemed to guard the player who is in that respect the future.

“I don’t know that there’s a guy who’s probably had more of an impact on the game of shooting the basketball than he has,” the Celtics coach said of Steph Curry before his team fell to the Warriors, 115-111. “Even dating back to his day at Davidson, some of the shots he would make in the tournament games and then now as he’s progressed through his NBA career, increasing his depth on his shot.


“As I watch all of our kids play and my 13-year-old is shooting from 25 feet, I just think he’s had a huge impact on the game,” Stevens said. “His skill level is remarkable. And you root for guys like that – and we’ve got a guy like that in Kyrie (Irving) that, they have to work to get there. It’s like an intense work that doesn’t take a day off, that those guys put in to become the shooters that we know.”

Close rivalry

Golden State’s dominance aside, the Warriors and Celtics were remarkably even in head-to-head competition over the last three seasons before Saturday night.

The sides had split the series in that stretch with a 3-3 record, with each team winning twice on the other’s floor. Isaiah Thomas was at the point of attack for the Celtics’ two wins in Oracle Arena two and three seasons ago.

Though the Celtics never made it through Cleveland for a chance to play Golden State in the Finals, they have held their own remarkably well during the regular season against a team that has won three of the last four NBA titles.

“Since I’ve been here, it’s the matchups,” Marcus Morris said. “Down the line it’s a good lineup, as far as athletic ability, as far as switching ability, as far as mano-a-mano – guys who are skilled, athletic, play multiple positions. It all matches up very well, as far as the coaching standpoint too. Just very the same.”


That, in turn, points to similar systems, with the Celtics obviously striving to someday have as complete a team as the group they played Saturday night.

“Definitely. Their system is open,” Morris said. “We both shoot a lot of 3s, with guys who do utility work. That’s what makes them a great team. Guys know exactly what they’re supposed to do. They don’t go outside their game.”

And in that sense the Warriors have set the bar for the rest of the sport.

“Over the last few years they’ve been the standard for the whole NBA,” Stevens said. “But it’s not about style of play, it’s just about they’ve put together a great group that fits each other well and plays well together and has played great defense and great offense.

“So you can’t emulate them necessarily because their guys are unique in what they do,” he said. “You have to play to your strengths as a group and there’s some things defensively that you take and you look at as something you may apply to your team, there’s some things offensively but there’s some things that don’t fit to. But as far as a standard for the league they’ve clearly, with three out of the last four years being champions and being on the doorstep of a fourth before Kyrie hit that shot, that’s pretty incredible.”

Big addition

As if the rich weren’t gifted enough, the Warriors added DeMarcus Cousins to their mix three games ago.

“I mean, it’s DeMarcus Cousins with the team that won last year, so it’s just a great addition,” Irving said. “Just a guy out there that they can space, put him in post-ups and keep him involved. He’s an all-star in this league, an MVP candidate at one point, just really doing great things and I’m just happy to see him healthy. Achilles injury is a crazy injury so I’m glad that he’s back.”


The result has been predictable.

“I think every team goes through their ups and downs of the season,” Stevens said. “They look like they’re playing at an elite level right now. I think any time you add a guy like that, and he’s on a minutes restriction still, or at least he’s playing limited minutes, it just looks like everybody’s got a little more bounce in their step, and, they’re tough. I don’t know that I’ve seen them play better during the regular season stretch since maybe the year they won 73.”


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