Doc: Stevens will get C's through rebuild

http://www.csnne.com/boston-celtics/doc-rivers-stevens-will-get-celtics-through-rebuild?p=ya5nbcs&ocid=yahoo


A. Sherrod Blakely


SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A year ago this time, the Boston Celtics (13-25) were sitting on an identical record to where they are right now.

No matter how many future draft picks and trade exceptions and expiring contracts Danny Ainge adds to the Celtics war chest, teams are judged by the quality of the product they put on the floor.

That's why the Philadelphia 76ers have been a laughingstock in the NBA the past couple seasons, because they have blatantly tried to improve by tilting the scales of competition against themselves (low payroll, lots of 10-day and undrafted players, few veterans) and thus improve their chances of getting another high draft pick.

Boston and a handful of other teams have certainly bolstered their chances at future success by weakening their current roster.

That is the life of a team that's rebuilding, something head coach Brad Stevens' predecessor Doc Rivers (now head coach and president of basketball operations with the Los Angeles Clippers) knows all too well.

"It's very hard," Rivers told CSNNE.com following the Clippers' win at Sacramento on Saturday. "I don't think people understand how hard it is on the coaches."

Rivers was at the helm of the Celtics during some of the franchise's darkest moments, like the 2006-2007 team which lost a team-record 18 straight games.

"It's physically draining," Rivers recalled. "It really is. You have to not question yourself, 'is what I'm doing right?' Because you don't even know."

Stevens has shaken up the starting lineup, tweaked the rotation, increased it to where everyone in a uniform was seeing action.

Nothing has worked long enough to produce wins with any semblance of consistency.

One of the biggest issues with this Celtics team has been their inability to finish off games in the fourth quarter, something Rivers recalls vividly from his rebuilding days in Boston.

"When I was there, I was coaching my butt off as hard as I could," Rivers said. "I felt like I could get the team to the fourth quarter every night and then you just didn't win games because you're young, you didn't have the horses and every night as a coach you have to mentally convince yourself that you are going to win this night."

The latter doesn't seem to be a problem for Stevens.

Despite several disappointing losses this season, Stevens understands that he has a young team that's taking its lumps right now.

But in doing so, he's building a culture of competitiveness which should serve both him and the franchise well once they acquire better talent.

Because for Boston to re-establish itself as one of the better teams in the league, they are going to have to use some of their assets as well as current players to acquire better ones.

In many ways, the blueprint for success now isn't all that different than it was when Rivers was the coach.

"It's funny. We decided to build within and build a culture first, and then teach the fundamentals of the game," Rivers said. "If we ever got guys, they would be ready. Then it turned out, it worked for us. Perk (Kendrick Perkins) was ready when we got other guys. (Rajon) Rondo was ready. All that was good."

And that, Rivers said, has to be part of Stevens' approach during this difficult period.

The trials and tribulations that the Celtics endured under Rivers paved the way for Banner 17. Because of those ups and downs, Boston was positioned to take advantage of a then-changing landscape by acquiring Ray Allen from Seattle (now Oklahoma City) and Kevin Garnett from Minnesota who joined forces with Paul Pierce and brought the franchise's 17th NBA title in 2008.

Today, Boston has even more assets to get deals done than they had in 2007. Their young players like Kelly Olynyk and Jared Sullinger and rookie Marcus Smart have all shown continued growth and signs of being core players of the future.

So as bleak as things might appear to be now, this franchise has seen darker times and managed to navigate through them to achieve great success.

And Rivers is convinced that Stevens is the man to lead this franchise back to elite status.

"I see Brad, he's doing a hell of a job; hell of a job," Rivers said. "But it's hard; it's really, really hard. But he'll get them back there. It's not going to happen overnight obviously, but it's going to happen."


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Stevens still has a fair amount of growing to do. I think he's trying, but hasn't really learned how to adjust in the NBA. He's still swinging his fists blindly in the dark. With a better roster, I think there would be significant results, but he still needs to work on his rotations, substitution patterns, and I wish he'd tone down the 3-point shooting rhetoric. Don't predispose your team for laziness, keep them attacking the paint and moving around.


KJ