Author Topic: So we're back to liking Stevens, right?  (Read 7047 times)

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So we're back to liking Stevens, right?
« on: April 23, 2017, 10:37:51 PM »

Offline ballin

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Seriously, the overreaction against Stevens was insane after we went down 0-2. We went down 0-2 because it's a bad matchup (which is on Ainge for building the team the way he has) and because none of our guys stepped up.

I really want to take a moment to remind everyone that Stevens is the only reason we even have the 1 seed. His playoff record has been poor so far because of the situations he has been in, not because he's a bad coach. That's like criticizing Lebron for his finals record when it's a miracle he even made it to half the finals he did.

Re: So we're back to liking Stevens, right?
« Reply #1 on: April 23, 2017, 10:43:10 PM »

Offline MattyIce

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Seriously, the overreaction against Stevens was insane after we went down 0-2. We went down 0-2 because it's a bad matchup (which is on Ainge for building the team the way he has) and because none of our guys stepped up.

I really want to take a moment to remind everyone that Stevens is the only reason we even have the 1 seed. His playoff record has been poor so far because of the situations he has been in, not because he's a bad coach. That's like criticizing Lebron for his finals record when it's a miracle he even made it to half the finals he did.

that was great until the last sentence

Re: So we're back to liking Stevens, right?
« Reply #2 on: April 23, 2017, 10:48:58 PM »

Offline Tr1boy

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CBS is lucky Rondo is injured

He is making all the right moves against a Rondoless Bulls

they look absolutely lost without a pg

Re: So we're back to liking Stevens, right?
« Reply #3 on: April 23, 2017, 10:55:46 PM »

Offline GetLucky

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CBS is lucky Rondo is injured

He is making all the right moves against a Rondoless Bulls

they look absolutely lost without a pg

Triboy said something somewhat-complimentary of Rondo?


Re: So we're back to liking Stevens, right?
« Reply #4 on: April 23, 2017, 11:02:53 PM »

Offline Smokeeye123

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I dont think the opinion changed all too much here except some talking media heads who were literally calling for him to be fired.

Re: So we're back to liking Stevens, right?
« Reply #5 on: April 23, 2017, 11:08:02 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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It sure helps when your opponent doesn't have anything resembling a starting caliber NBA point guard to put out there.

With that said, Stevens made adjustments and got his team locked in for two must-win road games, and he deserves lots of credit for that.
You’ll have to excuse my lengthiness—the reason I dread writing letters is because I am so apt to get to slinging wisdom & forget to let up. Thus much precious time is lost.
- Mark Twain

Re: So we're back to liking Stevens, right?
« Reply #6 on: April 23, 2017, 11:13:55 PM »

Offline trickybilly

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LeBron is 6-11 in NBA finals with the Cavaliers.

Means LeBron is a vegetarian.
"Gimme the ball, gimme the ball". Freddy Quimby, 1994.

Re: So we're back to liking Stevens, right?
« Reply #7 on: April 23, 2017, 11:21:17 PM »

Offline Tr1boy

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CBS is lucky Rondo is injured

He is making all the right moves against a Rondoless Bulls

they look absolutely lost without a pg

Triboy said something somewhat-complimentary of Rondo?



Rondo is procrastinator extraordinare

Only in the playoffs will he play his best.... only in the playoffs he will grab a rebound and rush for transition opportunities




Re: So we're back to liking Stevens, right?
« Reply #8 on: April 24, 2017, 12:12:14 AM »

Offline Boris Badenov

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I'm going to change my opinion from "love" to "hate" on a play-by-play basis, based on whether the Celtics score or not.


Re: So we're back to liking Stevens, right?
« Reply #9 on: April 24, 2017, 12:51:11 AM »

Offline crimson_stallion

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 :laugh:

The team openly admits that their game 3 win was inspired by a Kevin Garnett motivational speech - and suddenly Brad Stevens is off the hook?

Brad Stevens is the coach of the team.  If all it took to inspire the team to win was a deep motivational speech, then why couldn't Brad Stevens have offered that up two games earlier and avoided this situation to begin with?

He's the coach.  He's supposed to be THE motivating force behind the team.  You think Doc Rivers wouldn't have lit a major fire under this team's butt after the first loss in Boston?  Hell, he would have done it in the locker room at half time. 

The telling point to me is that after loosing game 2, Boston players were calling game 3 a "must win".  Seriously?  You are the #1 seed, playing a #8 seed, on your home court.  You are fighting to keep homecourt advantage, which could prove a key in the series.  The instant you drop game 1 at home, game 2 should  be seen as a "must win".  It shouldn't take two straight losses on your home court to drill home that mentality. 

That's where I Stevens concerns me, as a coach.  As I've said before, I feel like is too nice.  Too polite.  Too positive.  When they lost game 1, Stevens should have been drilling it deep into the heads of the players that a second loss on their home court, against a #8 seed, would be absolutely unacceptable.  That going back to Chicago down 0-2 is not an option. 

Instead I'm sure he gave them some nice polite speech about how they shouldn't worry, it's only one game, it's a four game series, it;s not over, there's still plenty of games left, etc.  Hell with that!  The team needed a butt kicking and a reality check, and it took Kevin Garnett to give it to them.

Edit:
Rondo's injury also played no small part in this...so Steven was basically rescued by Kevin Garnett's motivational speaking and Rajon Rondo's broken thumb.

Re: So we're back to liking Stevens, right?
« Reply #10 on: April 24, 2017, 01:29:19 AM »

Offline RockinRyA

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:laugh:

The team openly admits that their game 3 win was inspired by a Kevin Garnett motivational speech - and suddenly Brad Stevens is off the hook?

Brad Stevens is the coach of the team.  If all it took to inspire the team to win was a deep motivational speech, then why couldn't Brad Stevens have offered that up two games earlier and avoided this situation to begin with?

He's the coach.  He's supposed to be THE motivating force behind the team.  You think Doc Rivers wouldn't have lit a major fire under this team's butt after the first loss in Boston?  Hell, he would have done it in the locker room at half time. 

The telling point to me is that after loosing game 2, Boston players were calling game 3 a "must win".  Seriously?  You are the #1 seed, playing a #8 seed, on your home court.  You are fighting to keep homecourt advantage, which could prove a key in the series.  The instant you drop game 1 at home, game 2 should  be seen as a "must win".  It shouldn't take two straight losses on your home court to drill home that mentality. 

That's where I Stevens concerns me, as a coach.  As I've said before, I feel like is too nice.  Too polite.  Too positive.  When they lost game 1, Stevens should have been drilling it deep into the heads of the players that a second loss on their home court, against a #8 seed, would be absolutely unacceptable.  That going back to Chicago down 0-2 is not an option. 

Instead I'm sure he gave them some nice polite speech about how they shouldn't worry, it's only one game, it's a four game series, it;s not over, there's still plenty of games left, etc.  Hell with that!  The team needed a butt kicking and a reality check, and it took Kevin Garnett to give it to them.

Edit:
Rondo's injury also played no small part in this...so Steven was basically rescued by Kevin Garnett's motivational speaking and Rajon Rondo's broken thumb.

Oh didn't know you were in the locker room. Great oh all knowing crimson effin stallion.

Re: So we're back to liking Stevens, right?
« Reply #11 on: April 24, 2017, 02:05:01 AM »

Offline MBunge

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1.  Enough with this "bad matchup" business.

2.  When a team plays poorly, the coach usually deserves some of the blame.  When the team plays well, the coach usually deserves some of the credit.  I don't think Stevens has proven enough to be immune to that.

3.  This series has pretty much crystallized the issue of Stevens coaching.  Putting Green into the starting lineup has been a brilliant move that few others would have considered.  So why was there so little effort made to utilize him in the regular season? 

Mike

Re: So we're back to liking Stevens, right?
« Reply #12 on: April 24, 2017, 04:06:21 AM »

Offline chambers

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Stevens made a BRILLIANT decision that changed this series.

He decided to target Robin Lopez in the high pick and roll with Isaiah/Smart/Rozier and a smaller lineup with Green on the wing too. It's not really about having a small guy out there, it's having a better shooter. He could have started Olynyk but he needs Olynyk's stretch ability off the bench so we can still get some spacing for IT+the 2nd unit offense.

Anyway, by targeting Lopez in the high pick and roll, has decided we will:

1) Keep Lopez away from the basket and thus give us more 2nd shot opportunities.
2) Make Lopez (and the help defender, usually Wade or Butler) have to decide if he's going to go out and contest the shooter on the perimeter (Bradley, Green and Crowder) or stick with Horford (remember how badly Horford killed Lopez and Mirotic in that high pick and roll in game 2).

So yeah, Stevens strategy adjustment is the main reason we are going to win this series.
He is going to target Lopez, Felicio and Mirotic in the pick and roll relentlessly.

IT is either going to score, Horford is going to score, or our wing shooters are going to get wide open shots.

He has also decided that he doesn't care if Butler gets his 30 ppg as long as Lopez is away from the basket in the high pick and roll, and you can see this when he takes Bradley out while Butler is still in there.
People are criticizing Olynyk's defense but remember that most of the time Olynyk is out there, Bradley is on the bench and there is less resistance on his dribble penetration unless Smart is on him. You can see Butler having far more success getting into the paint when Bradley is out.

btw Felicio is an awful, awful basketball player- we will target him every second he on the court. Fouling machine.
« Last Edit: April 24, 2017, 05:35:45 AM by chambers »
"We are lucky we have a very patient GM that isn't willing to settle for being good and coming close. He wants to win a championship and we have the potential to get there still with our roster and assets."

quoting 'Greg B' on RealGM after 2017 trade deadline.
Read that last line again. One more time.

Re: So we're back to liking Stevens, right?
« Reply #13 on: April 24, 2017, 05:04:50 AM »

Offline LGC88

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Stevens made a BRILLIANT decision that changed this series.

He decided to target Robin Lopez in the high pick and roll with Isaiah/Smart/Rozier and a smaller lineup with Green on the wing too. It's not really about having a small guy out there, it's having a better shooter. He could have started Olynyk but he needs Olynyk's stretch ability off the bench so we can still get some spacing for IT+the 2nd unit offense.

Anyway, by targeting Lopez in the high pick and roll, has decided we will:

1) Keep Lopez away from the basket and give up more 2nd shot opportunities.
2) Make Lopez (and the help defender, usually Wade or Butler) have to decide if he's going to go out and contest the shooter on the perimeter (Bradley, Green and Crowder) or stick with Horford (remember how badly Horford killed Lopez and Mirotic in that high pick and roll in game 2).

So yeah, Stevens strategy adjustment is the main reason we are going to win this series.
He is going to target Lopez and Mirotic in the pick and roll relentlessly.

IT is either going to score, Horford is going to score, or our wing shooters are going to get wide open shots.

He has also decided that he doesn't care if Butler gets his 30 ppg as long as Lopez is away from the basket in the high pick and roll, and you can see this when he takes Bradley out while Butler is still in there.
People are criticizing Olynyk's defense but remember that most of the time Olynyk is out there, Bradley is on the bench and there is less resistance on his dribble penetration unless Smart is on him. You can see Butler having far more success getting into the paint when Bradley is out.

Nice analysis.
I'd like to mention that there is also a huge change in the energy level.
From possession 1 in game 3 through the end of game 4, Celtics are playing with great energy. We can fell they really want to win.
That's half of the win there, we all know that.

Re: So we're back to liking Stevens, right?
« Reply #14 on: April 24, 2017, 09:12:09 AM »

Offline KGBirdBias

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Yes, I've been one on Stevens pretty hard. I'm just glad they took my suggestion of going small. :-) Haha

He has made the adjustments and I really liked inserting IT back in the game along with the starters when they were stagnant. This really saved the game.