Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
Stevens knew he would have to absorb a carousel of roster moves and prolonged stretches of unsuccessful basketball. Yet understanding that in theory and actually experiencing it daily has been grueling.
Asked how much he fretted about his coach’s morale this season, Ainge replied, “Oh, it was maybe my No. 1 concern. I just tried to talk him through it best I could, knowing it wasn’t going to be easy. One thing is for sure: Brad is our future — and our present.”
As the Celtics flirt with a postseason berth in the anemic Eastern Conference (they’re currently tied for the eighth spot), Stevens is being lauded for his sideline poise, his command of X’s and O’s, his late-game creativity (an alley-oop inbounds play to Marcus Smart in the final seconds?) and his ability to squeeze results out of a limited roster.
“He’s got them playing the right way and playing together,” noted Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. “Neither of which are easy to accomplish.”
[…]
Regardless of whether the team makes the playoffs, the coach has a stack of work ahead of him.
He needs to convince Kelly Olynyk that when he shoots the ball he has to believe it’s going in, not hope it’s going in. He’s got to whip Sullinger into shape.
He needs to corral one of Smart’s biggest assets — his edge — and make sure it doesn’t turn into a embarrassing weakness, as it did in his assault on Matt Bonner last week.
Stevens rightly condemned the act and challenged his rookie to learn and grow from his mistakes.
Stevens is trying to do the same.
It’s too early to say where these Boston Celtics are headed, but it’s pretty clear whose leading them — the deadpan coach who shows nothing, but feels everything.
ESPN Boston – Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens’ poise, patience starting to pay off
Fresh off her piece on Marcus Smart, Jackie Mac gives us another profile, this time on Brad Stevens. It is chock full of quotes from Danny Ainge and other coaches including Gregg Popovich. Steve Kerr and Stan Van Gundy. They are mostly quotes we’ve seen before, or similar comments. What I like here is how Stevens himself did some soul searching and felt some self-doubt about staying the course here in Boston and the NBA in general. But before we go nervously scanning college hoops message boards and reddit sites, let’s focus on the realization Stevens came to at the end of the piece.
Stevens wants to stay the course and I’m interested to see if/when he has a solid core of true contending players. Ainge has built a nice roster of role players, but has yet to get those franchise guys. Given all that Stevens has had to deal with (trading Rondo, Green, losing Sullinger, having a revolving door or players) it’s remarkable that they are even in the playoff discussion. A lot of that can be attributed to geography, but Stevens has proven that he can coach at this level. Which is why I don’t think it matters if he gets playoff experience or not. He works hard and prepares his team every night, gets them to play most of the time, and despite the league trending in an over-protective manner by resting guys so much, he’s gotten them to play exceptionally well on back-to-backs.
He can coach, I think that argument is settled. Now it’s time to go get him the horses. By trade, draft, free agency, all of it. He deserves that chance and he would likely thrive in it. Hopefully he’s here long enough to give it a shot.
On Page 2, The Cooz overreacts juuuusssst a bit to Hassan Whiteside
Whiteside has also found an admirer in former Celtics legend Bob Cousy. During a recent phone conversation with the Worcester Telegram’s Bill Doyle, Cousy made a blasphemous comparison.
“I have never said this in the 40 years since I retired,” Cousy said, “but he is the first big guy, not (Patrick) Ewing, (Hakeem) Olajuwon, Shaq (O’Neal), who reminds me defensively and on the boards of Russell. He runs the floor well, he has excellent timing, he blocks shots and keeps them in play the way Russell did.”
Later, Cousy told Doyle he thinks the Celtics should offer three first-round picks for Whiteside because of the 25-year-old’s upside.
“I don’t get excited too often about these guys,” Cousy said, “but this kid looks to me like a turn-around guy.
“This kid moves to every rebound, he just reacts to everything on the defensive boards and he reacts the way Russell did. He leaves his man and comes over to help. He’ll block five or six shots a game and he catches them. The league hasn’t caught up with him yet.”
The best part of Cousy’s comments came toward the end of Doyle’s piece, when the Hall of Famer stopped for a moment to consider his words.
“Maybe I’m overreacting,” he said.
Yeah, maybe.
MassLive – Bob Cousy: Hassan Whiteside the 1st big guy to remind me of Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell
Just like on Bob Cousy retirement night, I’m going to scream out to him: “WE LOVE YA COOOZ!!!” We do, we truly do. As Celtics fans we have nothing but love and respect for you. But I think your last comment was the correct one. Could Whiteside turn into an all-star caliber center? Sure… I suppose it’s possible. But I feel fairly confident in saying that he will never come close to the once-in-a-century player Russell was. For now, he needs to learn how to stay healthy and control his temper. But hey, Cooz has forgotten more about basketball than I’ll ever know so maybe he’ll be right. For the full Cousy article, go HERE.
The rest of the links:
ESPN Boston – The NBA’s top head-coaching prospects
Boston Globe – Time running out for Celtics playoff push
Boston Herald – Inglorious return hurts Celtics Isaiah Thomas | Buckley: Bad spring on horizon?
CSNNE – Playoff run good evaluation period for Ainge | Thomas on return: ‘One of the worst games I’ve ever played’ | Ainge gives Stevens A+ for coaching job | Ainge: Sullinger can be really good if weight goes down | Celtics ‘sick’ over missing chance after loss to Heat
MassLive – Brad Stevens: Isaiah Thomas does not need to save Boston Celtics
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