Fire Brad Stevens.

[moonie_mcgee]

Overhaul the coaching staff. Bring in Posey KG Pierce and Perk in various capacities. Sign Rondo to be kind of a coach on the floor. This would help Brad a ton.

I agree he needs more help and a staff with varying options would be a good start. Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't it seem like his staff is right out of Butler University. The Hawks had Nate McMillan as an assistant. Celts need more gravitas and talent on the coaching staff.

His staff consists of a bunch of Mid Major jobbers. They need actual NBA guys

Ya see that's not right. I can only imagine the dynamics.
If Turner is the sole former player that'd be pathetic. I'd say half the staff should have former players with varying degrees of positions played and all solid communicators.

By the way, watching the Suns recording and watching Chris Paul off the court. His post playing career will be terrific no matter what he decides to do. I'd love to see a player coach one of these days again.

[Triple7]

Not been working for a decade? It' been one disappointing year not 10. Give me a break.

One year really???? Lol. Almost a decade and no finals appearance to show for? I commend him for the 1st 5 years here, having a lesser team overachieve, but the guy never adjusted. The last 3 seasons have been a disaster. and don’t give me that crap about getting to the conf finals last season. We should have been to the finals easy. He was clearly outcoached. I don’t know what you’ve been watching the past 3 seasons, but you are clearly a Brad Stevens stan homer.

That's an argument to fire Ainge, not Brad. You can't make a chateaubriand out of mincemeat. When has Brad ever had a championship-level roster, or anywhere close? I'm talking a pair like Lebron/AD, or prime motivated Kawhi, that level good? The only player capable of leading a team to a title he's ever had is Tatum, this year. And Tatum is 23 and spent half this year dealing with covid. Lebron didn't even win his first title till he was 27, despite coming in younger than Tatum.

It's amazing what Brad has done with utter crap. IT was a nobody before he got here, and became a nobody after he left. Tatum and especially Brown have blossomed beyond most expectations. Did Brad having nothing to do with any of that? Or is he just a crap coach because he can't take a team led by a 22-year-old or a no-D midget to a championship?

This young team needs a leader, sadly Brad ain’t that. It’s not just about the personnel he has, its his system that’s the problem. He had a stacked roster during the Kyrie era, but he mis managed that team. Poor rotations, lack of player accountability, poor leadership, terrible offense. Let me ask you this, does Brad even has an offensive system in place? Seems like a bunch of isos, and constant chucking of 3’s is what he can show for. Last years playoffs was a disaster. We were beat by the heat with 2 rookies as starters. Bam on his 2nd playoff berth. Yet when our team panicked, they chuck 3’s one after the other, even early in the shot clock. What did Brad do? nothing! He just kets them do what they want. That’s poor leadership on his part. I get that this season is filled with injuries, covid, etc, but what team hasn’t had that as well?

[GoCeltics123]

I've been hard on Brad all year, but I really don't know how anyone can watch this series and blame him at all and not the personnel. Tatum is the biggest reason we won game 3 but Brad is a close 2nd, he's been great all series even with our talent deficit

[dlamb8888888]

How can any of the Brad supporters defend his lineups? He starts Jabari Parker in Game 1, and he plays him 20 something minutes??? Just out of the blue??? Nesmith hasn't been great, but he has to be able to play through some bad stretches without worrying that he'll be relegated to the bench, especially at this juncture in the season. It is an absolute disgrace that Stevens hasn't figured out who his end of the bench guys are by now. Please don't give me the injuries excuse. Nesmith hasn't been injured. Pritchard hasn't been injured. Both of those guys are clearly more talented than guys like Grant Williams, Semi Ojeleye, Carsen Edwards, Tremont Waters, et al. Why are those players in the second group taking away major minutes from them? Both Nesmith and Pritchard would be solid bench contributors by this point if Stevens had any ability to evaluate talent and the common sense to not playing musical lineups. He should also be drawing up plays for them to get them going on offense. So sick of seeing guys play 20 minutes and take 2 shots. Happens A LOT! It's an absolute embarrassment that he is still switching his lineups so frequently at this stage of the game. It's totally indefensible. No normal coach would do that. It's round one of the friggin playoffs and players on the bench have no idea if they're going to get in the game or for how long. I would honestly not be surprised if Carsen Edwards starts game 5. Would any of you? That is a fvkking problem.

That is really only one issue with Stevens this year, but IMO, the most glaring. Let's not forget about his inability to get the players to play consistently hard on defense, his knack for letting the other team go on major stretches without calling a timeout or making in-game adjustments. When Brooklyn started doubling Tatum Sunday, he had no answers. How about his inability to effectively utilize the coach's challenge? I can count on one hand the amount of times he has successfully challenged a call. He is just awful. I can honestly not think of one aspect of coaching that he is above-average at. I used to think he was pretty effective at calling a good play after timeout, but I don't even see that anymore.

[Triple7]

Did their forum have "Fire Spo" and "Fire Riley" threads on the front page all year?

Spo had championship rings under his belt, and went to the finals last season. If his team pulled a crap again next season, then he should be sacked after that. Brad has nothing to show for. The guy haven’t won anything in his coaching career. Unless he pulls some kind of miracle, and have his team fighting this series, then it’s time for the team to move in a different direction. You guys need to wake up. Its doesn’t mean he’s a horrible coach, but Sometimes a change is necessary.

How did Spo get his rings? He had Lebron, Wade and Bosh, that’s how.

Who did Brad have? IT, Horford and Crowder?
Was he supposed to win a title with Kyrie, who got outplayed in the playoffs by George Hill, the backup PG of the Bucks and an injured Hayward?

Brad got outcoached by Spo last year? Really? We forgetting Kemba had a banged up knee in the series and Hayward missed about a month of the playoffs and came back half of what he was? Heat has the better team. Not an excuse, just a fact.

What’s Pop done since Duncan retired? Coaches can only take you so far without great players.

Wow isn’t it obvious lol. Brad was clearly outcoached and everyone, except Stevens fan boys, will agree to that. Spo lead his team with 2 rookies in the starting lineup, who can’t defend **** to the finals. I bet you don’t remember the constant iso between Jayson and Kemba during crunch times, and all that chucking of 3’s non stop, even early in the shot clock. Doed Brad even have an offensive system? All i saw was constant isos and a barrage of bricks from down town lol. Not to mention, he can’t even **** figure out the zone. You guys need to wake up, or you guys are juat in denial. Brad has been horrible, and players don’t even respect him anymore. They don’t listen to him and just do what they want.
Yup i agree he got his rings because of lebron and wade, but it doesn’t change the fact that he went to the finals last year, and Brad has never been to one. No comparison really. Brad is a loser.

[ParticleMan]

It's true that Spo outcoached Brad in that one series. But is that really your entire basis for saying Brad is a loser? Really?

Last 5 years (since Bron left Miami):
Erik Spoelstra/Miami: 52.2% winning %, 1 ECF, 1 Finals, Off rating -1.0 vs. L average, Def rating -1.4 vs. L average (less is better)
Brad Stevens/Boston: 60.2% winning %, 3 ECF, 0 Finals, Off rating +1.5 vs. L average, Def rating -2.2 vs. L average (less is better)

Literally every statistic favors the Celtics, except the one time Spoelstra made the finals and got his ass handed to him. Despite, over that time, the C's having a younger team and more roster turnover.

So remind me again how Brad is a loser and Erik Spoelstra is some kind of coaching god?

[JediMasterRevan]

It's true that Spo outcoached Brad in that one series. But is that really your entire basis for saying Brad is a loser? Really?

Last 5 years (since Bron left Miami):
Erik Spoelstra/Miami: 52.2% winning %, 1 ECF, 1 Finals, Off rating -1.0 vs. L average, Def rating -1.4 vs. L average (less is better)
Brad Stevens/Boston: 60.2% winning %, 3 ECF, 0 Finals, Off rating +1.5 vs. L average, Def rating -2.2 vs. L average (less is better)

Literally every statistic favors the Celtics, except the one time Spoelstra made the finals and got his ass handed to him. Despite, over that time, the C's having a younger team and more roster turnover.

So remind me again how Brad is a loser and Erik Spoelstra is some kind of coaching god?

And how was the roster construction during those years?
5 years ago the players with the highest number of starts on Miami was:

Whiteside -77
Dragic - 73
McGruder - 65
Babbitt - 55
Waiters - 43

4 years ago:
Richardson - 81
Dragic - 75
Whiteside - 54
James Johnson - 41
Tyler Johnson - 39

By Comparison Boston 5 years ago
Johnson
Thomas
Crowder
Horford
Bradley
Smart
Brown

Bostn 4 years ago
Irving
Horford
Brown
Tatum
Smart
Morris
Rozier


Stevens had far better talent over the time period.

[Triple7]

It's true that Spo outcoached Brad in that one series. But is that really your entire basis for saying Brad is a loser? Really?

Last 5 years (since Bron left Miami):
Erik Spoelstra/Miami: 52.2% winning %, 1 ECF, 1 Finals, Off rating -1.0 vs. L average, Def rating -1.4 vs. L average (less is better)
Brad Stevens/Boston: 60.2% winning %, 3 ECF, 0 Finals, Off rating +1.5 vs. L average, Def rating -2.2 vs. L average (less is better)

Literally every statistic favors the Celtics, except the one time Spoelstra made the finals and got his ass handed to him. Despite, over that time, the C's having a younger team and more roster turnover.

So remind me again how Brad is a loser and Erik Spoelstra is some kind of coaching god?

Did i say Spo was a coaching god? lol. I think he is just better than Brad. So you think Brad is a winner then huh?

[Triple7]

For the record, i think both of them sucked big time this year. it’s just a head scratcher how you guys still think Brad is the right coach for this team. No leadership bone in that guy at all. Too stubborn, erratic rotations, his style is outdated already. For 3 years now, this team has no identity,

[Celtics_History_Lesson]

It's only preseason.


This "coach" has been in power for nearly a decade, and all he did was chase All-Star after All-Star away.

Unable to coach adult, professional players.


The only ones with less coaching ability than him are the Boston assistants.


He has also been the coach for three of the Celtics five least likeable teams.

That is not good.


Danny Ainge was swearing at the Boston coach, trying to run him out of town when he was a player. Now as GM, he is still thinking behavior like that is normal. Both need to go, and quickly.

[Triple7]

It's true that Spo outcoached Brad in that one series. But is that really your entire basis for saying Brad is a loser? Really?

Last 5 years (since Bron left Miami):
Erik Spoelstra/Miami: 52.2% winning %, 1 ECF, 1 Finals, Off rating -1.0 vs. L average, Def rating -1.4 vs. L average (less is better)
Brad Stevens/Boston: 60.2% winning %, 3 ECF, 0 Finals, Off rating +1.5 vs. L average, Def rating -2.2 vs. L average (less is better)

Literally every statistic favors the Celtics, except the one time Spoelstra made the finals and got his ass handed to him. Despite, over that time, the C's having a younger team and more roster turnover.

So remind me again how Brad is a loser and Erik Spoelstra is some kind of coaching god?

And how was the roster construction during those years?
5 years ago the players with the highest number of starts on Miami was:

Whiteside -77
Dragic - 73
McGruder - 65
Babbitt - 55
Waiters - 43

4 years ago:
Richardson - 81
Dragic - 75
Whiteside - 54
James Johnson - 41
Tyler Johnson - 39

By Comparison Boston 5 years ago
Johnson
Thomas
Crowder
Horford
Bradley
Smart
Brown

Bostn 4 years ago
Irving
Horford
Brown
Tatum
Smart
Morris
Rozier


Stevens had far better talent over the time period.

Exactly!

[ParticleMan]

No, we didn't have far better talent. Maybe once we got Irving, but then Kyrie spent most of the time being injured or pouting and freezing out the Jays. IT was a nobody when we got him, a deadline pickup for a bucket of balls. Brown was terrible as a rookie, Tatum was solid but still very young. If you look at the players now, ours are far better, but at the time, it wasn't that big a difference.

What I find hypocritical is criticizing Brad for anything that goes wrong without ever giving him credit for anything good. I'll criticize Brad when he screws up, like he did against Spoelstra's zone last year. But I'll also give him credit, for instance when he coached circles around golden boy Nick Nurse in the series before that. I'll criticize him for mishandling Kyrie and losing Rozier who would be our best PG right now. But I'll give him credit for turning IT from a 3rd string castaway to an MVP candidate. Overall, Brad has done way more good than bad. And I definitely am not going to blame him for Kemba's knee, or Rwill and Hayward being made of glass.

I don't think Brad is the best coach in the L, I'd trade him for Pop in a heartbeat, and I'd even consider trading him for Spo because I respect the hell out of Spo. But I'd say Brad is top 5 and I'd maybe put him at #3, which is nothing to sneeze at, and not easily replaced if we fire him. There are many worse coaches in the L than Brad Stevens.

[Triple7]

No, we didn't have far better talent. Maybe once we got Irving, but then Kyrie spent most of the time being injured or pouting and freezing out the Jays. IT was a nobody when we got him, a deadline pickup for a bucket of balls. Brown was terrible as a rookie, Tatum was solid but still very young. If you look at the players now, ours are far better, but at the time, it wasn't that big a difference.

What I find hypocritical is criticizing Brad for anything that goes wrong without ever giving him credit for anything good. I'll criticize Brad when he screws up, like he did against Spoelstra's zone last year. But I'll also give him credit, for instance when he coached circles around golden boy Nick Nurse in the series before that. I'll criticize him for mishandling Kyrie and losing Rozier who would be our best PG right now. But I'll give him credit for turning IT from a 3rd string castaway to an MVP candidate. Overall, Brad has done way more good than bad. And I definitely am not going to blame him for Kemba's knee, or Rwill and Hayward being made of glass.

I don't think Brad is the best coach in the L, I'd trade him for Pop in a heartbeat, and I'd even consider trading him for Spo because I respect the hell out of Spo. But I'd say Brad is top 5 and I'd maybe put him at #3, which is nothing to sneeze at, and not easily replaced if we fire him. There are many worse coaches in the L than Brad Stevens.

Come on man. Coached circles around Nick Nurse? Really? That series went 7 deep. We can’t even stop Lowry that series, and that included Siakam playing like a scrub. A team without Kawhi. Actually i blame Brad for us losing in the conf finals. If not for that disaster of a last second inbound defensive lapse, we could have beaten the raps early, instead, because our golden boy wanted to switch everything on defense, including a less than a second inbound, that game gave them life. Our guys, most eapecially tatum, was dead tired in the heat series. That is Brad’s fault. for the record, nobody saw that raps series, as something that Brad can be proud of.

[Bad-Thoma]

It's true that Spo outcoached Brad in that one series. But is that really your entire basis for saying Brad is a loser? Really?

Last 5 years (since Bron left Miami):
Erik Spoelstra/Miami: 52.2% winning %, 1 ECF, 1 Finals, Off rating -1.0 vs. L average, Def rating -1.4 vs. L average (less is better)
Brad Stevens/Boston: 60.2% winning %, 3 ECF, 0 Finals, Off rating +1.5 vs. L average, Def rating -2.2 vs. L average (less is better)

Literally every statistic favors the Celtics, except the one time Spoelstra made the finals and got his ass handed to him. Despite, over that time, the C's having a younger team and more roster turnover.

So remind me again how Brad is a loser and Erik Spoelstra is some kind of coaching god?

And how was the roster construction during those years?
5 years ago the players with the highest number of starts on Miami was:

Whiteside -77
Dragic - 73
McGruder - 65
Babbitt - 55
Waiters - 43

4 years ago:
Richardson - 81
Dragic - 75
Whiteside - 54
James Johnson - 41
Tyler Johnson - 39

By Comparison Boston 5 years ago
Johnson
Thomas
Crowder
Horford
Bradley
Smart
Brown

Bostn 4 years ago
Irving
Horford
Brown
Tatum
Smart
Morris
Rozier


Stevens had far better talent over the time period.

Pphhhhttt. Half the board spent the whole time calling those Boston teams "Ham and Eggers".

[ParticleMan]

No, we didn't have far better talent. Maybe once we got Irving, but then Kyrie spent most of the time being injured or pouting and freezing out the Jays. IT was a nobody when we got him, a deadline pickup for a bucket of balls. Brown was terrible as a rookie, Tatum was solid but still very young. If you look at the players now, ours are far better, but at the time, it wasn't that big a difference.

What I find hypocritical is criticizing Brad for anything that goes wrong without ever giving him credit for anything good. I'll criticize Brad when he screws up, like he did against Spoelstra's zone last year. But I'll also give him credit, for instance when he coached circles around golden boy Nick Nurse in the series before that. I'll criticize him for mishandling Kyrie and losing Rozier who would be our best PG right now. But I'll give him credit for turning IT from a 3rd string castaway to an MVP candidate. Overall, Brad has done way more good than bad. And I definitely am not going to blame him for Kemba's knee, or Rwill and Hayward being made of glass.

I don't think Brad is the best coach in the L, I'd trade him for Pop in a heartbeat, and I'd even consider trading him for Spo because I respect the hell out of Spo. But I'd say Brad is top 5 and I'd maybe put him at #3, which is nothing to sneeze at, and not easily replaced if we fire him. There are many worse coaches in the L than Brad Stevens.

Come on man. Coached circles around Nick Nurse? Really? That series went 7 deep. We can’t even stop Lowry that series, and that included Siakam playing like a scrub. A team without Kawhi. Actually i blame Brad for us losing in the conf finals. If not for that disaster of a last second inbound defensive lapse, we could have beaten the raps early, instead, because our golden boy wanted to switch everything on defense, including a less than a second inbound, that game gave them life. Our guys, most eapecially tatum, was dead tired in the heat series. That is Brad’s fault. for the record, nobody saw that raps series, as something that Brad can be proud of.

This is Exhibit A for what I'm talking about. When our guys turtled in the the 4Q against Miami, it's all Brad's fault. When Siakam turtled against us, nope, that has nothing to do with Brad. Brad is completely responsible for the C's playing like crap against Miami, but apparently had nothing to do with the Raps playing like crap against us. This is the sort of inconsistency that indicates a biased agenda.

For the record, most major national pundits were predicting the Raps to win that series:
https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2020/8/17/21370904/nba-playoffs-predictions-2020-bubble-lebron-james-kawhi-leonard-clippers-lakers-raptors
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/celtics-raptors-predictions-schedule-2020-nba-playoffs/g99nqbvdrd8u1ljavxxh7r29g
So if you're going to say Brad sucks because he couldn't beat Spo, then give him credit for beating Nick Nurse when his team was an underdog.

[JediMasterRevan]

No, we didn't have far better talent. Maybe once we got Irving, but then Kyrie spent most of the time being injured or pouting and freezing out the Jays. IT was a nobody when we got him, a deadline pickup for a bucket of balls. Brown was terrible as a rookie, Tatum was solid but still very young. If you look at the players now, ours are far better, but at the time, it wasn't that big a difference.

What I find hypocritical is criticizing Brad for anything that goes wrong without ever giving him credit for anything good. I'll criticize Brad when he screws up, like he did against Spoelstra's zone last year. But I'll also give him credit, for instance when he coached circles around golden boy Nick Nurse in the series before that. I'll criticize him for mishandling Kyrie and losing Rozier who would be our best PG right now. But I'll give him credit for turning IT from a 3rd string castaway to an MVP candidate. Overall, Brad has done way more good than bad. And I definitely am not going to blame him for Kemba's knee, or Rwill and Hayward being made of glass.

I don't think Brad is the best coach in the L, I'd trade him for Pop in a heartbeat, and I'd even consider trading him for Spo because I respect the hell out of Spo. But I'd say Brad is top 5 and I'd maybe put him at #3, which is nothing to sneeze at, and not easily replaced if we fire him. There are many worse coaches in the L than Brad Stevens.

Come on man. Coached circles around Nick Nurse? Really? That series went 7 deep. We can’t even stop Lowry that series, and that included Siakam playing like a scrub. A team without Kawhi. Actually i blame Brad for us losing in the conf finals. If not for that disaster of a last second inbound defensive lapse, we could have beaten the raps early, instead, because our golden boy wanted to switch everything on defense, including a less than a second inbound, that game gave them life. Our guys, most eapecially tatum, was dead tired in the heat series. That is Brad’s fault. for the record, nobody saw that raps series, as something that Brad can be proud of.

This is Exhibit A for what I'm talking about. When our guys turtled in the the 4Q against Miami, it's all Brad's fault. When Siakam turtled against us, nope, that has nothing to do with Brad. Brad is completely responsible for the C's playing like crap against Miami, but apparently had nothing to do with the Raps playing like crap against us. This is the sort of inconsistency that indicates a biased agenda.

For the record, most major national pundits were predicting the Raps to win that series:
https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2020/8/17/21370904/nba-playoffs-predictions-2020-bubble-lebron-james-kawhi-leonard-clippers-lakers-raptors
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/celtics-raptors-predictions-schedule-2020-nba-playoffs/g99nqbvdrd8u1ljavxxh7r29g
So if you're going to say Brad sucks because he couldn't beat Spo, then give him credit for beating Nick Nurse when his team was an underdog.

That isnt true at all.

Our team crapped in the 4th against Miami, consitantly. We stopped Siakam thanks to some excellent defense from a couple of individuals on the team. We did not cause Toronto to collapse in 4th quarters.

Miami cuased up to collapse, over and over again.


Brad gets alot of credit, alot.
But he also needs to shoulder more blame.

[cloverleaf]

Evaluating Brad without consideration of team and circumstances doesn't make much sense. He's good, but is he good enough in the right ways for this particular team after 7 years leading them?

Still, I think the issues start higher up and should be dealt with there. (Hint: Garnett--as long as he promises not to make Pierce GM.)

[KumaJG]

Brad the least of our worries.

[Ernest]

Despite having so many injuries we are not looking terrible against one of the best collection of star talents ever. Almost get the feeling if everyone was healthy we would have had a shot to pull off a crazy upset. Brad is the lease of our problems.

The only way he is getting fired is if Tatum (or Brown or maybe even Smart) turns on him. If he loses the players he will lose his job. He's not losing his job for playing Jabari Parker or Semi to many or few minutes.

[JediMasterRevan]

Brad:

Play my system
Dont run a system to maximize players
Run same defense every game despite giving up 140 points
Bench players when they are playing good for no reason md reward players who are undeserving
Show no emotion
Kiss opposing teams butts
Blah blah.