Brad Stevens

[Grang33r]

I know many people are still talking about the miracle run Butler made and sorry that it fell short, i never cared much for Butler living outside the state, but when Gordon Hayward missed that shot, my heart dropped. They may go down as one of the greatest success stories of all time.

But, i was thinking, what about Brad Stevens to come to become our head coach? A young coach, who will have a cult following. He must be a rock star in Indianapolis right now. He would bring new ideas to the team and a new attitude, a "impossible is possible" attitude. Sometimes I just don't know if any of these college coaches would work in the NBA, but Woj from yahoo sports said last night that NBA exec's think Stevens is best suited for NBA then in college.

And he's a defensive maestro.

Who wouldn't be pro Stevens?

[Miller4ever]

It would be awesome, but Butler will try and keep him.

[Grang33r]

This is from Chad Ford's chat from earlier today. He posted this after my post, i guess great minds think alike. lol

Jay (Bloomington, IN)
As a Pacers fan, should I be excited about the way they are playing down the stretch as a positive for next year or disappointed that once again they will be picking around 10th instead of 1-5?

Chad Ford
(1:23 PM)
Disappointed. If they are this good, they should've been playing like this all year. Now, Jim O'Brien has basically killed the Pacers chances of getting a franchise type player in the draft. They were a 4th seed several weeks ago. Now their 10th. That's a huge, huge drop in this draft. At 10, the Pacers will get a nice player. But not a franchise changer. That's what they needed.


Larry (Indy)
You seem down on O'Brien. Who should the Pacers hire instead?

Chad Ford
(1:25 PM)
Brad Stevens of Butler. He's young, has a great basketball mind and most importantly for NBA coaches, he doesn't over coach. He has a great game plan but then backs off and lets the players execute. He'd be a very popular pick and could give the franchise a much needed boost of energy.

[Grang33r]

It would be awesome, but Butler will try and keep him.

They may try, but i doubt they succeed, even if the NBA doesn't come calling. He coaches for a school with 4,000 students so money isn't exactly pouring in. His current salary is $500k per season. Even non basketball powers, such as Oregon, are offering about $2 million per season for a new coach. No way Butler can give him that kind of increase.

[Wizop]

I love Butler and have for years but there is no way Brad is any more ready to coach in the league than Gordon is ready to play in it.

[PR07]

I think Brad has a great thing going at Butler. The only reason he should leave is because it's a great job, not because of money. Lickliter (sp?) found that out the hard way. I would be disappointed to see Brad leave the college game, just because I think he's great with young guys.

[FreeRon]

I'm not thinking signing Stevens would be a good move on our part or his. He hasn't really proven consistently that he can be a good coach, but I think given a few more years he really could be. If nothing else, sign him as an assistant or let someone else try him out first. I hate the idea of signing an unproven guy to what would undoubtedly be a fairly big contract.

[ardthomp]

Stevens is 33 years old. NBA players are going to have a hard time listening to a guy 1) that young and 2) has never played in the NBA.

Avery Johnson couldn't even get his guys to listen to him and PLAYED with most of them on that team. If you can't get respect by playing next to a guy, then you aren't going to get it having not played either.

Stevens will need to be in his 40s and succeed at a bigger school before he heads to the NBA...in my opinion.

[Miller4ever]

Avery Johnson was Coach of the Year for his first season, and didn't do that bad of a job in his second with a team that was less good his second season.

Also, 33 is still older than most of the guys on the Pacers. In fact, besides Jeff Foster, I can't think of anyone older.

[8305]

If Brad Stevens is going to leave Butler I can't think of a place I would rather see him go than the Pacers.

The name escapes me but New Jersey had a very young coach for several years who seemed to have the respect of his players. Stevens has the kind of demenor that I think works in the NBA. And, in three of his last four games he went head to head with hall of fame coaches and more than held his own. I think he's up to the task.

This could create a buzz similar to when Larry Bird was hired to coach. Lord know this team needs anything of this nature it can generate.

[Miller4ever]

^^Are you talking about Lawrence Frank?

[8305]

yes

[Gremz]

If he's anything like Lawrence Frank then I vote no.

[ardthomp]

Lawrence Frank had Indiana ties too. Maybe it is truly in the water!

[mizzoupacers]

Butler just extended his contract...

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5068230

...until 2022.

2022!!!! That is like a long freaking time from now.

[Miller4ever]

Granger will probably be out of the league by then. I'll hopefully graduate from college before then.

[PR07]

Good move for Butler. Good move for Stevens. He really could build a powerhouse at Butler, and appears really comfortable there.