NBA

Brad Stevens: Elite Coach and Boston’s Safest Asset

BradStevens_Celtics_4

The path from the college coaching ranks to the NBA is littered with failures and retreats. For every success story, one can find multiple examples of one time up-and-comers who flamed out at the gameโ€™s highest level. Much like the thousands of players who have made the leap over the years, the thinning field of availability weeds out all but the eliteโ€™s elite โ€“ and often more quickly given the speed of NBA coaching turnaround.

So when a guy like Brad Stevens comes along, the league takes notice. Just 36 years old at the time of his hiring, Stevens spent over two full years as the leagueโ€™s youngest bench boss until a couple midseason additions this year (J.B. Bickerstaff in Houston and Ty Lue in Cleveland) supplanted him โ€“ but his youth is only the tip of the iceberg.

Stevens was tasked with the post-Doc Rivers โ€œrebuildโ€ in Boston, but has been among the strongest driving forces in removing that oft-stigmatized term from any Celtics lexicon in a big hurry. A 25-57 rookie campaign quickly gave way to a 15-win jump in his sophomore season, a 40-42 finish that took those expecting Boston to pick in the high lottery by surprise. And even as the whole world wonders which big name the Celtics will eventually land with their treasure trove of assets, Stevens continues to eke remarkable showings out of relatively limited talent โ€“ a continuation of the teamโ€™s current 47-win pace would mark more than a 20-win increase in just two seasons, without the influx of a single franchise-altering superstar.

โ€œLeading by example,โ€ Celtics guard Avery Bradley told Basketball Insiders when asked about Stevensโ€™ greatest strength in the locker room. โ€œA lot of the things he does, I think [they] rub off on us. Him preparing for each game, we see how hard he works and it makes us want to go out there and not only be prepared for him, but be prepared for the teamโ€ฆ At the end of the day weโ€™re all a team, including the coaches. I respect that.โ€

Stevensโ€™ tactical acumen is beyond reproach (more on this in a bit), but itโ€™s this connection with his players that sets the baseline for success. Ask David Blatt how things work out for strategically strong coaches who canโ€™t get along with their more handsomely paid and influential players; if the guys donโ€™t buy in, even Red Auerbach isnโ€™t getting a winner out of them. Stevens instantly established the rapport, aided by his youth and his own recognition that getting too familiar with guys not far behind him in age also wouldnโ€™t accomplish much.

It can be tough to find publicly available evidence for this sort of thing from an external viewpoint; teams donโ€™t release stats on player-coach chemistry like they do for points and assists, and there are so many moving parts and so much context to any similar conversation.

In Stevensโ€™ case, though, a few glaring examples are hard to ignore. Isaiah Thomas, cast off by two different organizations in the last 18 months and labeled a locker room issue, has become the teamโ€™s driving offensive force and a first-time All-Star while putting any behavioral issues miles in the rearview. Jae Crowder, considered an afterthought in last yearโ€™s Rajon Rondo-to-Dallas deal, has been Bostonโ€™s best defensive player and the versatile swingman who makes much of Stevensโ€™ tinkering possible (he also received low-key All-Star buzz). All Evan Turner heard about for roughly a half-decade was how disappointing his career was for a second overall pick, but heโ€™s played a vital role and the fourth-most minutes for this Celtics team.

โ€œThe great challenge of coaching is that team dynamics always make it difficult, no matter what,โ€ Stevens said. โ€œYou always have a lot going on on your team, and youโ€™ve got to get a group of people to try to play as well as they can together. Every year, thatโ€™s going to be the greatest challenge.โ€

Itโ€™s become increasingly clear that Stevens is up to the task, including the next step in the process: Turning that player buy-in into a functioning system and, eventually, a winning team. Many inexperienced NBA coaches struggle with on-court minutiae for a number of reasons. Stevens had no such learning curve, and was immediately among the leagueโ€™s most proficient here. A bit more continuity over the last couple years, something Stevens noted as a major positive for his group, helped him refine the edges here even more.

And now, in year three, thereโ€™s a real argument no coach in the world does a better job with all the in-game details that can make or break a coachโ€™s career. The trust Stevens shares with his players allows him the freedom to tinker with lineups and rotations at his leisure, with the knowledge that everyone on the roster is comfortable mixing up their role and playing time. A look at his most-used lineups reveals his ability to mix and match units at an elite level, and a deeper dive into individual situations showcases a guy who is basically never out-maneuvered.

Far from struggling with some of the nuances of the tactical NBA game after the college leap, Stevens has instantly established himself as one of the strongest Xs and Os minds in the league. His play calling out of timeouts, particularly in end-of-game situations, is already compared in some circles to savants like Pop and Carlisle.

โ€œHeโ€™s very smart with reading defenses, and knowing how teams are going to play and what theyโ€™re going to do,โ€ said Gordon Hayward, a onetime Stevens disciple at Butler. โ€œThey beat us on a last-second shot last year. Heโ€™s just a really smart coach, and he always brings the best out of his players.โ€

The play Hayward referenced snatched the Celtics an 85-84 victory over the Jazz in Boston nearly a year ago, and is a perfect example of what separates Stevens from many of his peers in this category.

 

The play might seem standard at first glance, but letโ€™s add a little context. First, an item the clip above doesnโ€™t show: This was Stevensโ€™ second consecutive timeout before the play began. He saw the defensive configuration Utah was in โ€“ most notably the fact that long-armed Rudy Gobert was stationed guarding the sideline inbounder, rather than his usual spot under the basket. The scheming began.

As the actual play got started, Stevens had Thomas clear out to the strong side corner, and simultaneously put Crowder, Bradley and eventual scorer Tyler Zeller into a three-man action in the key. Bradley and Crowder crossed each other, and then Zeller appeared to be in position to set a pick for Crowder, which would allow Jae to rocket up to the top of the key and receive a pass.

Brad Stevens: Elite Coach and Boston's Safest Asset

The Jazz switched the initial Crowder-Bradley cross, and Stevens was counting on their willingness to do so again for the Zeller-Crowder action โ€“ and of course, having studied up on Quin Snyder and Utahโ€™s tendencies, he was right.

Brad Stevens: Elite Coach and Boston's Safest Asset

Snyder correctly assumed a guy like Derrick Favors (switched onto Crowder) was easily mobile enough to contest a wing for under two seconds. But the inverse here got lost in the hubbub; it was much harder for Rodney Hood to hold his own against a taller and heavier guy in Zeller, even for just a second or two. All Zeller needed to do was use his height advantage to catch and finish, and Stevensโ€™ scheming (Thomas and Bradley to the corners, the knowledge that Gobert was guarding the inbounder) made this easily possible.

Brad Stevens: Elite Coach and Boston's Safest Asset

Maybe this seems easy as itโ€™s written out in paragraph form โ€“ itโ€™s anything but. Stevens is making multiple careful calculations about how the Jazz will react to each moment of this play, plus where he needs to put his guys to take advantage of it, all in a matter of a couple seconds. Even many of the best coaches in the game simply arenโ€™t capable of this level of detail, and certainly not with the consistency with which Stevens busts out gems like these in big spots.

โ€œI think thatโ€™s all overblown with me,โ€ Stevens said of his burgeoning reputation as a high-IQ basketball coach. โ€œI donโ€™t think I have anything to do with that. I think weโ€™ve got really good players that are really smart players. They [were] high-IQ players long before they got here. You look for high-IQ players, and savvy players, period. Because itโ€™s a long year, you see a lot of situations โ€“ you have to change on the fly, you have to tweak on a dime.โ€

Alright, whatever you say Brad. Itโ€™s not you at all.

Sure, Stevens has a point to some degree โ€“ Danny Ainge and his front office team have indeed developed a heady core, one filled with versatile enough guys to do Stevensโ€™ bidding. But every team in the league looks for smart players, and most have at least a couple; very few others are tossing out rewind-that-four-times beauties on a regular basis in big moments.

The best part? This might only be the beginning. It can be easy to forget that Stevens is still just two years and change into his run as an NBA coach. The guy isnโ€™t even 40 yet! Heโ€™s talked openly about how things around the margins get easier every year with bits of continuity and comfort, and Ainge and Co. have yet to finalize what most assume will be a much more talent-driven roster at some point down the line. The Celtics have their man for the present, and quite possibly their safest asset for the future.

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Jeff Hawkins
Sports Editor

Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.

All posts by Jeff Hawkins
Author photo
Jeff Hawkins Sports Editor

Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.

All posts by Jeff Hawkins