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Brad Stevens takes Celtics job

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Dick Whitman, Jul 3, 2013.

  1. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    If they hired him for the long haul, he can have some success -- not become the next Mike Montgomery or P.J. Carlisemo.
    I think they hired him not to screw up until they can find the right coach to steer all these draft picks -- the NBA version of Mike Shula at Bama
     
  2. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    The track record of great college coaches (Pitino, Calipari, etc.) in the NBA is surprisingly mediocre.
     
  3. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    Stevens may have also realized that he has maxed out the potential that exists at Butler. Sure, he could have eternal job security like Mark Few at Gonzaga. But it won't ever be consecutive NCAA title game appearances. That was once in a lifetime. And, obviously, vaulted him from obscurity to big-time coaching status. So now he's cashing in on that.
     
  4. Stoney

    Stoney Well-Known Member

    Except Larry Brown started out as an NBA and ABA coach for quite a few years before he ever tried college ball, and was really always looked upon as more of a pro coach than college, so that's not really an apt analogy.

    Starman has a valid point. The great "true" college coaches with no prior NBA experience usually seem to fail miserably when they make that jump. We'll see if Stevens an exception but, given the woeful roster he'll have the next couple years, can't say I'm too optomistic.

    How does Rajon Rondo, who reportedly wouldn't even respect Doc Rivers or Hall of Famers like Garnett, Pierce and Allen (who wouldn't even talk to him), react the first time this 30 something mid-major ollege coach starts yelling orders at him? Don't think it'll be the same way those Butler kids did.
     
  5. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    Oh, for Stevens it's a great move.

    Given the Celtics' roster situation they will be expected to be anything from mediocre to abysmal for most of the duration of his contract.

    Given the NBA track record of college coaches, if he is anything BETTER than that he will be hailed as a miracle man; if not, it won't really be held against him.

    And even if he bombs out COMPLETELY he will join the long, long list of big-name college coaches who flamed out in the NBA.

    And he'll still be barely 40 years old -- a prime catch for any college team looking to make a 20-year hire.
     
  6. Stoney

    Stoney Well-Known Member

    Interesting to see who Butler hires. They've a tradition of promoting from within their sharpest young assistant, instead of doing outside searches, and it's worked damn well for them. Problem is the the guy who best fits that description, Matt Graves, just took the South Alabama job a couple months ago.

    Think Graves is kicking himself for taking that USA offer today? He would've been the clear favorite to get the Butler job if he hadn't. May be time to comb the fine print in that contract.
     
  7. wicked

    wicked Well-Known Member

    The only equivalent move I can think of is Pitino to the Knicks, and that didn't go horribly (though Pitino was an NBA assistant previously). Cal was already in his 40s when he went to Jersey.

    Keep in mind, Stevens is young and raw enough as a coach that his philosophy certainly can change, and probably is more adaptable than the other guys who made the transition. I still expect the hire to be an outright W-L disaster, though.
     
  8. franticscribe

    franticscribe Well-Known Member

    You can qualify it all you want and bash on Larry all you want, but the fact is that he was a successful college coach and a successful NBA coach and that his first head coaching gig was in college (Davidson) before he moved to the Carolina Cougars and then back and forth between the pros and college.

    The larger point being that just because Pitino and Calipari and others didn't light the NBA on fire does not mean that Stevens is guaranteed to be a flop. He may very well be, but he may also end up like Brown - successful at both levels.
     
  9. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    Is Ainge thinking Stevens can build a late-70s Blazers type of team? They have a shit ton of 1st round picks coming up, but none might be lottery picks.

    I just don't see this ending well. I actually see Stevens taking the Pitino route.
     
  10. franticscribe

    franticscribe Well-Known Member

    Graves has already said that he's staying at South Alabama, that he doesn't think it would be right to leave so quickly.

    There are a couple of Butler grads and former assistants on other staffs that I suspect Collier is going to take a close look at - LaVall Jordan (Michigan), Travis Steele (Xavier), Micah Shrewsberry (Purdue) - in addition to the current assistants. Jordan seems like the really logical choice.
     
  11. steveu

    steveu Well-Known Member

    And it's for that reason that I think Stevens had to give it a try. Worst case scenario, he can say he tried, it didn't work and college basketball welcomes him back with open arms and one of the big jobs opens up for him.

    I can't see this being an out and out disaster, but it depends on how Stevens deals with the whiny, selfish nature of the NBA.
     
  12. da man

    da man Well-Known Member

    You do realize Brown never coached a single game at Davidson, right?
     
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