Brad Stevens takes Celtics job

The reasons he had to try it are, one, the money is ridiculously better in the NBA than he could ever hope to get at Butler, and, two, IT'S THE BOSTON FREAKING CELTICS.

 

This is one of the more misleading descriptions you'll ever find. To be accurate, he once accepted the Davidson job during a summer off season during his playing career, but instead ended up resuming his playing career for three more seasons until taking his first head coaching job in the ABA about three years later.

He was a head coach in the pros (both ABA and NBA) for eight years before he ever coached a single game in college basketball. That is in no way an apt analogy for the Stevens situation.

 

If Steven became an NBA assistant for a few years, then there are some good comparisons (Popovich, Daly, Ramsay), but cold to the NBA?

 

There've been plenty of others who've tried it: P.J. Carlesimo, John Calipari, Lon Kruger, Rick Pitino and Mike Montgomery are some that come to mind. But, unfortunately, the results are quite ugly. History plainly suggests that this does not work.

 

So people think the C's will tank for a chance to get Wiggins. Don't see that happening.

But let's say the pieces do fall into place and the C's get the top pick next year and draft Wiggins.

What, you think he is going to be Mr. Superstar his rookie season? It might take 2 or 3 seasons. No way Ainge has that kind of patience. Sure as hell no way Rondo has that kind of patience. If Pierce bitched and moaned and demanded a trade in 2006 unless something was done fast, what do you think Rondo is going to do if losing becomes the norm?

Assuming they keep Rondo throughout his peak, Ainge stockpiled these No. 1 picks to trade some of them (soon) for stars to put around Rondo, Green, Bradley and Lee (Bass and Sullinger are the only other keepers). Now you only need 2 or 3 top-tier starters and you're back in the thick of things.

 

You really think Few has "eternal job security?" I think every coach in America, with maybe three exceptions, is about three bad seasons away from getting fired.

 

There is nothing inaccurate in my statement.

And I never made the argument that Brad Stevens' background is analogous to Larry Brown's.

All I did was point out that Starman's assertion (no coach has gone from college to the NBA and be successful since the 70s) is false. Then you and others then started adding qualifications - prior pro experience - to try to make it accurate.

Brad Stevens may be a failure as the Celtics coach. He may be a smashing success. Likely it will be somewhere in the middle. His performance will have absolutely 0 to do with how Rick Pitino, John Calipari, Lon Kruger, Larry Brown, etc. fared when making the jump from college to the pros. Which is all I was pointing out with the glib line about Brown's championships.

 

You do realize Brown was the head coach at Davidson, right?

 

Rondo will not be there beyond the trade deadline. I'd say odds are 4-1 Rondo isn't there when training camp closes.

 

Frantic, you are being ridiculous by sticking to that Davidson thing. He NEVER COACHED AT DAVIDSON. Not a single practice, not a single game.

He was gone in July, only a few weeks after accepting the job, long before the school year had even begun. Asserting that "his first head coaching gig was in college" based on that is absurdly misleading.

 

Next, Frantic argues that Mike Milbury's stint as Boston College's hockey coach was the foundation for his success as an NHL coach, GM, and analyst.

 

I'm sorry that you want to pretend that he was not the head coach at Davidson. His tenure was short, shocking for him, I know, but he was the head basketball coach at Davidson College from April to July.