Better accomplishment by Brad Stevens:

[VandyCrush]

was it going to back to back NCAA finals with Butler or was it turning around a woeful Celtics team into the #1 seed and now playing in the eastern finals in just a short number of years (with small super star power to boot)?


Everything this guy touches turns to gold, and so early in his career. I feel like if he wanted to go back to college he could be a Coach K type success at the right program. If he wants to stay in the NBA he could be the next Popovich. Very rarely does someone have that kind of success at both levels. Still early - but there's nothing that makes you think otherwise at this point. Maybe he will call U.K. home one day

 

[Mime-Is-Money]

Butler

Stevens has some help with the C's front office. Back-to-back title appearances as a mid major, basically by himself, is incredible.

Don't get me wrong, both feats are amazing.

 

[UKWildcats#8]

Butler for me. Celtics are the Celtics. They were going to be good again regardless

 

[WildMoon]

Celtics

 

[Fannin12]

Fool's Gold!

 

[shaolin style]

Butler. Celtics front office is just smarter. Remember that Brooklyn trade? Effectively Pierce/KG after their prime for 3 first round draft picks lol. Still only playing for second in the East though so far..

 

[WildMoon]

Butler. Celtics front office is just smarter. Remember that Brooklyn trade? Effectively Pierce/KG after their prime for 3 first round draft picks lol. Still only playing for second in the East though so far..

thats true except they haven't really enjoyed that yet. Since they are getting one this year and another next year.

 

[willievic]

Best coach in College when he left. He did more, with less. Good recruiter at a small college, but great x and o coach. To many coaches depend on their recruiting, and not on their coaching ability.

OLD STOLL FIELD GUY!

 

[oldlewisville99]

Would love for him to be Cal's successor. Steven's teams know how to move and shoot the ball. A beautiful thing!

 

[shaolin style]

thats true except they haven't really enjoyed that yet. Since they are getting one this year and another next year.

They drafted jaylen brown last year (2016) who is getting playoff minutes. Not to mention the cleared cap space. But yes I think the 3rd first round pick isn't til 2018. that probably speaks even more to the front office though.. that they've done so much so quickly

 

[Rupp'sRunt]

Does he coach in the east? Has he played lebron yet? Yeah not that hard

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I think whichever team had the 4 home games was gonna win that series. Neither the Wizards nor the Celtics can win on the road..

Celtics have a little more work to do before they are on that next level, but the future is bright.

 

[magic8ball]

I'm a lifelong Celtics fan.

Ainge and Stevens together have been great

I trust everything they decide.

So far I think what Stevens did at Butler is more impressive but he has a roster in Boston that I'm not sure another coach would have in the conference finals.

In the highly unlikely event they win the NBA title this year I'd say it would be his greatest accomplishment.

The trade Ainge made with New Jersey is one of the biggest rip offs in history. Lol.

 

[YouKay]

He's unbelievable. I get the idea of what it must have been like watching Red Auerbach when he was young. Just crazy that he has this trash team in the conference finals. (And I say that as a lifelong Celtics fan - I really hate this roster.) Nobody else would have even made the playoffs with this bunch.

 

[magic8ball]

He's unbelievable. I get the idea of what it must have been like watching Red Auerbach when he was young. Just crazy that he has this trash team in the conference finals. (And I say that as a lifelong Celtics fan - I really hate this roster.) Nobody else would have even made the playoffs with this bunch.

I agree.

Horford may be the only guy on the roster that would start for all other 29 teams!

Thomas has been tossed around to several teams.

Crowder never saw the floor in Dallas.

 

[Big_Blue79]

thats true except they haven't really enjoyed that yet. Since they are getting one this year and another next year.

But he did enjoy the Rondo for Crowder and a first heist, the IT heist (even if he doesn't blossom into all NBA caliber this year, he was on a steal of a contract), and getting Horford.

 

[KingOfBBN]

Taking a Horizon League team to the national championship two years in a row and being one shot away from winning it all? I'm going with that.

 

[bluedog79]

Stevens is a badass coach. He wins with whatever you give him. Talented

 

[rmattox]

The celtics have their ups and downs but they are the equivalent of the NY Yankees. Winning is not that big a deal. In fact, it should be an expectation.

 

[drbubba]

He's unbelievable. I get the idea of what it must have been like watching Red Auerbach when he was young. Just crazy that he has this trash team in the conference finals. (And I say that as a lifelong Celtics fan - I really hate this roster.) Nobody else would have even made the playoffs with this bunch.

I agree. Rag tag bunch that somehow wins games. Stevens has done a great job.

 

[UKcatXXXL]

But but but he's gonna replace rat face when he retires.................

 

[DelkBowl]

I thought he was the new IU coach?

 

[bigblueinsanity_rivals250340]

Butler. If not for Rondo getting hurt, the celtics were probably getting bounced in first round

 

[warddr]

In a weak East, Butler by a mile. Now if they could pull off a massive upset versus the Cavs, then that would be much more impressive.

 

[far_away_fan]

I love me some Brad Stevens, and I think he is really great at what he does, but, honestly, I think both accomplishments are somewhat overrated.

His success at Butler was quite impressive, but as we all should know, Final Fours have as much to do with good fortune as they have to do with the team and its coach. You can make it to a Final Four with a good draw when superior teams in your bracket losing in upsets. You can make it because a few key calls go your way. You can make it because of a historically bad shooting night. He had legit NBA players on Butler and they were a very strong team, but they weren't a great team. They probably weren't one of the four best teams either year they made it that far. But they had nice NCAA tourney runs thanks in part (but only in part) to Stevens.

I think the Celtics' success this season is more of a testament to what you can do when you just play hard every night in the NBA's Eastern Conference. It's a testament to the coach that they DO play hard every night -- most NBA teams do not. But most of the Eastern Conference is still rebuilding and trying to wait out Lebron's dynasty. Unless I am badly mistaken, the Cavs will beat the Celts quite easily before being challenged in the finals. So while Stevens has done a great job in Boston and every NBA team besides the Spurs (and maybe Golden State) would love to have him (with good reason), some of his success this year is just a "right place, right time" thing.

 

[Blue till I die]

If given a choice of rosters, I would pick the Celtics over the Wizards all day.

Brad Stevens is great, but beating the Wizards doesnt seem like a monumental achievement.

Beat the Cavs, then I will be impressed.

 

[Big_Blue79]

The celtics have their ups and downs but they are the equivalent of the NY Yankees. Winning is not that big a deal. In fact, it should be an expectation.

Didn't they recently have like a 15 year stretch of terrible to mediocre? And that was with a future HOFer in Paul Pierce.

 

[Big_Blue79]

If given a choice of rosters, I would pick the Celtics over the Wizards all day.

Brad Stevens is great, but beating the Wizards doesnt seem like a monumental achievement.

Beat the Cavs, then I will be impressed.

Agreed. Good post.

 

[qwesley]

His first Butler runner up team had an NBA allstar and another NBA player. His second one was a bunch of scrubs he coached up bigtime in a down year, an amazing feat. Worst national title matchup of all time though.

Two teams giving up on IT and an NBA team hiring Billy King to be their GM after his stint at Philly shows luck seems to be following him around.

 

[YouKay]

Didn't they recently have like a 15 year stretch of terrible to mediocre? And that was with a future HOFer in Paul Pierce.

Rick Pitino arguably had more talent on his rosters than Stevens does this year.

 

[YouKay]

If given a choice of rosters, I would pick the Celtics over the Wizards all day.

Brad Stevens is great, but beating the Wizards doesnt seem like a monumental achievement.

Beat the Cavs, then I will be impressed.

Good point. But remember the Celtics have beaten the Warriors on the road twice in two years. The Cavs are a terrible matchup for them though. I will be pleasantly surprised if the Celtics win 2 games in this series.

 

[JasonS.]

The answer is yes, but I'd lean Butler. I'm on the bandwagon. Maybe the best coach in basketball at any level not named Popovich or Krzyzewski.

 

[rmattox]

Didn't they recently have like a 15 year stretch of terrible to mediocre? And that was with a future HOFer in Paul Pierce.

Same that the Yankees have had periods of mediocrity. Bottom line: both are among the top 2-3 franchises in their sports. They are the Celtics and will always be highly regarded....On the opposite end of the spectrum would be ...say...the cubs....Win a ws one time in 100 years....they're still the cubs and will always be losers.

 

[rick64]

Butler

 

[JDHoss]

I'll go with Butler for the moment. Great, great X & O guy and his demeanor looks like a perfect fit in the NBA. If you watch him on the sidelines, he looks like he been coaching in the NBA for 20 years. IMO his next contract negotiation will move him into the Pop & Doc Rivers income bracket. I'd be beyond stunned if he ever came back to the college ranks.

 

[Ukbrassowtipin]

There are teams in the NBA with tons more talent too that haven't done what he has. The front office moves by the Celtics are just now starting to come into play...the 1 seed in the East just got the 1 pick!

His butler performance was great too and butler is still strong bc of it

 

[Drcats2025]

Fool's Gold!

I'm almost certain this is in jest, but if not, would love to hear how.

 

[WildMoon]

People forget the luck that's involved in NCAA tournament.

He should of lost in first round during his second run, but he got extremely lucky with that fouling by the opposition on that last play when they had the 1 point lead with less than second left. Could be considered the worst play in NCAA history...

But there is no doubt he did make a run after that, so that's impressive.

What he is doing at Celtics is very impressive. To continuously improve like they have, and what's crazy is how they actually got #1 place in EAST, yet the crazy Nets trade hasn't impacted them fully yet. They still have 2 more Lottery picks this year and next. Not to mention the growth of Jaylen Brown.

IF you taken away that NETS trade and asked "can Brad Stevens be able to make Boston have #1 seed in eastern conference within the next 4 years?"

No one would say yes and everyone would laugh. He came in first season at 12th seed, then 7th seed, then 5th seed, and this year as #1 seed.

They have Rookie Brown, and 2 more guaranteed Lotto pick. One being #1 pick. That's insane.

 

[far_away_fan]

Didn't they recently have like a 15 year stretch of terrible to mediocre? And that was with a future HOFer in Paul Pierce.

The Celtics won the NBA Title in 2008 (with Rondo at the point). They were the best team in the NBA in 2009 until KG blew out his knee in February. (They started the season 27-2.) They were the best team again in 2010 and were poised to win the title when Perkins blew out his knee in the NBA finals game 6. The undersized Celtics were unable to keep both Gasol and Bynum off the glass in game 7 and the Lakers pulled down 23 offensive rebounds (while Kobe shot 6-24 from the field) while coming back from 13 points down late in the 3rd quarter to win by 4.

You can make a VERY strong case that were it not for the two blown knees, the Celtics would have won 3 titles in a row. So the bottom is, they were not recently terrible for a 15 year stretch. They were the best team in the NBA for a 3 year period directly in the middle of the past 15 seasons.

 

[Drcats2025]

The Celtics won the NBA Title in 2008 (with Rondo at the point). They were the best team in the NBA in 2009 until KG blew out his knee in February. (They started the season 27-2.) They were the best team again in 2010 and were poised to win the title when Perkins blew out his knee in the NBA finals game 6. The undersized Celtics were unable to keep both Gasol and Bynum off the glass in game 7 and the Lakers pulled down 23 offensive rebounds (while Kobe shot 6-24 from the field) while coming back from 13 points down late in the 3rd quarter to win by 4.

You can make a VERY strong case that were it not for the two blown knees, the Celtics would have won 3 titles in a row. So the bottom is, they were not recently terrible for a 15 year stretch. They were the best team in the NBA for a 3 year period directly in the middle of the past 15 seasons.

They were NOT the best team in the league during a 3 year period. Lakers won 2 championships during said period, excuses or not. I do agree with your bottom line. They were far from terrible or mediocre.