Celtics hire Brad Stevens as head coach

[Shade8780]

In a fairly shocking move, the Boston Celtics announced today that they have come to an agreement with Brad Stevens to be the 17th head coach of the team.

Stevens, age 36, has served for the past six years as the head coach of Butler University men’s basketball team, never winning fewer than 22 games and leading the Bulldogs to two national championship games against Duke and Connecticut. His career win percentage is .772, including a 33-5 season in 2009-10. He was also the youngest coach to reach the Final Four since Bob Knight in 1973.

More: http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=13646

[BlackWhiteGreen]

The Boston Celtics announced today that they have come to an agreement with Brad Stevens to be the 17th head coach of the team. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not announced.

Stevens, age 36, has served for the past six years as the head coach of Butler University, never winning fewer than 22 games and leading the Bulldogs to two national championship games against Duke and Connecticut. He was the youngest coach to reach the Final Four since Bob Knight in 1973.

http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/press_release/070313-celtics-hire-brad-stevens-head-coach

[Johnny Jones]

:roll: :roll: :roll:

DANNY GOAT :bowdown:

[Shade8780]

GOD DAMN :mad: :banghead:

[Johnny Jones]

I feel bad for Celtics fans. Brad's teams are really tough to watch.

[Shade8780]

I was hoping for someone more like Alvin Gentry :( Last time the Celtics hired a college coach it was Rick Pitino, and he was terrible.

[It's A VC3!!!]

What I fine very impressive is how not one word of this was leaked and that this hiring is coming out of nowhere. I knew that the Nets were going to hire Jason Kidd one week before they actually hired him. Props to the Celtics for not leaking anything.

[BlackWhiteGreen]

I was hoping for someone more like Alvin Gentry :( Last time the Celtics hired a college coach it was Rick Pitino, and he was terrible.

http://stevenhomartialarts.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Tiananmen-Square-Massacre.jpg

I mean really this is just tanking, although Gentry would be trying to win games, so he's kind of like that dude.

[bagelred]

:roll:

[ballup]

So Ainge hires an almost winning coach?:confusedshrug:

[Shade8780]

http://www.nopactalent.com/speakerphotos/photos/10413Brad%20Stevens.jpg

He looks like he's still in college..

[Bigsmoke]

more rainy days for Antwan Walker

[Johnny Jones]

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2369827/stevensloop_medium.gif

[ace23]

Can't even see him coaching NBA players.

[PJR]

Damn. From Butler University to the Celtics. Quite the leap.

[The Big Skinny]

what a disaster. How do you expect grown men to respect him. He is 36 year old coach of a mid major program. Yes, he made it to 2 straight championship games, but what are they thinking.

[Shade8780]

Danny ain't messing around with this tank. He's going full-****ing-on.

[kaiteng]

So, Celtics will tank hard.

[christian1923]

what a disaster. How do you expect grown men to respect him. He is 36 year old coach of a mid major program. Yes, he made it to 2 straight championship games, but what are they thinking.
Players will respect you if you know the game.

[jzek]

Last time the Celtics tanked (they were trying to get Timmay), they got Chauncey Billups instead. :oldlol:

[FireMcFailPlease]

Yea..I dont think this is going to work out. Especially if half of the team is older than the coach.

[Johnny Jones]

I guess I'm overreacting a little. This has the potential to be a great hire.

I mean Stevens took freaking BUTLER to back-to-back national championship games.

[Beatlezz]

http://media.theindychannel.com/photo/2013/03/23/brad_stevens_1364093434667_391581_ver1.0_320_240.j pg

[Fudge]

Actually a great hire.

[bagelred]

GOD DAMN :mad: :banghead:

http://howtogrowbud.com/viral/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/EatShit.jpg

[Twiens]

I guess I'm overreacting a little. This has the potential to be a great hire.

I mean Stevens took freaking BUTLER to back-to-back national championship games.

Agreed, Butler overachieves every year.

[FireMcFailPlease]

I guess I'm overreacting a little. This has the potential to be a great hire.

I mean Stevens took freaking BUTLER to back-to-back national championship games.
coaching college kids at butler who have a 1% chance of going to the NBA and professional athletes with egos are two totally different animals

[IGotACoolStory]

His coaching revolves around playing extremely physical and pure execution. Not sure how that translates to the NBA, but I'm guessing not very well.

Shocking as a college basketball fan.

[Shade8780]

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18fgkumui5f2cjpg/original.jpg

[noob cake]

Stevens coach college players with near zero talent. Now he is going to coach the NBA? :roll: :roll:

[Dr. Cheesesteak]

I suppose I'm one of the few who don't see this as terrible as so many others do. Stevens is great at X's and O's and is young, so he's probably flexible w/ his personality and handling of other personalities. Clearly Celts wont be any good this upcoming season, but I can see Stevens being a great NBA coach in 3~5 years.

[SpecialQue]

Watch Stevens get this crappy Celtics team to rape the league, then get fired.

[MaxFly]

Sigh... Oh well...

[Burgz V2]

Brad Stevens is a great college basketball coach. I don't know if he'd be the greatest NBA tbh, but I have a lot of respect for this guy nonetheless.

This could be one of the most genius hires or be one that backfires miserably. Reminds me of when NJ hired Calipari (similar age too, 37). At the time everyone was high on him but that experiment fell flat on its face. I'll be pulling for Stevens to stick in Boston, but realistically once the rebuild is over, he might become expendable.

[AngelEyes]

bizarre move from the Celtics

[QuadLimboLazanya]

I guess I'm overreacting a little. This has the potential to be a great hire.

I mean Stevens took freaking BUTLER to back-to-back national championship games.


Im with you on this. It's a high risk-high reward move. The c's are rebuilding and it would be hard to get a big name coach to come into that situation. Also it allows this young coach to show what he has without crazy expectations.

[Burgz V2]

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18fgkumui5f2cjpg/original.jpg

http://media.nj.com/nets_impact/photo/10868131-large.jpg

[LosScandalous]

beast at butler, celtics should have no worries

[Derka]

Okay.

Well...

Its not Vinny Del Negro?

[ballup]

Okay.

Well...

Its not Vinny Del Negro?
Good point.

[Haymaker]

Seriously, they could've at least offered the job to Kaleb Canales.

[ProfessorMurder]

Please trade Rondo away from this massive and looming tank.

[Shade8780]

Expect Rondo to start his own trade rumors now.

[CelticBaller]

Trust me

[LoPro4u2c]

If Rondo stays, expect him to have a field day with this college turned pro coach.

[UConnCeltics]

Good move. A team thats tanking probably won't keep the coach when they finally become good. So if he sucks, so what? If he turns out to be the best thing then sliced-bread then good for the C's.

[KG215]

Brad Stevens is 36. There's probably 10-15 players in the NBA older than him. Not to mention, he's 36 and looks 26. Not that that means anything bad, but it's gonna be weird seeing a guy who looks like he's 25 coaching an NBA team.

Wonder where he ranks among the youngest NBA head coaches of all-time?

[BlackWhiteGreen]

Brad Stevens is 36. There's probably 10-15 players in the NBA older than him. Not to mention, he's 36 and looks 26. Not that that means anything bad, but it's gonna be weird seeing a guy who looks like he's 25 coaching an NBA team.

5 months younger than KG.

Good job he's so young: apparently he's getting a 6-year deal.


Steve Bulpett ‏@SteveBHoop 7m
League source says Stevens getting six-year contract with Celtics.

[Shade8780]

Six year contract?!?!

[mentallooser]

He'll work as a developmental coach while the team is rebuilding/tanking. Then he'll be replaced shortly after they have the players they want and have developed the young talent together.

[BlackWhiteGreen]

Six year contract?!?!

I suppose the flip side is, all 6 years combined is still less than we'd have had to pay Doc just this year

[Rondo]

Dafuq.

I can see my username being extremely f*cking outdated pretty soon.

Edit: Hopefully Rondo sits out like Rose did. We get the #1 pick, Rondo comes back with Wiggins and we win it all. Book it bitches.

[Pointguard]

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2369827/stevensloop_medium.gif

Wow, this guy is getting a Rondo team??? Doc Rivers, one of the best player coaches ever, along with KG, perhaps the best leader in the game now had trouble keeping Rondo in line. Give it one year tops.

[jzek]

Stevens coach college players with near zero talent. Now he is going to coach the NBA? :roll: :roll:

Why are you :roll: ? It makes perfect sense since the C's want to lose to get higher draft pick chances...

[Rondo]

Why are you :roll: ? It makes perfect sense since the C's want to lose to get higher draft pick chances...

Pretty much.


Good move. A team thats tanking probably won't keep the coach when they finally become good. So if he sucks, so what? If he turns out to be the best thing then sliced-bread then good for the C's.

This.

[Celtic_Pride]

For those Cs fans who are disappointed, who exactly are you expecting, Stan Van Gundy or Jerry Sloan?

The team has some very good young players who are going to get better and hiring a college coach who preaches defense is the right thing to do.


Yea..I dont think this is going to work out. Especially if half of the team is older than the coach.

Are you living under a rock or something?

Brad Stevens is 36. Name me 1 player who is currently on Celtics roster that is older than 30. I will wait

[RedBlackAttack]

I really like this move. Stevens is widely considered a basketball guru of sorts. What better opportunity for him to show what he's got on the professional level? No one is expecting much of anything out of this Celtics' team.

If he's too young and not respected by the players, you have a mess on your hands that just so happens to coincide with the best draft in over a decade.

If he does live up to being the great basketball mind that a lot of people believe he is... Well, the Celtics could have conceivably upgraded from Doc Rivers.

Either way, I'd be happy if I'm a Cs fan. Much better choice than just tossing out one of the same old retreads.

[Kevin_Garnett_5]

I think this confirms Rondo being traded.

[DMV2]

Good hire. He did great at Butler with no-NBA talents other than Gordon Hayward. We'll just have to see if his coaching can translate on the pro level.

Also, Rivers is one of the better coaches of the past 5 or 6 years but one of the best ever? I don't think so.

[veilside23]

i dont understand the negative reaction the team is rebuilding and stevens is one of the best coaches in college .. I know he wasnt able to win anything yet but lets give this guy a chance. who do you want to coach the celtics? sloan on a rebuilding team ? do you think he can do better than anyone even if we put phil jackson or pop here they arent winning anything.

i think he has a good underrated coaching experience we will see i hope he complete the contract and we can then judge him after that.....

but if he gets fired we all know whats going to happen.

[1~Gibson~1]

Great hire for the Celtics. No NBA experience but you have to start somewhere. Brad Stevens coached a Butler team led by the Utah Jazz's very own Gordon Hayward ( :lol ), im sure he'll do fine in the NBA.

Im already predicting that Celtics "fans" are gonna want him gone after one or two seasons though... but seriously I wouldn't have high expectations for any coach in the NBA during a rebuilding period. I'd only judge him after he's got a decent amount of talent to coach.

[chazzy]

Random move, but what's with all the outrage? The Celtics aren't trying to do much of anything in terms of championship contention these next couple years. He could be good for developing young talent with all of those picks they received. The length of the contract is pretty long though, damn

[DMV2]

I remember Butler beating #1 seed Syracuse during the season when they played Duke in the championship. They played some good scrappy defense, forcing Syracuse to turnover almost 20 times. I think their offense was kinda ugly though.

In a way, his coaching style is very similar to Rondo's game- great scrappy defender, ugly offense.

[GrapeApe]

I think he's going to be really, really good..........in time. Gutsy but good hire IMO.

[JGXEN]

He signed a 6 year $22million contract

[Kews1]

Okay.

Well...

Its not Vinny Del Negro?

:applause:

[secund2nun]

Great hire. It is a lot better than them getting a pathetic failed retread NBA coach. This guy is young and knows his stuff.

[I<3NBA]

new hire is better than failed retread

[Rolando]

I like it, especially when I contrast this with what the Lakers have done coachingwise.

Also, I'm willing to bet Rondo and Stevens will get along just fine but, the thing that I can clearly state right now is this:

NOW THIS IS TRULY RONDO'S TEAM.

[Harison]

Wow, Ainge doesnt mess around, he literally demolishes Celtics to the ground for tanking. I wont be surprised if Rondo is moved too.