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Boston Celtics: What it takes for Stevens to win COY

By Joshua Bateman

CLEVELAND, OH - MAY 21: Head Coach Brad Stevens of the Boston Celtics draws a play in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2018 NBA Playoffs on May 21, 2018 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - MAY 21: Head Coach Brad Stevens of the Boston Celtics draws a play in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2018 NBA Playoffs on May 21, 2018 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Brad Stevens needs everything to go right to win coach of the year this season

Once again, Brad Stevens was in consideration for coach of the year, but still managed to come up short. With the obstacles Stevens has to overcome last year, it feels a lot like he was brutally snubbed, because it is hard to imagine anyone doing more.

Fortunately, Stevens is at the very beginning of the culmination of this rebuild, and the stronger the team the more likely you are to get coach of the year consideration. The problem, however, is that is Stevens did not win last year, and the Boston Celtics have such ridiculous standards this season, it is going to take something incredible for it to be enough for Stevens to get coach of the year.

First of all, the Celtics have to win the East, with ease. Even if another team is able to keep it close in the regular season, that will be held against Brad Stevens. They are supposed to have the best talent and, with solid continuity, they need to be able to dominate.

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At this point, any kind of disappointment would ruin any of his chances. That combined with such a high standard will mean any kind of shortcomings could cost him any opportunity at all.

Stevens also has nothing more to prove in the regular season. Unless the Celtics are breaking records, there is nothing they will do in the regular season that will really be impressive. The Celtics could be the best offense and best defense in the East, with the best record by far, and people will look over it because of how much harder it has been for Stevens to be successful in the regular season in the past.

If the Celtics lock down the East like people are expecting, then that will take care of some of it for Stevens, because they are not going to give coach of the year to someone else in the East, if Stevens is able to get this team to utterly dominate everyone, and make the conference as close to a given as you can get.

Out west, it gets more complicated. There is no doubt that a coach out west with a worse record that the Celtics could get coach of the year, because the competition is so much better. The West has a collection of teams that are looking to break the barrier between playoff team and contending team.

If you see a team like the Jazz or the Thunder break that final obstacle, and prove that they can be as good as these top contending teams, then the standards go way up for Stevens to get coach of the year again.

The biggest difference Stevens can make, because it is always difficult to gauge what kind of records might reflect who is going to have done a better job, is with the defense.

The Celtics know they have all the offensive talent in the NBA, and they should be ready to dominate teams the way the Warriors have been for years.

The way the Celtics win games will make a bigger difference than how many games they win, because the divide between the East and the West makes win totals a difficult tool to measure with, especially for coach of the year.

The Celtics need to be one of the most balanced teams in the NBA, and they need to be killing teams on both ends. The Celtics have the talent to be a top three offense and defense, but putting that together is a completely different story.

The most impressive part of this Celtics team can be playing great defense in small ball situations that will run teams off the court. If Stevens gets these guys playing great defense while having their best offensive talent on the court, there will not be a lot of close games.

Last season, Stevens endured more obstacles and overcame more issues that anyone could ever expect, but that did not get him coach of the year. Since Stevens will never have another season where he has to overcome injuries like that, the best way for him to get coach of the year is if everything goes right.

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Stevens deserves a full season with a team in tact, never having to deal with a changing roster and brutal injuries to everyone. If Stevens get a proper full season with this team, and they are able to prove that they are good enough to just walk all over the majority of the league, the Stevens will yet again be a coach of the year favorite.

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