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This is Brad Stevens’ Chance to be Coach of the Year

By Jeremy Stevens

BOSTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 1: Brad Stevens looks on as Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward get introduced as Boston Celtics on September 1, 2017 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. 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 2017 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 1: Brad Stevens looks on as Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward get introduced as Boston Celtics on September 1, 2017 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. 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 2017 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Brad Stevens has a great opportunity to finally get a Coach of the Year award

Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens is poised to take the Coach of the Year award for the 2017-18 season. While I’m still dumbfounded at his sub-top-three placement in last season’s voting, behind Miami’s Erik Spoelstra and his 41-41 regular season record, I’m willing to see those results as a stepping stone for Stevens, as his ceiling for team success has been raised for the fifth time in as many years.

Does it feel like the bar is set too high? 53 wins is nothing extraordinary but placing first in the Eastern Conference with one all-star is noteworthy, is it not? What about league-wide adoration and drawing up some of the best after-timeout plays in all of basketball? The NBA’s yearly awards usually go to individuals who had a breakout performance. Has Stevens simply not had one yet?

Or is it actually the case that the bar is set too low? Evidently, a terrible 41 games followed by 41 good games is enough to earn the consideration of voters. It also turns out that missing the playoffs in the lesser of two conferences is nothing to worry about.

Erik Spoelstra is a great coach. I’m not denying that, but couldn’t he just as easily be the coach of any other year? Perhaps, a year where his team stands out from the pack in some way?

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Maybe I have tunnel vision on other impressive performances, like the Jazz surpassing 50 wins. If Stevens wasn’t in the running for COTY, I was sure Quin Snyder would be.

I’m taking the latter. Perhaps regular season record doesn’t matter, and the voters really just want a stat, a story, or something interesting to woo them. What might push Stevens over the top is to not just slowly and steadily climb the standings again but to completely run the table, so to speak, on the east.

Here’s the problem: The “weak east” as a topic is something that’s already been beaten to death, and the season hasn’t even started! Let’s say the Celtics post an absolutely insane record against the east – wouldn’t that be simply meeting an expectation at this point?

Maybe, maybe not. FiveThirtyEight has the Celtics projected to win 47 games, six less than last season, so maybe any respectable record will make the Celtics look like overachievers again.

Except nobody wants to be known as an overachiever, do they? It would imply that your success is a fluke at best. I’m at war with myself over this because the criteria to win this award seems at least 50% arbitrary.

Next: Marcus Morris to Miss Start of the Season

While many projections have the Celtics winning around 50 games, I think they’ll pass last year’s win total of 53. If they really gel, I don’t think 60 is out of the question, and if they hit 60, coach of the year has to be a possibility, right? RIGHT? 

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