Boston Celtics: Pumping the Brakes on Brad Stevens

The Boston Celtics have one of the better young coaches in the game of basketball. Brad Stevens has proven that he was able to successfully make the jump from the college level to the NBA level, which has been a challenge for other coaches, such as John Calipari and Rick Pitino.

While I am not calling for Stevens to be fired, or anything of that sort, I do believe he deserves more blame than people are currently assigning him for the way the season transpired for the Boston Celtics.

Before the season started, Brad Stevens was anointed as the “next Popovich” by some and was labeled as a sort of “wonder kid” in terms of NBA coaches. Before we even consider putting Stevens on that level, let’s look at some cold hard facts.

Stevens has never made an NBA finals. I understand he is still a relatively new coach, but in six seasons, he has failed to reach the Finals even once. I know at the start of his tenure, he did not have the best talent, but in the past few years, he has certainly had enough talent to at least make the NBA finals and he has failed in that regard.

To be fair, this season was really the first time during his tenure where the expectation was to reach the NBA finals, and in his first season with those types of expectations, he failed miserably, failing to even make it out of the second round with a team full of talented players.

Stevens is a great defensive coach, there is no doubt about that. This season, The Celtics finished with the 6th best defensive rating in the NBA (via NBA.com). Their offensive rating wasn’t too shabby either (10th in the NBA and 14th in PPG via NBA.com), but at times during the season it felt like their offense became stagnant.

This was especially on display during the playoffs, where among the 16 playoff teams, the Celtics had the 5th worst offensive rating. With players like Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward, it is hard to fathom how a team with this offensive potential performed so poorly when it mattered most.

Yes, the Milwaukee Bucks are a great defensive team, but that did not stop the Toronto Raptors from beating them in four straight games to close out the Eastern Conference Finals.

I am not advocating for Stevens to be fired, or even for him to be on the hot seat (this may change depending on how free agency shakes out), but I am calling for us to pump the brakes in terms of his praise.

Yes, he is an excellent basketball mind, and yes he is one of the bright young coaching stars in the NBA, but to place him on the level of Popovich or even in the very top-tier of NBA coaches, especially after the season the Boston Celtics just had, is asinine to say the least.

Stevens is good, there are no doubts there, but if the Celtics want to compete for a championship, it is time for him to become great. Respect is given by me where and when it is due, and in my opinion, Stevens has not earned the label of “great NBA coach” just yet.