Brad Stevens lauds headline offseason coaching staff addition for work with Boston Celtics 'stay ready' group
Brad Stevens lauded the Boston Celtics' headline offseason coaching staff addition, longtime New York Knicks head coach and legendary ESPN commentator Jeff Van Gundy, for his work with the team's "stay ready" group during the 2023-24 season.
“Jeff’s been great,” Stevens said (h/t MassLive). “And it’s all the way through that coaching staff. They’ve been terrific. Jeff, in his consultant role, our six player enhancement coaches have been amazing with our ‘stay ready’ group.
“I mean you watch those guys off the bench play all season, particularly in those last two games, those guys can play, and they’re ready to play. And then the coaching staff has been really good at making sure we’re on the right track every single game. So I would say it’s all been great every single game.”
Jeff Van Gundy helped Boston Celtics' biggest weakness coming into season become major strength
Van Gundy and the rest of Joe Mazzulla's assistants helped turn the C's supposed biggest weakness coming into the season into one of the team's greatest strengths. Boston's bench was always going to have at least one standout, and Al Horford's sacrifice in ceding his starting spot to newcomer Jrue Holiday ensured it would be him.
But Payton Pritchard becoming the second unit's leader down the stretch of the season -- proving that he can handle starting minutes and overdeliver in every conceivable way -- and Sam Hauser's emergence as the sniper Stevens always knew he can be after signing him to multiple contracts since coming out of Virginia in 2021 is a masterstroke of genius from Van Gundy and the rest of the coaching staff.
The Celtics had a historic season because of the entire roster. Getting the most out of all 15 guys, something that wasn't the case during the 2022-23 season, can be attributed to the work Mazzulla, Van Gundy, and the rest did.
If Banner 18 becomes a reality, you now know more of the names you can attribute it to.