Perception is reality. The perception is that Brad Stevens, the coach of the Celtics, is one of the best coaches in the NBA. What is that based on? Sure, he did an amazing job of taking Butler to back to back NCAA Championship games as a college coach, after being a pharmaceutical sales rep. What has he truly done in the NBA? His playoff record isn’t great. He was 2-10 as a playoff coach before taking out Milwaukee in seven games this year. Clearly, Stevens has done a fantastic job. Without Gordon Hayward, who was the Celtics’ big free agent signing this year, and Kyrie Irving, their all-star point guard, Stevens and his team haven’t missed a beat. He’s found a way to get Terry Rozier to emerge as a fantastic player. Jaylen Brown has developed into an excellent player and scorer. Rookie Jayson Tatum was given the perfect role to grow and develop. This is clearly a team on the rise.
Brett Brown will get some coach of the year votes, but he does not have the national perception Stevens does. Brown has been able to find a way keep the ship afloat during “The Process” of losing a historical amount of games, while somehow creating a winning culture. That can’t be measured in the stat books. Brown got some heat early in the season for sticking with Ben Simmons as a point guard. How did that work out? He was able to create a fast paced, spacing offense, who’s starting five led the NBA in offensive efficiency. He was able to plug and play two newcomers late in the season, in Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova, into a bench that went from a team weakness to a team strength.
This begs the real question of how do you evaluate coaches? Not just by win/loss record. If that were the case, this wouldn’t even be a discussion. Is the eye test involved? For sure! The style of play? Absolutely! The Celtics are an outstanding defensive team. They were the 3rd best team in the NBA this year in scoring defense, holding opponents to 100.54 points a game. The Celtics were second this season in defensive field goal percentage, holding opponents to 44.41%-just behind Philadelphia, which held opponents to 43.45%. Boston led the league in defensive 3-point percentage, just ahead of the Sixers.
You can also measure a coach by how he gets his team to share the ball. In this metric, Brett Brown has been dominant. Philadelphia led the league in passer per game, and was second to Golden State in assists per game. Boston was not in the upper half in either category, but that was probably due to the fact that they had a ball dominant point guard in Kyrie Irving most of the year. This will be a matchup of two very good defenses, and well coached teams.
Perhaps the best measurement of coaches is getting the most out of their talent. For Stevens, missing Hayward all season and finishing with the second best record in the East is quite an accomplishment. Not to mention getting past a tough Milwaukee team without Kyrie Irving. If the Celtics win this series, the legend of Stevens will grow, no doubt. The pressure is squarely on Brett Brown here. If Philly wins, they beat a good team that was missing players. If Boston wins, Stevens beat the new NBA darlings, short handed. Either way, this matchup appears to be a showcase of the best of what the Eastern Conference will be for the next several years.
