“We’re going to enjoy this evening, but the workout for tomorrow’s Draft is going to be nice…” Guest on the set of NBA TV in the company of Jrue Holiday, just after the coronation of the Celtics during these 2024 Finals, Brad Stevens concludes the interview with a joke, or half-joke.
A half-joke which ultimately says a lot about the (slightly neurotic) architect of this team. Arriving in Massachusetts as coach in 2013, it was ultimately in the offices that he led the franchise to the title. In 2021, Brad Stevens leaves the bench to take over from Danny Ainge as club manager.
Brad Stevens, however, has long seemed to be the “head coach” capable of bringing back an 18th banner to Boston. But after years of ascent, and three lost conference finals (2017, 2018 and 2020), the technician seemed to be running out of juice. The 2020/21 season was particularly delicate for him, with a locker room that he was less and less able to manage and understand. Mentally exhausted, the perfectionist and meticulous Brad Stevens agreed to leave the bench to become president of basketball operations for the franchise.
Was it his choice, or rather that of the owners? In any case, it was a risky bet for Wyc Grousbeck and company, but three years later, we can say that it was a completely successful bet.
Opportunism to adjust
Just a few days after his appointment as sports boss, Brad Stevens exchanges Kemba Walker to recover Al Horford. In addition to finding a valuable veteran, whom he has always appreciated, he especially gets rid of the playmaker, whose physical limitations are more and more glaring. Of course, to do this he had to give up a first round of Draft (which would become Alperen Sengun…), but he obtained financial flexibility.
In the process, he hired Ime Udoka as coach, and the former Nets assistant managed to connect with the locker room in the second half of the season to take the team to the Finals, ultimately lost to the Warriors.
In July 2022, Brad Stevens continues his adjustments by dropping a large part of his bench to get his hands on Malcolm Brogdon. He still defeats a first round of Draft (Julian Strawther) but the logic of the leader is put in place. It will only be spoiled by the Ime Udoka affair, who was suspended by Boston just before the opening of the season for having had an affair with a member of his staff. The unknown Joe Mazzulla was named head coach in a hurry, while Will Hardy had already left for Utah, picked up by Danny Ainge who became manager there. With assistants chosen by Ime Udoka to surround him, and departures along the way, the young technician will experience a delicate season of experimentation.
Despite everything, Boston fails in Game 7 of the conference final, and Brad Stevens can continue his adjustments. In July 2023, he first gets his hands on Kristaps Porzingisseparating from Marcus Smart by the way, the “soul” of this team for a long time. Two months later, he brought the final touch by taking advantage of the transfer of Damian Lillard to the Bucks to recover Jrue Holiday who had been sent to Portland.
To do this, this time he had to part ways with Malcolm Brogdon, Robert Williams, and two first rounds of the Draft.
Develop a clear collective identity
“We had to let go of some very good players, and in particular Marcus Smart, who meant a lot to us” recalls Brad Stevens on the logic behind his exchanges. “To get Jrue (Holiday), we also had to sacrifice guys who meant a lot to us, with Malcolm (Brogdon) and Rob (Williams). These are difficult decisions. Because even though I know I'm getting Jrue Holiday back, my stomach hurts because I have to call the other two. »
However, Brad Stevens also knows that these transfers clarify things. Even if he was the soul of the team and a great defender, Marcus Smart remained an average shooter, who could also get out of his offensive frame.
With Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Al Horford and the others, the responsibilities are clearer, with the Jayson Tatum – Jaylen Brown duo serving as the driving force.
“At the end of the day, what we try to do is surround ourselves with the best team possible. And one of the most important character traits for us is the awareness of who we are. explains the leader of the year 2024. “Knowing who you are, knowing what you do best and wanting to do it for the good of the team. Jrue is perhaps the best example of this across the league. But Derrick White isn't far away, and neither is Kristaps Porzingis. Al (Horford) is also a very good example. We have a lot of guys who know what they are and who behave properly. Because all this talk about individual awards, who cares? It's a team sport and we have to be a team that goes in the same direction. »
While Danny Ainge was sometimes accused of “want to win every exchange” and to accumulate a war chest of Draft tricks which he then managed with difficulty to exploit, Brad Stevens for his part did not hesitate to use this treasure in order to move in the desired direction.
And this direction is that of a team that maximizes its priorities: namely a physical and versatile defense, which limits the weak points attacked by opposing attackers, especially in the playoffs, and a “5-Out” attack, with five players placed behind the 3-point line, who stretch the game to the maximum.
A chain without a weak link
Boston thus dominated the regular season and the playoffs (80 wins for 21 losses in total, or 79% success) with a seemingly simple formula: big defense and 3-pointers.
Second best defense in regular season (110.6 points conceded over 100 possessions) and best attack (122.2 points scored over 100 possessions), the Celtics thus posted a “Net Rating” (difference between offensive and defensive efficiency) of +11.7, which places them in 3rd place in the history of the category , behind the 1995/96 Bulls (+13.4) and the 1996/97 Bulls (+12.0) but ahead of the 2016/17 Warriors (+11.6)!
However, during the last Sloan Sports Conference, two researchers explained that they had identified a bias in the value of the 3-point shot in today's NBA.
Basically, Justin Ehrlich and Shane Sanders explain that the calculations do not take into account the possibility of a shot causing a foul, even though it is crucial, because it offers free throws and penalizes defenders (while making it less aggressive). Ironically, the 3-point shot is so feared that it causes the fewest fouls… which therefore limits (a little) its real effectiveness, according to this study.
Overall, NBA franchises now shoot too many 3-pointers. While they largely dominate the league in terms of external volume (42.5 attempts from distance per game), are the Celtics abusing the long shot?
Obviously, with such a volume of 3-pointers, distance address is a key factor in Boston's victories.
However, as Henry Abbott noted, by Truehoopand as Zach Lowe develops, from ESPN, the “5-Out” set up by Brad Stevens is specific. Because it relies above all on solid defenders, who can (almost) “switch” everything and who therefore form a real wall, difficult to attack by the now usual game of screens and hunting for “matchups”.
In addition, with five players behind the 3-point line, this offensive system also indirectly allows you to always ensure a defensive withdrawal but… also to save energy in attack.
And above all, all the players in Joe Mazzulla's main rotation are good outside shooters. From Al Horford to Jayson Tatum, including Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, Payton Pritchard, Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser and Derrick White, there are eight of them to take more than four 3-point shots per game, this group turning to 39 % success in the regular season. It is therefore impossible for adversaries to achieve dead ends.
No need for Brad Stevens to be an exceptional creator or an ultra-dominant scorer when you don't have a weak link in the chain, both defensively and offensively.
