BGleas

Goodman is a Boston-based reporter that covered the Celtics for years and also has a direct line to the college basketball community. Goodman makes perfect sense for this.

Again not trying to ruin the fun or be a wet blanket, i've purposely not posted the last few days as to not ruin the fun, but Goodman is connected in both college basketball and in Boston. Boston is, or at least was (he probably still lives there, just not 100% sure), his home base. When I worked for the Celtics he was with the AP and covered nearly every home game. I'm not saying he spoke directly to Stevens necessarily, but he is connected in Boston.

His VP of Basketball Ops (assuming thats who you meant with GM?) and isn't really a Basketball guy. He's brilliant, I used to share a cubicle with him (hes not who i spoke to in 2021), but he's more a statistics genius and cap guy. Again the guy is brilliant, but not sure they have plans for him to run the entire operation.

Appreciate your post, and it's giving me a chance to maybe clear some things up. I don't know Brad Stevens or anyone in his family. I never worked for or with Brad Stevens. I left the Celtics before Stevens got there, but many of the same people still work there and I have an understanding of how the team, ownership and operations work, etc.. I wasn't in basketball ops, but was in a role on the business side as close to basketball ops as you can be without being in it. I spoke to a high-ranking Celtics person who is an NBA institution behind the scenes. I visited him shortly after Woodson was hired. I asked him if he thought Stevens would ever coach in college again, and it was an emphatic, laughing "No". He gave some reasons and the "no" was emphatic. There is more to it, but not going into all of the details. For those that would reply, "well, Stevens wouldn't tell him if he was considering IU.", his "no" wasn't because he asked Stevens directly, you're not going to do that in that situation, it's because he has spent the better part of 10+ years working directly with him, working with Celtics ownership and executives, etc., etc. My person is an extremely trusted person in the NBA. With that said, people change, times change and circumstances change. Based on what I know, I'd be shocked if Stevens coaches in college in the near future, but there are also things like the ownership situation that are different this time around. I'll just be shocked if it happens.

That Brad Stevens was ever close to becoming the IU coach last time. I beleive Dolson reached out, he had too, but it was never happening. I also don't believe Stevens used IU to get his President of Basketball Ops role. Ainge was always leaving at the end of the season, and Stevens had been earmarked to move to the front office. I was surprised he left the sideline all together, thought it would be more in a Popovich role, but the wheels of Stevens becoming head of bball ops were in play before the IU job opened.

Disagree on the first part.

Just going on record for me personally since we're in a new search, I don't believe much of that happened last time. It wasn't close, he was never coming last time.

Not to be a wet blanket on all of the Stevens stuff again, but the Celtics and their personnel always fly out of Hanscom Airforce Base. Rarely, if ever, out of Logan.

With IU's NIL war chest and the transfer portal, this is the first time where I don't think we need a home run hire. We don't need to win the press conference for recruiting and status. We need a coach that can build culture, identify the right players, is a tireless worker and knows his X's and O's. For the first time, we just need a basketball coach, someone that lives and breaths the game. If IU can find that in a "home run hire" then great, but winning the press conference isn't a requirement this time IMO. We just need a basketball coach that wins games.

I think he does. Those things wouldnt be an issue in my mind at all. The guy is a student of the game, as smart a basketball person as you can find, etc., etc.

I've missed about 100 pages, so sorry if this has already been debated to death, but nothing has really changed in terms of my stance on Stevens. I think it's an extreme long shot at best. My info on Stevens is 4 years old, and people of course change, time changes things and circumstances change, but like I said I would be stunned if Stevens coaches in college again. It was not close last time. The one caveat I would grant people that think it's possible this time is the Celtics ownership situation. I don't know where that stands. If Wyc ends up not selling or if Steve Pagliuca figures out how to purchase managing ownership then I think Stevens for sure stays, if it's someone else then who knows? Of course, the IU job will most likely be filled before the Celtics ownership situation is figured out. I will be stunned if Stevens is the IU coach. But, I also would have been stunned if you told me Luka was getting traded a week ago.

Woah, dude, so good to see you here and to hear from you!! Hope all is well!!

I find myself in most of these games rooting for the other teams. I get more excited when they make big plays, hit big 3's, etc., and i find myself hoping we miss shots. Partly because they other teams are more fun to watch and playing harder, and partly because I want our coach fired ASAP.

Feel terrible saying this, but I honestly don't even really care about this season. I'm so detached from this roster and coaching staff, all I care about is whatever gets us to a coaching search in March/April.

I'm with you! We're supposed to feel good that it took Mike Woodson 3 years and a complete and utter collapse in recruiting to realize that he actually has to try and put in any effort at his job?

Didn't you hear? He got it all figured out yesterday. We're in good hands now. He's ready to work now.

Yeah, and it's like Woodson is in this position by design. This isn't a strategy, this is an, "oh crap, we're screwed. What do we do now?"

Good luck with that. He doesn't seem all that competitive at this point, or IU wouldn't be in this situation. He's completely mismanaged this program at this point.

His will to win as a player is irrelevant. That was almost 50 years ago. He's the head coach and his system is brutal. He's all of the sudden doing a complete 180 on how he coaches? As someone said above, he's spent all season complaining about having a "young team" and "10 new players" (which wasn't accurate) and now all of the sudden he's going to lead a team full of transfer to the promised land? Color me skeptical.

Even if a miracle happens and the staff hits a grand slam in the portal, which is highly unlikely, they'll still be coached by this staff. That's the flaw in the plan.

Literally open the thread to this post at the exact second I was watching this scene on Comedy Central!?!?

Here's the thing about McNeely and the offense. It's pretty simplistic to just say that the offense wasn't an issue in his decommitment because he knew what the offense was. While the offense hasn't changed much in three seasons, Mike Woodson spent two seasons telling the fans/media that he wanted to play 4-out/1-in and that the style the first two years was because he had to take advantage of TJD and Race. He spent two years telling us that it was actually his teams in Atlanta and NYC that ushered in the 3pt era in the NBA. It's not a huge logical leap to assume that he was selling McNeely on that. I think as fans we were also expecting the staff to add guards and wings in a shift to that style this season. Then he spent the entire season this year extremely defiant when questioned on these things. I'm sure it's not the only reason, but its not a big leap to assume that a 3rd season of a poor offensive system played a part in McNeely's decision. I actually think this also plays a big part in why the fans have turned on Woodson so quickly. I know it does for me. From a system standpoint, I kind of feel like Woodson has pulled a bait and switch.

Cant find the exact tweet, but I go back to Woodson's quote last year about getting Miller Kopp (the only reliable 3pt shooter on a bad shooting team) more shots/3's, and Woodson got defensive and said, "it's not my job to get Miller Kopp shots." To me almost a fireable offense right there for being so stupid, but as a shooter why in the hell would you ever agree to play for that coach?

My bad, you're right! This is all a smokescreen because we're holding out until after the NBA Finals in June when Brad Stevens will be available.

I dont think they're trolls. Just think "insiders" are very far removed from what is actually happening. It's like the telephone game from people 4 spots removed by the time stuff gets to a message board.