BGleas

I'll say this if it's Woodson. I'm more concerned with winning on the court as that is the ultimate goal, but a Woodson hiring would be a huge, massive L in terms of winning the press conference.

Is Chris Mack lateral? Just trying to come up with someone that would be lateral, not terrible, but also a big disappointing.

Honestly, while that would be a big disappointment, I'll take that over something like Alford or some other coach outside of the Beard, Musselman, Oats, etc. group.

I don't really disagree, especially long term. The main difference I would see is that I think from day 1 Stevens would have recruits calling him to come aboard. I think Beard would take longer (compared to Stevens, not compared to other college coaches) to burn in on that front. But yes, from a coaching and personality perspective he would be a home run hire.

To me, Beard would be a home run amongst the current, somewhat realistic candidates. I'm not saying he's Stevens or Coach K, but I think given his track record and personality that he could be our Izzo or Bo Ryan, which I'll take.

I think Beard and potentially guys like Musselman, Drew or Oats could be great hires, but I think it would also work out best for the fans if that hire doesn't happen until at least next weekend or during that week after. It would give the fan base week to 10 days to sort of decompress after the disappointment of Stevens not happening. I'm not saying I love being in limbo for another week+, but I think the time period after yesterday could give the fans time to regroup mentally.

I guess if we want to assign fault. Who else's would it be?

Absolutely. But it's more bullet points to hit, what to not say, and general guidance of how the organization wants an issue handled. It wouldn't be a written script at this level, unless you're literally delivering a prepared statement on a legal issue. They're also not going to insert weird jokes into the messaging, I've never seen that at this level, which is why I think it was just awkwardness from Stevens. Something like Stevens asking the PR how to handle the IU rumors would be the PR rep giving him some general guidance.

I think he'll still coach for a long time, but could see him as the President/Coach like a Popovich. The Celtics have one of the brightest cap guru's in the league as their GM (i think that's his title now, we used to share a cubicle), so that part would be covered.

Yeah, Masshole is a pretty common phrase upcthat way. I hope he wins a bunch of titles too :)

To kind of set the stage. Those pregame coaches media availabilities are very informal and its the same media people every night. Every single game it's basically the same media guys. It's like groundhogs day. The coach and the media almost always make some awkward jokes/banter before the quick Q/A gets going. It's not like a formal press conference. My guess is Stevens knew he was talking to the Boston media, the same guys as always, it was routine, etc., and he tried to make it funny and it kind of fell flat.

Ummm, ok. I think my ten's of thousands of posts on IU message boards over the years would say otherwise. IU is my favorite college team. The Celtics are my favorite NBA team and used to issue my paychecks. I love both. I was on the side of hoping Stevens came to IU since the NBA is more player driven. But, im also not mad that Stevens coaches my favorite NBA team.

I think they have a pretty long leash. Wyc and Danny love Stevens, and they don't make decisions on fan pressure. With that said, 9 years is a long time for an NBA coach. Wyc and Danny know that this season isn't on Stevens, its more on Ainge. But, I think if Ainge leaves it will be a mutual agreement to retire, not a firing. But I think Wyc believes in him, and Danny can get this back on track quickly. I've actually always thought there was a greater chance that Danny would retire and Stevens would become President/Coach, than there was of Stevens coming back to college.

I do. Knowing them first hand,, there's no way imaginable that came from the Celtics PR people. I think Stevens probably thought he was speaking directly to the Boston media and trying to be funny. Those pregame media sessions are not scripted, etc. But there's zero chance the Celtics PR people told him to do that. Though I do think Indiana fans are blowing it out of proportion.

Definitely not that. I worked for the Celtics head of PR for 5 years. He's the senior most PR guy in the league. Has been there since '84. Hugely respected in the NBA by players, coaches, etc. Absolutely, 100% not his style. He's the epitome of laid back, nice, and keeping it simple.

Yeah, I think you're wrong. NBA players expend an incredible amount of energy. Since you've said you don't watch the NBA, you're probably just not seeing it. Take Stevens own team, Marcus Smart is constantly diving for loose balls. The guy puts his body on the line every time he steps on the floor. And, Stevens has already "lasted" in the NBA. Its rare that a coach remains with the same franchise for 9 years, and he's been one of the top coaches in the NBA over that time.

My bad...doing multiple things at once.

Sorry, should I delete my post?

I'm 99.99999999999% sure the Celtics would have to publicly announce a change to his contract terms. Not the actual terms, but that they renegotiated his deal. On the other point, Wyc and Danny don't care what the fans think as far as the coach. I dont mean they don't care about fans, but they don't operate by fan pressure. They never have. They love Stevens and were always going to try and keep him.

There's not much better than Boston in the spring when the Celtics are in the playoffs and baseball season has started. The weather is gorgeous, the city is popping and there is so much to do.

That would be a Celtics-Stevens thing, not a Celtics-IU thing. I know Ainge has this perception of being a jerk, he's literally one of the nicest dudes. I've been around Wyc and Danny, if they love you they're not going to treat you poorly (player trades notwithstanding). They have a saying in the front office, "once a Celtics, always a Celtic." They love Brad and if he wanted to leave for IU they're not going to rake him over the coals to squeeze a few bucks out of IU. I'm not eve sure its possible for IU to pay a pro team to get their coach?

What could the Celtics possibly get from IU? The rights to IU's next one and done? The Celtics own Stevens NBA rights, but Stevens is free to resign and go coach a college team if he wants.

Going on the fly here, but I can't think of an instance of an NBA team just releasing their coach who they want to keep and is under contract, so that he could go sign with another NBA team? I can't imagine Ainge is trying to get something from IU.

Ok, my bad. Your use of the phrase "the Celtics forced the Clippers..." came off as if you were implying the Celtics were doing something unreasonable or wrong. They did Doc and the Clippers a favor. The Celtics didn't want Doc to leave, but Doc expressed he didn't want to be part of a rebuild.

You make it sound like Danny was doing something wrong? The NBA isn't college. NBA teams can't poach other NBA teams coaches. The pick the Celtics got for letting their coach who was under contract go was completely reasonable.