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I agree with this, but Crean’s podcast with the Hysterics (I know) was good context. He talked a lot about the fun but also the “fire crean” chants at his son’s high school games and being approached at church or while sitting in his car at a stop light. With the right coach, it will be great. But a fanbase this big also has a few bad actors. “Fishbowl” is used so much it’s meaningless, but I do think this is an intense environment.

The key thing about May, if he’s the caliber of person we all think he is, isn’t the new buyout but the comments he made after the deal: "I think it makes it obvious: I'm staying at Michigan," May told CBS Sports https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/dusty-may-michigan-agree-to-contract-extension-amid-indiana-basketball-coaching-search/amp/ I have no idea how IU or other candidates factored into this, but he’s clearly not coming now.

It’s not a movie, but the best western is Deadwood. It’s also the best tv show ever. Don’t tell Brad.

Fair point. I like local connections, too, and Brad had a lot hires with local ties at Butler. But his Rolodex is bigger now. Seems like the potential for the perfect mix of old and new could happen!

Two random thoughts about Brad, though I try not to daydream. 1) I think the media underrates how much Brad might care about the IU job—it’s very plausible to me why he might want to “step down” a level. But I do think the rest of the Celtics don’t care much at all. They’re much more worried about the new owner. They have a strong bench of front office guys in Zarren and baby Ainge, etc. So I’m sure they’d prefer to keep Brad, but him leaving or staying is not as big a deal to them as it is to us. It’s easy to keep it quiet. 2) The Celtics’ front office bench gets at another thing that confuses me. If we get Brad, why on earth do we care about Hulls or Zeller or whomever? If Brad wants them, that’s great—he’s the genius. But isn’t it just as plausible that he brings in young NBA or college types with no ties to IU? He has tons of connections, and any young coach would kill to work with him—see Shrewsburry, Norad, and so on. Not trying to cause any drama here, and I understand the attachment to former players. But if we get Brad, and I know we probably won’t, but if we do, I think he would be thinking bigger.

This is a fair point but maybe the people in Boston like him as much as he likes them and they’re keeping it quiet out of respect to his wishes? It wouldn’t be a big circle. Someone like Mike Zarren knows how to keep a secret.

The obvious reason for Stevens to wait, if it’s him, is old school coaching omertà. One of the things we all like about Stevens is his character and calm demeanor. It seems very plausible to me that he would want to keep things quiet out of respect to the current staff and roster.

I always thought this story (from before Irving even went to the Celtics) is the best summary of how NBA people saw Stevens: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/15356168/brad-stevens-next-superstar-head-coach

I agree. Miami and Jai Lucas—that’s a leak.

But this means there’s a lily of the valley-sized clue that’s been visible all along. We just have to find it!

This new troll has evolved, aping the kindness of the regular posters instead of trying to be brash or bold. Honestly it feels like someone fed the fire Mike Woodson thread into chat gpt and then asked it to spit out a successful troll. At least the human was decent enough to add “no Chris Beard discussion” to the prompt.

I can’t believe I’ve been tricked into praising Alford. I need to go back to lurking, lol. But yeah if I remember right they were mostly Alford’s guys, though Cronin convinced them to stay. Juzang was a transfer—Cronin got him, but Juzang wanted to come home, too. That final four team was super fun—gutty offense mixed with Cronin defense. But I’ve never seen him put together a team that was as well rounded as that one. I hoped he might keep it up at UCLA after the final four run but it seems like offensively he just is what he is.

I grew up following UC, before switching to IU after a move. I enjoyed watching Cronin once a year in the tournament, mostly for his teams’ defense and effort, though they usually lost too early. But watching Cronin for a full season was not very fun. Not because of wins and losses but because he can just be sour and negative while leading teams that are very slow and physical on defense. His final four offense was an exception, led by players he did not recruit.

My wife said we’re like the crazy Taylor Swift fans, analyzing every detail and creating elaborate theories for each setback. But Swifties have like a dozen albums to listen to, and we need only one Brad Stevens.

Also I think given the trauma of Archie and Woodson people are forgetting how exhausting Crean was as a human being. This is something that the Wikipedia coaching records can never capture. What does it feel like for this person to be a character in our lives? Crean had some real positives. (Remember him taking McDonald’s to a person outside the restaurant?) But he was stubborn and defensive and awkward and honestly kinda manic. And he was inconsistent, and his trajectory was going down. Recruiting was tailing off locally and nationally. Juwan and OG were diamonds in the rough but we were all tired of an irritating coach who wouldn’t adjust his turnovers or defense and who also needed to find diamonds in the rough. Most days, I remember the good parts of the Crean era. But it was time to move on from him, and it’s worth reflecting on the legit bad parts too.

I agree! I would have been happy with Matta as the post-Archie hire, though it seems it wouldn’t have worked out. I have no info either. I’m just saying that sometimes I worry Dolson overrates longevity and experience. There’s no defending the idea of hiring Pat Fitzgerald for instance.

I’m just a lurker here but I will say Turgeon fits with at least two other Dolson attempted hires: Fitzgerald in football and Matta in basketball. I would much rather risk a young and unproven coach than go this route but I do think there’s evidence that this is a route that appeals to Dolson.

@Chris007 saying love is in the air—could be a Valentine’s Day joke, but also Philly is the city of brotherly love.