You can thank the boy blunder for that one. Couldn’t coach his way out of a wet paper bag this series even though he arguably had the more talented overall roster. HIGHLY overrated which is surprising coming from a region like New England where you see excellence in coaching firsthand.
Word has it that, upon seeing the result, Paul Pierce got so shocked that he fell over. Producers had to carry him to a nearby wheelchair and wheel him out of the studio. However, he jogged back in a couple of minutes later, no sign whatsoever of previous injury, and proceeded to record his best show yet.
It's this, and I'm not sure why there's a large segment of people overlooking the obvious.
Ainge acquires the best talent he possibly can for the team. That's a pretty undeniable fact. It is then the job of the head coach and the assistants to put the players in the best position to win.
That's on Brad "27-28 Playoff Record" Stevens. That's not on Ainge.
Kyrie's a nutjob, everyone knows he's a nutjob, but it's not like he's out going all Chiefs and beating up his girlfriend or something.
It was the job of Stevens to set the rotations. It was the job of Stevens to not run Hayward out there 30 minutes a night, when it was clear he didn't have it. It was the job of Stevens to not have Terry Rozier be the 9th man off the bench. It was the job of Brad Stevens to have an offense designed to the talent he had on the team. It was the job of Brad Stevens to make sure Jaylen Brown got the playing time he needed in order to settle in to the rotation (which he did far, far too late in the season). It was the job of Brad Stevens to pull Jayson Tatum aside, and work on his game, his confidence, to get him back to the level he was a year ago. A regression that bad is entirely the fault of the coach. It was the job of Brad Stevens to not put Guerchon Mother****ing Yabusele on Giannis A
ntetokounmpo during crucial minutes of a playoff game.
It's Danny Ainge's job to hold him accountable for that, and we'll see what he comes up with.
Kyrie's a dink, but he's not a bad player. Everyone feels bad for Hayward, but with few exceptions, he stole money from the Celtics this year. Jayson Tatum pulled a Bethel Johnson-level regression. Terry Rozier won't be within 500 miles of Boston next year. Neither will Kyrie in all likelihood. So we're going to run out Brown, Hayward, Smart, Tatum and Horford next year? That team's got no shot at a title.