Denied the services of Rajon Rondo (injured), Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett (both donning Brooklyn uniforms), Celtics head coach Brad Stevens (above) has his team at a respectable 10-12 mark after Sunday’s blowout of the host New York Knicks. Bleacher Report’s Adam Fromal argues that Stevens — presumably paid to win games —- is ” taking (Boston) out of the Andrew Wiggins sweepstakes and making it that much harder to jump-start the rebuilding process.” While this presents an interesting selling point for the embattled Mike Woodson, Boston Sports Media’s Bruce Allen finds little fault with Stevens’ work to date.
Your first-place Boston Celtics have gotten a little more attention as of late, but not all of it good. There are people who are angry that they’re even that good. The Tankers are upset that the team is blowing their chances for a high enough pick to grab the next NBA superstar.
I don’t get that logic. When you have a team with young players like Sullinger, Bradley, Olynyk, even Jordan Crawford, to me, you need to get them into good habits, and if you believe even a couple of them are a big part of your future, you want to have them get as much competitive experience with the system you’re trying to put into place here, as they will soon be the veterans that the younger influx of players over the next few years are going to look to.