Brad Stevens Leaves for the NBA

I always crack up when I try to picture what you look like by the way. Some 60 yr old who seeks redemption from schoolyard bullies in elementary school perhaps?
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No need to fantasize, I'm happy to supply a jpeg. Just don't, you know, sully it. I think you'd agree that anyone who tried to bully me would be in for a sound thrashing, I mean look at those biceps, and I'm not even flexing.




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Just read he got 6 yrs 22 million
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Six years underscore that the Celtics and Stevens are aware that the Celtics have to be rebuilt, and it will not happen overnight. My guess is that for Stevens, it wasn't the money as much as a chance to coach a storied franchise, that of Russell, Havlicek, Bird, and Auerbach. He could have gotten 3.5 million from a Duke or Syracuse once their iconic coaches retire, and been in a much more secure position.

The thing is, if he fails in the NBA, he will still have his $22 million, and be welcomed back to college. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
 
A comparison to Gonzaga might be apt. The Zags have established themselves and managed to land on their feet as their coaches changed. I think Butler is going to be similar.

When the Catholic 7 were fishing around for members they must have known that a hot commodity like Stevens would leave for a better job, yet they still offered membership.

Who do you think has better long term prospects for success, Butler, the Hall or Depaul? I'd be more concerned about the long term prospects of the latter two.
 
from the looks of the sentinal story, butler is keeping to its mid major mentality. no money for an elite coach, so we'll go with a norm roberts and pray for the best.
 
Well, one has to wonder at what point that Mr. Stevens was looking elsewhere. While the Celtics job opened up recently, I'm sure Stevens had his sights set on an NBA job and I'm sure that Butler was aware of this. Since timing is everything, do you think that perhaps Butler "duped" the Big East by keeping such thoughts quiet? I'm sure that Butler would have been perceived as less of a draw sans Mr. Stevens.
 
A comparison to Gonzaga might be apt. The Zags have established themselves and managed to land on their feet as their coaches changed. I think Butler is going to be similar.

When the Catholic 7 were fishing around for members they must have known that a hot commodity like Stevens would leave for a better job, yet they still offered membership.

Who do you think has better long term prospects for success, Butler, the Hall or Depaul? I'd be more concerned about the long term prospects of the latter two.
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While it is certainly possible that Butler will land a good coach like Gonzaga, I wouldn't bet the farm on it. As I mentioned up thread, they are the number 4 draw in their own backyard.
As for long term prospects, I would disagree with you. I'd rank them 1) DePaul, 2) Seton Hall and 3) Butler.
With the new arena coming, signifying a willingness (at long last) to spend money, DePaul is poised for a comeback. Let's be honest, Purnell has been a disappointment...but if they can get any of the Chicago talent to stay home...they will compete.
The Hall needs to retain local talent as well. They have made some dubious recruiting decisions over the past 4-5 years...however if they can get their act together, they will be ok.
Butler is just a tough spot minus Stevens. Much like Storrs or Syracuse, Indy is not an attractive destination. The difference is the former two had a tradition of winning with HOF coaches.
Time will tell...but Butler really needs to hit a home run with this hire. (sound familiar?)
 
This sucks. In my opinion Coach Stevens is an elite college coach who will not be easily replaced. While the Butler job is now more attractive, his success will be nearly impossible to replicate (sure a good coach can help a team make a run, this guy took the program from the Horizon league to us). I'm happy for him but bummed for Butler and the Big East. Here in Indy, the sports bar I was at went silent at the news. Tom Crean is probably the only happy person in the state. I truly believed Coach Stevens was turning Butler into a smaller version of Duke. At least my tickets at Hinkle will be better for the St. John's game. Sigh. I haven't been around or posted in a while dealing with family issues but I was compelled to chat with you all about this one, Butler took 10 giant steps backwards yesterday.
 
Realize he will never leave NY but this could be a great opportunity for Tim Cleuss.

Would think he's not going to receive that many chance to coach at this level.
 
I always crack up when I try to picture what you look like by the way. Some 60 yr old who seeks redemption from schoolyard bullies in elementary school perhaps?
Click to expand...


No need to fantasize, I'm happy to supply a jpeg. Just don't, you know, sully it. I think you'd agree that anyone who tried to bully me would be in for a sound thrashing, I mean look at those biceps, and I'm not even flexing.




ctop.jpg
Click to expand...


LOLOLOL... The physique and pose look eerily familiar.
 
A comparison to Gonzaga might be apt. The Zags have established themselves and managed to land on their feet as their coaches changed. I think Butler is going to be similar.

When the Catholic 7 were fishing around for members they must have known that a hot commodity like Stevens would leave for a better job, yet they still offered membership.

Who do you think has better long term prospects for success, Butler, the Hall or Depaul? I'd be more concerned about the long term prospects of the latter two.
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While it is certainly possible that Butler will land a good coach like Gonzaga, I wouldn't bet the farm on it. As I mentioned up thread, they are the number 4 draw in their own backyard.
As for long term prospects, I would disagree with you. I'd rank them 1) DePaul, 2) Seton Hall and 3) Butler.
With the new arena coming, signifying a willingness (at long last) to spend money, DePaul is poised for a comeback. Let's be honest, Purnell has been a disappointment...but if they can get any of the Chicago talent to stay home...they will compete.
The Hall needs to retain local talent as well. They have made some dubious recruiting decisions over the past 4-5 years...however if they can get their act together, they will be ok.
Butler is just a tough spot minus Stevens. Much like Storrs or Syracuse, Indy is not an attractive destination. The difference is the former two had a tradition of winning with HOF coaches.
Time will tell...but Butler really needs to hit a home run with this hire. (sound familiar?)
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The Zags compete with PAC10 powers and seem to do OK, plus Indiana is a basketball crazed area so being #4, in your estimation, isn't so bad.

As far as DePaul is concerned, they can have the greatest arena extant but if they can't recruit and find a good coach they're going nowhere. There is nothing to indicate that those two things are going to happen soon regardless of the amount of local talent. They have never recovered from Meyers retirement, the similarity to the Louie situation is striking. We seem to be about to turn the corner, time will tell. They have yet to find that kind of coach.

The Hall has been in decline recently and their coaching hires leave a lot to be desired, they have BE doormat writtten all over them for the near future.
 
from the looks of the sentinal story, butler is keeping to its mid major mentality. no money for an elite coach, so we'll go with a norm roberts and pray for the best.
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Just remember, in his entire career, one D1 school, and only one D1 school, by a unilateral decision, offered NR a job.

You have to hand it to the Big East though. In one offer, they upped the profile of the Butler job for future applicants.
 
it's like building a Ferrari then right when it's ready to race, you leave it idle in the garage then sell it.
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Your analogies are like using a typewriter to write a sentence and then just before you read it you shoot yourself in the head and the spark sets the house on fire and when you call the fire department your cellphone doesn't have a signal because batteries haven't been invented yet.
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Quite the stretch there...the point is, Stevens built that program into an elite one and now he won't even see it compete with elite company. I always crack up when I try to picture what you look like by the way. Some 60 yr old who seeks redemption from schoolyard bullies in elementary school perhaps?
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Stevens is the elite company. Noone in our conference has even sniffed 2 championship game appearances over his tenure as coach.
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Sounds like the argument that Mark Sanchez was solely responsible for leading his team to back to back AFC champ games. We all know that wasn't true though. College basketball is not a 1 man game. If St. John's all of a sudden had Boeheim, would it really turn everything around for us and make us a constant top 10 team? I really don't think so. Some people succeed in roles in 1 place and fail in another. Don't get me wrong, coaches can have influence, but I think it gets overstated in every sport. Belichek (or however you spell it) was on the Jets, then he goes to the Pats and they win 3 rings. Mike D'Antoni was great for the Suns, then came to the Knicks and got fired. I think the team and administration has a lot to do with the success, not just 1 person as the coach. Butler was in 2 sweet 16's recently in the 2000's before Stevens was even coach. College basketball has room for more than 1 good coach. Butler will be fine.
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Are you arguing with yourself? You said he made them an elite program. Butler will be OK but Stevens is an elite coach and they will sorely miss him. He did the right thing, got his payday and is set for life and if he fails he can have his choice of jobs in college. My point was that Stevens has had more success than any other coach in our conference and is the only true elite coach we have. No other coach in our league can even come close to matching Stevens' success.
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Uhh...Jay Wright? Easily in the same ballpark without a question. Stevens has really only had Butler elite for 4 years. Jay Wright has had Nova see the final four and what 10 NCAA tourney trips in 11 years or something crazy like that? To say that Stevens is the only elite coach is crazy. What do you mean by "coach"? Lavin is arguably the best recruiter in the Big East. Wright probably has the most consistent team in the Big East. Stevens had his team peak the highest in terms of how far they got in the tourney with back to back title games, but honestly once you make the tourney anything can happen and I'm not sure coaching dictates how far you will go. Thompson is a great coach and G'Town was bounced immediately. Luck has a lot to do with it as well as momentum and chemistry. If you don't think Luck doesn't have anything to do with it, you haven't seen George Mason reach the final four or Vermont shock Cuse years ago. Or FGCU last year. Butler is a good team with or without Stevens...relax.
 
it's like building a Ferrari then right when it's ready to race, you leave it idle in the garage then sell it.
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Your analogies are like using a typewriter to write a sentence and then just before you read it you shoot yourself in the head and the spark sets the house on fire and when you call the fire department your cellphone doesn't have a signal because batteries haven't been invented yet.
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Quite the stretch there...the point is, Stevens built that program into an elite one and now he won't even see it compete with elite company. I always crack up when I try to picture what you look like by the way. Some 60 yr old who seeks redemption from schoolyard bullies in elementary school perhaps?
Click to expand...

Stevens is the elite company. Noone in our conference has even sniffed 2 championship game appearances over his tenure as coach.
Click to expand...

Sounds like the argument that Mark Sanchez was solely responsible for leading his team to back to back AFC champ games. We all know that wasn't true though. College basketball is not a 1 man game. If St. John's all of a sudden had Boeheim, would it really turn everything around for us and make us a constant top 10 team? I really don't think so. Some people succeed in roles in 1 place and fail in another. Don't get me wrong, coaches can have influence, but I think it gets overstated in every sport. Belichek (or however you spell it) was on the Jets, then he goes to the Pats and they win 3 rings. Mike D'Antoni was great for the Suns, then came to the Knicks and got fired. I think the team and administration has a lot to do with the success, not just 1 person as the coach. Butler was in 2 sweet 16's recently in the 2000's before Stevens was even coach. College basketball has room for more than 1 good coach. Butler will be fine.
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Are you arguing with yourself? You said he made them an elite program. Butler will be OK but Stevens is an elite coach and they will sorely miss him. He did the right thing, got his payday and is set for life and if he fails he can have his choice of jobs in college. My point was that Stevens has had more success than any other coach in our conference and is the only true elite coach we have. No other coach in our league can even come close to matching Stevens' success.
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Uhh...Jay Wright? Easily in the same ballpark without a question. Stevens has really only had Butler elite for 4 years. Jay Wright has had Nova see the final four and what 10 NCAA tourney trips in 11 years or something crazy like that? To say that Stevens is the only elite coach is crazy. What do you mean by "coach"? Lavin is arguably the best recruiter in the Big East. Wright probably has the most consistent team in the Big East. Stevens had his team peak the highest in terms of how far they got in the tourney with back to back title games, but honestly once you make the tourney anything can happen and I'm not sure coaching dictates how far you will go. Thompson is a great coach and G'Town was bounced immediately. Luck has a lot to do with it as well as momentum and chemistry. If you don't think Luck doesn't have anything to do with it, you haven't seen George Mason reach the final four or Vermont shock Cuse years ago. Or FGCU last year. Butler is a good team with or without Stevens...relax.
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Jay Wright has made 1 final 4 in 19 seasons, and the one time he made it he was at Villanova which was in the best conference in the nation and had National Championship in the not so distant past. Stevens made 2 national title games in 6 seasons, both of which occurred when he was in the Horizon League. And if you think it was a fluke in the way George Mason, Vermont and FGCU were, they won tourney games in 2 of the 4 years they didn't make the final game. The two coaches are not even comparable in terms of their resumes.
 
They''ll probably stay inside but wouldn't the VCU coach be a nice fit for Butler?
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If he turned down UCLA there is no chance he's going to Butler.
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He's waiting for a very specific job or two. Then again, I thought the same about Stevens.
 
This might be the biggest overreaction I've ever seen on this board. No doubt it will hurt Butler, but this will in no way kill them. Let's wait and see first who they hire and how he performs before we bury them. Last I checked Stevens wasn't out there playing on the court. He was on the sidelines. Butler has too much national recognition and prestige to be a bad team. At worst they will be a bubble team most years IMO.
 
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