C's Coach Brad Stevens has a man crush on the Hawks

[randawg91]

Wow, he's just dishing out HUGE praise for our squad. Serious respect from a great coach.

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4717114/copy-machine-cs-want-to-soar-like-hawks?ex_cid=espnapi_public

 

Copy Machine? C's Want to Soar Like Hawks

 

BOSTON -- You get the sense that Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens has been watching a lot of Atlanta Hawks games, and not just to check in on former Butler University pupil Shelvin Mack. 

Stevens flat-out gushes when he talks about the Hawks and the inspired brand of basketball they've played since the end of last season. In a way, Atlanta offers a bit of a blueprint on how a superstar-less team can thrive with pure team basketball. 

Atlanta showcased that Wednesday night as part of a 105-91 triumph at TD Garden in which it rested starters Al Horford and Kyle Korver, two of its most skilled individual players. The Hawks have won 24 of their last 26 games, own a four-game lead atop the Eastern Conference and have the second-best record in basketball behind Golden State. 

As Boston overhauls its roster, having already shipped out stars Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green as part of an in-season change to its rebuilding direction, Stevens was asked if the Hawks serve as a bit of a guide on how to win without elite talent. 

“I think you have to look and redefine who the superstars are with our own eyes every day," Stevens said. "And so I would argue that they’ve got a couple of guys on their way, and I don’t know what qualifies as a superstar but I know this: Nobody in the league can keep Jeff Teaguein front of them. Nobody. And [Dennis] Schröder -- I’m not saying he’s a superstar yet; he’s a young kid -- but nobody can keep him in front of them. And then they space it with shooters. So now it’s a basketball team, right? 

"And [Paul] Millsap’s been an All-Star. [Al] Horford didn’t play tonight, he’s been an All-Star. [Kyle] Korver didn’t play tonight, he’s a really good player. So they’ve got a great group and it fits well, and you might have a budding superstar in that group, right? 
 

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"The other thing that I’d say about them that stands out, that jumps off the page -- jumps on the page when you’re coaching against them, jumps off the page when you’re watching film -- big-time savvy. The game comesreally easy to them. It’s slow on defense; they can see things coming. They play well together. They know the biggest threats; they react to the biggest threats. And offense, they stay spaced and make the right basketball play time and again. 

"I agree with you that the superstar thing is a big part of this, but there’s something to be said about a group that just -- it’s like a machine. I mean, they’re a machine. They’ve really got a good thing going already." 

No one appreciates the beauty of team basketball more than Stevens, and he already had spent much of his pregame chat with reporters raving about the Hawks, their "connected" play, their "team-ness" and how "unselfish" they are. 

Stevens often is effusive in his praise of opponents, but he went out of his way to praise Atlanta's brand of ball. He said his coaching staff even used the Hawks as a bit of a target for Boston's own young players. 

"We had a long talk [Wednesday] as a staff, we all want these guys to all be able to do things that the Teagues, the Korvers and those guys do on an every-night basis," Stevens said. "I think that’s part of the process." 

If the Celtics are looking for a blueprint to follow as part of their own rebuild -- both on the court and with roster construction -- they would be wise to examine what Atlanta has done. 

On the court, the Hawks run the motion-heavy, pass-happy, up-tempo offense that Stevens desires from his team. Defensively, the Hawks put themselves in all the right spots and work together to cover missteps, while adding some physicality despite their lack of front-line size. 

"They just play the right way," Stevens said. "Defensively, they are very connected. They play very hard and the numbers bear that out. And, offensively, I think they are one of the elite teams in the league, just because of the way they spread the floor, the multiple skilled bigs that they have that allow them to play -- either with rolling, but also with driving and spacing. Then you’ve got guards, you’ve got two guards that can get wherever they want to go with the ball. And then guys that can shoot around them. Heck of a mix." 

So how did the Hawks get where they are? There was a lot of maneuvering necessary when general manager Danny Ferry took over a team that was stuck in a vicious cycle of early playoff defeats. But here's a snapshot at how this year's team was constructed: 

STARTERS

 

• Teague (19th overall pick by Atlanta in 2009) re-signed for four years, $32 million in July 2013. 

• 

DeMarre Carroll

 (27th overall pick by Memphis in 2009) signed as free agent (two years, $5 million) in August 2013. 

• Korver (51st overall pick by Brooklyn in 2003) received in trade from Bulls for cash; re-signed to four-year, $24 million contract in July 2013. 

• Millsap (47th overall pick by Utah in 2006) signed as free agent (two years, $19 million) in July 2013. 

• Horford (third overall pick by Atlanta in 2007) re-signed to five-year, $60 million deal in November 2010. 

ROLE PLAYERS

 

• 

Thabo Sefolosha

 (13th overall pick by Philadelphia in 2006) received in trade for Sofoklis Schortsanitis in July 2014. 

•

Schröder

(17th overall pick by Atlanta in 2013) signed to rookie deal in July 2013. 

• 

Pero

Antić

 (undrafted) signed to two-year, $2.45 million deal in July 2014. 

• 

Mike Scott

 (43rd overall pick by Atlanta in 2012) re-signed to three-year, $10 million deal in August 2014. 

• 

Kent Bazemore

 (undrafted) signed a two-year, $4 million deal in September 2014.

The fact that the Hawks have only one high-lottery player -- Horford -- is an encouraging sign for Boston. The Celtics have a treasure chest of future draft picks, but naysayers often lament that few of those picks even have potential to be lottery selections. 

The Hawks' roster construction shows that talent can be found all over the draft. What's more important is finding the right mix of players at the right value, regardless whether you draft and develop those bodies or seek them via the trade route. 

Atlanta even struck out at times in its recent pursuits of big-ticket free agents and it might have been the best thing to happen to the team. It gave the right coach the right mix of young, hungry players who have thrived since the end of last season. 

Boston's stash of picks and looming cap space will give the Celtics a similar freedom while attempting to build. The Hawks are a reminder that you don't necessarily have to hit a home run in free agency, but a couple of doubles or triples along the way with some of the less-marquee names helps put runs on the board. 

After Wednesday's game, Avery Bradley came away echoing his coach's sentiments when he said, "They're like a machine." 

The Celtics don't necessarily have to follow the exact same blueprint, but in a lot of ways it wouldn't be bad to be a copy machine.

[Spursfanpeacemaker]

I found the interviews on YouTube

Celtics coach interview about the hawks and game last night.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=87DxsY8SiZE. (Mobile link)

There's more interviews from players and also coach bud pre-game interview, just check the channel owner of the vid. (Channel name CLNS radio)

Edited January 15, 2015 by Spursfanpeacemaker

[diamond_dave]

Thanks for posting! This is a great article and it's nice that the word is starting to spread.

 

I was in the break room at work the other day and SportsCenter was on. On the left hand side of the screen it has the topics coming up to be covered and it was three Hawks topics in a row! Who would have imagined that!

[AHF]

It is amazing to see all this positive press for the Hawks.  It is so refreshing to see us doing things that other teams want to replicate.

[Bahamut]

Solid article!  The second half of the season should be telling, and we only have two more big road trips left.