Wizards' Wall: Celtics' Brad Stevens is 'a hell of a coach'
Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens is widely respected as one of the best basketball coaches in the world. From the NCAA—where he took the Butler Bulldogs to two straight National Championship games—to the NBA, as head coach of the most successful franchise in league history, Stevens has an ingenious mind for the game.
And superstars across the league have taken notice. The latest example is Washington Wizards point guard John Wall, who had nothing but nice things to say after Boston defeated Washington over the weekend. Here's ESPN with more:
"He's a hell of a coach, man," Wall told reporters in Washington. "He's a young coach, but that's one hell of a coach that knows the game real well. Even at the end of the game, we lined up in different formation that he hadn't seen and he called out our play before I got the ball. I heard him calling it out. Added Wall: "He does a heck of a job calling stuff that you wouldn't expect. We all thought it would be a high pick-and-roll to Isaiah Thomas or an [isolation] and he ran a play we weren't expecting [on Crowder's winning layup]."
It was a close game that came down to the final possessions, when Celtics forward Jae Crowder scored a layup on a designed play that had the Wizards totally fooled. This isn't something you ever see in the closing seconds of a tied NBA game:
If you missed Jae Crowder's game-winning bucket, don't worry - we've got you covered. Watch it again: https://t.co/FbKWHvAXqK
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 17, 2016
The Celtics aren't allergic to isolating into less-efficient hero-ball under similar circumstances, but Stevens can also flash his creative flair when the game is on the line.
This was masterful, and good on Wall to publicly give credit where credit is due.
