If there are similarities with the Rockets’ situation and the Celtics’ when Brad Stevens took over as the Celtics coach in 2013, Rockets coach Stephen Silas did not have to test his memory to find them. Reminders had come from Stevens in recent weeks.
When Stevens became head coach, the Celtics had moved on from signature stars Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry (and Ray Allen the previous season,) and a respected veteran coach, Doc Rivers. Silas took over the Rockets, succeeding Mike D’Antoni, amid the departures of James Harden, Russell Westbrook and P.J. Tucker (and Chris Paul the previous season.)
The Celtics at the time, as with the Rockets now, had a stockpile of first-round picks waiting for the rebuild.
“Actually, Brad reached out to me a couple weeks ago,” Silas said. “That first time we played them (March 14), after the game he was like, ‘That first year was tough to stay with it.’ Then he sent me a text a few weeks ago saying, ‘I went through the same thing, I know we don’t really know each other very well but if you want to reach out and talk about this process that you’re going through, just reach out and we can talk about it.’
“I haven’t done it yet. I definitely will at some point. But there’s a lot of similarities to when he first came here and what I’m going through. I’m looking forward to having those conversations with him.”
The Celtics went 25-57 in Stevens’ first season. They have been 316-214 in the seven seasons since, drafting All-Stars Jayson Tatum in 2017 and in 2016.
Silas had another reason to have been watching closely.
“With my dad being a former Celtic and all of that, the Boston Celtics organization holds a special place in my heart,” said Silas, who attended Brown University in Providence, R.I. “Connecting with him is definitely a priority of mine.”
There’s now another similarity. As with Stevens’ first team as an NBA head coach, Silas’ includes Avery Bradley and Kelly Olynyk.
"share" - Google News
April 03, 2021 at 06:15AM
https://ift.tt/3rHhFxr
Rockets, Celtics share similarities from coaches' first seasons - Houston Chronicle
"share" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2VXQsKd
https://ift.tt/3d2Wjnc
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Rockets, Celtics share similarities from coaches' first seasons - Houston Chronicle"
Post a Comment