Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
Brett Brown is from Portland, Maine. He grew up believing in the Celtics. He’s been an assistant coach with the Spurs for 12 years now. He’s going to be the lead assistant next year. He’s the top head coaching candidate on the market that has not been a head coach already.
The Celtics have two choices. They can go for a mercenary like George Karl or Lionel Hollins. They’ll both say nice things about the Celtics tradition and what it means, but they’ll also say I’m not coming unless you give me this amount of money. Or they can go for a guy who really believes what they are selling.
Brett Brown even has the accent. No one has written about him, but he’s going to be one of in the finalists, I guarantee it.
To me, he’s going to be the next coach of the Boston Celtics.
Sports Illustrated’s Ian Thomsen on CSNNE
Brett Brown has plenty of international hoops experience. He spent several years coaching in the Australian pro leagues and coached the Australian men’s national team at the 2012 Olympics.
Other teams have interest in Brown. He has interviewed with the Nuggets and Sixers this offseason.
I guess you can throw Brown in the mix. I do not have a feel for which direction the Celtics are headed in this search. I’d prefer a coach with some cred (Karl or Hollins), but what if Brown is the next Frank Vogel?
As for the Celtics alleged pursuit of Josh Smith, Thomsen offered this:
“If [Rajon] Rondo is here I think it’s a very, very, very, very, very bad idea,” Thomsen said. “I don’t think it’s a good idea at all. We all know [former Celtics coach Doc Rivers] had his hand full trying to convert Rondo into a leader. It never really happened and it took all his energy to do it. Now that Doc leave you’re gonna hand a new coach Rondo empowered by his best friend in the league and they be your two best players? I just think it’s a terrible formula.”
Tell us how you really feel, Ian.
As for the Doc Rivers saga, I am not surprised that his account of the final weeks in Boston differed drastically from Danny Ainge’s story.
But it seemed almost overly important to Rivers that he get across the point that he is not a villain in any of this.
“This was not a one-trick pony deal where I was the only one fueling this,” he said at one point during yesterday’s introductory press conference in Los Angeles. “I never pushed this deal. It did happen, and I thought it was a great opportunity, and I took the opportunity.”
He also said, “I asked Danny, ‘What can I do to help you?’ ” and, “It’s not like I was looking for change. This just kind of came about.”
Nice try, Doc. But you don’t end up as the head coach of the Clippers unless YOU push the deal.
Remember to join us tonight for full draft coverage. We’ll have a running draft blog, a live chat, & Celtics Stuff Live starting at 8pm.
The rest of the links:
ESPN Boston – Why Doc left: Rivers explains decision | SportsCenter conversation with Doc | What really happened at Rivers end? | Herald – Doc Rivers: Great run over | Ainge: No big moves planned | Mark Murphy’s Mock Draft | WEEI – Doc: Winning titles is only reason I’m coaching | Fact or Fiction: Doc’s odd call with Boston media
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