Good luck, Brad

Brad Stevens makes the jump to the NBA.
Courtesy of butler.edu

Now that the Boston Celtics have hired Butler's Brad Stevens to replace Doc Rivers as their head coach, I would just like to say good luck to Stevens. He's going to need it.

It's not just the fact that Stevens is making the leap from mid-major college basketball to the NBA (though that is a sizable leap). It's also the fact that the Celtics team Stevens will inherit won't include Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry -- and perhaps not even Rajon Rondo, depending on whether Danny Ainge decides to trade Rondo after he comes back from his torn ACL.

It's a daring move on both sides. Stevens leaves a program he built into a national championship contender (NCAA tournament finals appearances in 2010 and 2011) to coach at basketball's highest level, and the Celtics hires a young coach with no professional-level experience to work with a group of mostly role players.

The Celtics will likely give Stevens a lot of latitude to fail over the next two or three years as they look to rebuild through the NBA Draft. But with that said, it doesn't make Stevens' assignment any easier. He may wind up with as many losses over the next three years as the number of wins he accrued at Butler (166) over the past six seasons. He might think he can deal with it on an emotional level going into this job, but will that be the case once the losses start piling up? And how will he handle the Boston fans, who will likely make him their scapegoat when things go horribly wrong (even though they understand that this is the deal)?

Overall, I can see this dream job turning into a nightmare for Stevens. But at least, he's getting the chance to live out his dream.

Good luck with that.