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Trader Brad: The Beginning of the Stevens Era

/ Brian Phair / Leave a comment

The move to hire Brad Stevens as the next Boston Celtics GM was a surprise. Danny Ainge stepping away at the beginning of June wasn’t too surprising, but promoting the 44-year old Indiana-native to that role opened up a ton of questions about his experience and ability to jump into that role when the roster needed some work right away. Now two months into his job, he’s been active on the trade market and appears to be working toward a larger vision with more moves in the pipeline.

After 6 years as an assistant coach at Butler, Stevens took over the head coaching role in 2007. He was successful at getting the most out of his players at a strong mid-major college program with two back-to-back NCAA Finals appearances (2010 lost to Duke and 2011 lost to UConn) which led to NBA teams sniffing around. In 2013, the Celtics convinced him to leave the college coaching life in his home state and take over one of the most successful NBA franchises in history.

In his 8 years at the helm of the Celtics, Stevens had a .557 winning percentage and won NBA Coach of the Month three times. He took the Celtics into the playoffs in 7 of his 8 years and to the conference finals three times, but couldn’t break through for a title. After a disappointing 2020-2021 season, the critics were calling for his job and wondering if he could take the next step. Then Danny Ainge stepped aside.

After hiring Ime Udoka as the next Celtic’s head coach, Brad Stevens got to work on the roster. He started by trading former UConn star G Kemba Walker and the 16th pick in this year’s draft to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Celtics fan-favorite C/F Al Hortford, C Moses Brown and a 2023 second round pick. The Celtics needed to move on from Walker, but the trade got mixed reviews despite being primarily a salary dump. Celtics fans liked the idea of having Horford back, but what does he have left in the tank? Moses Brown would be a nice pickup, but has already been shipped off as part of another trading frenzy.

Next, Brad shipped out mostly disappointing C/PF Tristan Thompson for Providence product and long-time crush of Celtics fans G Kris Dunn, C Bruno Fernando, and a 2nd round 2023 pick from the Atlanta Hawks. Then he flipped the previously traded for C Moses Brown to the Dallas Mavericks for veteran G Josh Richardson.

There are a lot of rumors floating around that Brad is far from done. Even though Celtics fans have wanted to see Kris Dunn in the green since he was drafted two spots behind Jaylen Brown in 2016, Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach has been reporting that the Cs are looking to move Kris Dunn to save some cap space just days after he was shipped to Boston. The other rumors surround a bunch of former C’s players and potential returns. I’m guessing Stevens is on the phone non-stop at this point trying to make a few more moves to free up some cap room to replace G/F Evan Fournier.

Only time will tell what Stevens will be like as a GM, but he’s started with a lot of trade activity and more to come. He’s certainly not afraid to make a move.

Diaco Donates

/ Brian Phair / Leave a comment

Our UConn football family is very fortunate to call The Burton Family Football Complex and Mark R. Shenkman Training Center our home. These facilities are among the finest in the nation and fully serve the needs of our football student-athletes. I want all Husky student-athletes and my fellow coaches to be able to enjoy the same caliber of facilities, which they richly deserve.

UConn Football Coach Bob Diaco on his $250,000 gift to help with the construction of facilities for UConn’s men’s and women’s soccer program, baseball program and softball program.
Source: courant.com

Yellow Jackets Stung By Big 2nd Inning

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Stephen Slade / Courtesy of UConn

Georgia Tech starter Zac Ryan’s day started off well with a quick first inning (line out, single, pop out, caught stealing). It looked like he was on his way to a solid outing against the UConn Huskies, then the 2nd inning happened. It started with a Joe DeRoche-Duffin single and opened up from there until the Huskies had knocked Ryan out of the game after just 1.2 innings and hung a 7-spot on the scoreboard.

The Huskies looked strong behind freshman starter Tim Cate and held the 7-run lead until the 6th inning, then things tightened up inning by inning. Georgia Tech scored 1 run in the 6th and 7th and then 2 in the 8th to shrink the UConn lead to 3 runs. Thankfully, UConn’s closer Patrick Ruotolo finally closed the door after allowing 2 more runs to shrink the lead to just 1 run. The Huskies and Coach Jim Penders walked away with the program’s first NCAA Regional win since 2013 and 7th overall.

With Georgia Tech in the rear-view mirror, UConn moves on to the winner’s bracket and a Saturday evening (6pm) matchup with #1 Florida, the regional host. On the mound for Florida will likely be junior lefty AJ Puk. Puk is projected as a top 5 pick in the upcoming MLB Draft (potentially #1 to the Phillies) and his 6-7, 230 lb frame and 95+ mph fastball (touching 99 at times) are intimidating. Puk had a very good year for Florida with 90 Ks and a 2.88 era.

UConn will counter with their lefty ace, junior Anthony Kay. Kay has had a nice year for the Huskies finishing with a 9-2 record, 2.46 era and 108 Ks. He pitched well in the AAC Tournament, winning MVP after a nice outing in the final against Houston on short rest. Kay didn’t pitch in game one of the NCAA Regional to get an extra day rest, so he should be rearing to go on Saturday night.

This is an incredibly tough game for the Huskies, but they have their best pitcher on the mound. Anything can happen.

Let the NCAA Tournament Begin

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Stephen Slade / Courtesy of UConn 

Friday is a special day for Coach Jim Penders and his UConn baseball
squad. After tearing through the AAC Tournament, the Huskies find themselves
making their 4th NCAA appearance since 2010 when they face-off
against #2 Georgia Tech at 1pm in the first game of the Gainsville, FL regional. UConn
is the #3 seed in the region along with host #1 Florida and #4 Bethune-Cookman.

The tournament will be an extremely difficult test for the
Huskies who finished the season with a 35-25 record. The double-elimination format
will guarantee at least two games, but it’s hard to see a real path for UConn to
win the regional, especially with Florida looming. Florida finished the season
with a 47-13 record and have one of the best pitchers in the country in Logan
Shore. Shore finished the season with an amazing stat line in 15 starts: 10-0, 2.41
era, 76 Ks and 13 BBs. He won SEC Player of the Year and is a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, the national player of the year.

UConn has a strong #1 starter in Anthony Kay, who won the
AAC Tournament MVP after winning his two starts, including the championship
game on short rest. He is expected to be a fairly high draft pick this year,
but will not pitch in the opening game in order to give him an extra day’s rest.

If nothing else, it will be fun to watch UConn play against
top-level competition.