No one ever said coaching the Boston Celtics was going to be easy

The Sugar Bowl is a perfect example of just how tenuous the coaching profession can be. Not so long ago Nick Saban was considered a genius and was on the precipice of his team, Alabama, playing for his third straight national championship.

A little over a month later, one questionable call, a miraculous play, and Oklahoma's dismantling of Alabama's defense yesterday and Saban's coaching acumen and ability to motivate his players is in question from the ravenous Alabama fan base.

Brad Stevens, now finds himself in a somewhat similar scenario. When he was first hired there was the honeymoon period when he was considered the young savior especially after The Celts went through a four game win streak early culminating with a last second win on the defending world champions Miami Heat's floor.

Presently, the Celtics have lost five of six and the blogosphere and Twitterverse are lit up with Stevens detractors saying thing such as: "He still thinks he's at Butler" as well as questioning his late game management ability.

It doesn't help that the Celtics have given up an inordinate amount of big leads in the fourth quarter this season.

Through it all, he remains positive as well as seeing the big picture which is one of the reasons I am still extremely excited for The Celts future.

For example after yesterday's tough loss to the Bulls Stevens had this so say:

BS disagrees w media on L: "I guess we looked at it really differently. I actually leave very encouraged..Thought we played really physical"

— Marc D'Amico (@Marc_DAmico) January 3, 2014

To quote Dalton, the tough as nails "cooler" at the infamously rough small town bar, The Double Deuce, as played magnificently by Patrick Swayze in one of the best worst movies ever made, Road House:

It'll get worse before it gets better.

This season has always been more about rebuilding, player development and maneuvering for the future.

Celtic fans should be ecstatic they overachieved early which is a testament to Stevens and understand they're still at least two years away from being truly competitive again.

For me, the one big disappointment this year has been Jeff Green. I still really like him but it looks as though he's never going to emerge into the superstar I've always envisioned he could be.

Otherwise, I am still very optimistic about the future of the Boston Celtics with Brad Stevens at the helm.

Follow Clint on Twitter @clintcorey


Photo provided courtesy of Boston Globe