Brad Stevens talks about preparing for next year, drafting best available player regardless of position

On Friday morning, Brad Stevens took part in a discussion amongst of a panel of coaches speaking at a fundraising breakfast for the Positive Coaches Alliance.  The event was held at Fenway Park's EMC Club, and CelticsLife was granted media access to cover it.

Before things got started Stevens gave a few minutes of his time to the press.  Here's a brief clip in which he talks about his focus shifting from last season to next, including saying he's "still mad at every time we let one get away."



Stevens was hired by the Celtics in July of last year, so this time around he has a lot more time to get ready for the upcoming season.  When asked how helpful it was to have an extra two months to prepare, he said the following:

Well I'd rather not have it, I'd rather be playing.  But I think that it's not as much the extra two months, it's just I've now been through it.  It's such a different game and it's such a different schedule [than college].  In retrospect looking back I had no idea what really I was entering into... 

But now I've got a great feel for how best to manage my time and set a progression of helping the young guys, helping everybody get better, and at the same time getting our team ready for when it gets together in training camp.

As far as the draft goes, three of the four most likely candidates for Boston to take at #6 all project to be power forwards in the NBA (Julius Randle, Aaron Gordon and Noah Vonleh, with Marcus Smart being the other; all four worked out with the Celtics last week), a position the C's have well covered by Jared Sullinger.  Many also consider Smart best suited to play point guard, which could make him redundant alongside Rajon Rondo.  In regards to whether or not Boston will consider positional needs a priority when making its selection, Stevens said:

I would first of all, ask Danny [Ainge] that.  But my impression from all of our discussions is that with both picks, six and seventeen, we take the best available player.

Check back tomorrow for much more of what Stevens discussed during the panel (hosted by ESPN Boston's Jackie MacMullan), including how he manages to stay so calm during games, why he'd never want to coach his own kids, and his thoughts on flopping.



Follow Mark Vandeusen on twitter @LucidSportsFan