JUNE 2018 COACHING NOTEBOOK – PICKANDPOP.NET The art of the cut (The Athletic) -When the Sixers call Point, B-Deny or another play that involves Redick running off a screen, he doesn’t view it as his turn to shoot. Instead, he phrases it as “a time to move bodies and potentially move the ball.” From there, it’s up to the Sixers to figure out what the defense is giving them. Brad Stevens and the Celtics have a special brand of toughness (ESPN.com) -Brett Brown, the Philadelphia 76ers head coach, is fond of saying, "The pass is king." As the Boston Celtics extended to a 3-0 lead against Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference semifinals, making seemingly every big play, some Celtics staffers began whispering their own version: "Toughness is king." The last slide of the film edit that Brad Stevens, Boston's coach, showed his team before Game 3 in Philadelphia contained a definition of toughness Stevens found recently in a book (he can't recall which one; he reads a lot): "Toughness is being able to physically and emotionally perform your task through any condition." -"If things are going really well in a home game, do you get caught up in that, or do you keep playing the right way?" Stevens asked in a chat with ESPN.com the day after Boston's Game 3 win in Philadelphia. "If things are going like they were in the second quarter last night [when the Sixers went on a run], do you say, 'I have a job to do and I'm going to do it, and I don't care that everyone is going nuts over this [Joel] Embiid dunk?' That is toughness. It sounds cliché, but the hardest thing to do is stay in the moment and do your job." -He told the players Hayward would be OK. But Stevens wanted to shift their focus to the remaining 79 games. He warned them: Don't use your youth as excuse, Stevens and several players recalled. "Expedite your learning curve," Stevens remembered saying. "If there's film to watch, or something you need to work on with a coach, go do it." -This is a fierce team. No one is afraid to shoot, or venture outside his proven skill set -- something almost everyone has had to do since Irving's knee surgery. They give maximum effort every second. It is a focused effort; they rarely veer out of scheme. Hit them, and they hit back -- harder. Nurturing such a strong culture while returning only four players from last season's team is an enormous challenge. JUNE 2018 COACHING NOTEBOOK – PICKANDPOP.NET -Gather enough tough players and it can have an exponential effect on a team's collective toughness. They inspire each other to more intense fury. They hold everyone accountable; even brief moments of lethargy and weakness are unacceptable. Wyc Grousbeck, the team's owner, compares them to a crew team rowing together: They feel when one guy is giving only 90 percent, and either push him harder or eventually replace him. "This is my favorite Celtics team ever, in terms of energy, camaraderie and underdog spirit," Grousbeck said. -In Boston’s seventh game of the season, Shane Larkin failed to pursue a loose ball along the left sideline. Stevens removed Larkin at the next stoppage. He didn't play again until garbage time. "I learned right away," Larkin said. "If you don't get a 50-50 ball, you are coming out." -Stevens didn't upbraid Larkin. He approached him calmly and told Larkin why he had been taken out. In evaluating players, both during games and in film sessions, Stevens is careful with language, according to coaches, players and team higher-ups. He focuses on actions: We didn't get this rebound. You should have made this rotation earlier. The criticism is never about the player's character. No one is labeled lazy or stupid or selfish. Stevens simply describes what did or did not happen, and what should happen next time. That has gone a long way in securing buy-in, players say. They feel Stevens is with them, even as he holds them -- and himself -- to almost impossible standards. That is a hard balance to strike. It is not a show, either. -They motivate each other without craving credit for anything. "We embrace each other," Brown said. "Last year, there were a lot of times where people were trying to figure things out on their own. That is the biggest difference this season." Elite toughness and mental stamina alone won't get you far in the world's best league. Add talent and you get a team that punches above its weight. Boston just makes fewer mistakes than almost any rival. -Some of that clutch play comes from having mature, confident players. Some of it is Horford settling them. And some of it emanates from Stevens. His calm demeanor makes for good satire, but the more you talk to players, coaches and executives across the league, the more you begin to believe such things matter. Stevens' placidity is intentional. Frantic, screaming, gesticulating coaches can raise panic in players who might be prone to it. Some players tune out everything. Some follow the lead of authority figures. They look at Stevens and see assurance. They see, "Next JUNE 2018 COACHING NOTEBOOK – PICKANDPOP.NET play." "Some players have a tendency to get frazzled or emotional," Ainge said. "Brad helps with that." Foes bonded by "War Room" brotherhood (NBA.com) -“I got off the phone with Fiz and immediately called our guys in the video room at the arena and said, ‘Hey, rent a suite, put the boards up, get the screens, grab the iPads and get all the film you can,’” Spoelstra said. “I said, ‘Get the Memphis roster and every stat we can on them, and let’s go to work.’ That’s the least we could do. But that’s kind of the culture we built. We do whatever we can to help the next guy, and enjoy their success. It’s more than just about us. It was for Fiz, but we all felt part of it.” With about 36 hours to spare before Fizdale was due in Memphis to interview, Spoelstra and his staff had turned a suite at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Miami into a war room similar to what teams use on draft nights. -“Spo helped me really implement the system I wanted to play, he helped me connect that to the personnel that they had, and to really show them the vision of how I can use that system to fit the players they had, but also bring in the Heat culture that’s so much a part of our fabric.” -The concept of meeting with Core Four players Mike Conley, Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph and Tony Allen in their offseason homes to make immediate connections? Spoelstra and his staff had done the same thing with LeBron, Wade and Bosh early on. -“Being Spo’s right-hand man for so long, he allowed me to develop in ways not many assistants get to develop in this league,” Fizdale said. “They fast-tracked me for this. I can’t describe it to have that much support. To have people like that, people who really feel like they’re your family in such a business situation like this, I know it’s rare. I never took it for granted, and I will always cherish those guys for it.” How David Fizdale had big impact on Erik Spoelstra in Miami (Newsday.com) -Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra didn’t always agree with David Fizdale’s suggestions and he joked that he threw him out of his office many times when the two worked together. But Spoelstra always appreciated Fizdale’s mind, viewpoint and ability to challenge him. “Fiz definitely made me JUNE 2018 COACHING NOTEBOOK – PICKANDPOP.NET better,” Spoelstra said during a conference call Wednesday afternoon. “We had some epic, legendary fights. We would challenge each other all the time. Fiz was not afraid to share his opinion. I wanted him to challenge me, question things, make me look at things in a different lens. And he constantly did that. -“Fiz made me a better coach. He thought the game differently than I did, from a different lens and I enjoyed coming to work every single day getting his perspective, which often made me look at things differently.” -“He just wants to help guys get better — and players sense that,” Spoelstra said. “Regardless of how much experience you have, how much you’ve been in the league, whatever your background is, if players feel that they can trust you and you really are there just to help and you’ve proven you can help make them better, then players will be all-in with you.” Love and Korver aren't just watching LeBron (ESPN.com) -Korver and Love watch film together, hoping to discover new strains of this virus. "He has made me a better pro, in terms of watching film and really breaking it down," Love says of Korver. -A partnership with Love has given Korver a way to remain engaged. A lot of spot-up shooters who play with LeBron stand still, waiting for LeBron to break the defense and kick the ball out. Korver cannot stand still. He's hyperactive, impatient, curious as to what kind of space he can unlock for others just by moving around. -He found two muses in Atlanta in Mike Budenholzer and Quin Snyder, a Hawks assistant in 2013- 14, but even Budenholzer sometimes wanted Korver to chill in the corner.