Thursday, January 7 - Celtics at Bulls
Pregame - Larranaga Steps in for Absent Stevens in Chicago
CHICAGO – News broke at 5:15 p.m. this evening that Brad Stevens would be absent from his first regular season game since taking over as head coach of the Boston Celtics on July 3, 2013.
Assistant coach Jay Larranaga will serve as head coach in his absence.
The Celtics were vague in detailing the reason for Stevens’ absence, saying only that Stevens traveled to Indiana to visit a former Butler University player of his. Although speculation has been rampant about who that player is, the team, nor Larranaga, would give any more detail.
“(It’s a) difficult situation for Coach Stevens and people close to him, obviously,” Larranaga said as he stood in Stevens’ place at tonight’s pregame media availability. “So we told him, ‘Don’t worry about what’s going on here. We’ll try and keep the ship going straight.’”
Stevens’ calm demeanor on the court does a great job of masking his competitiveness. Danny Ainge has oftentimes said that Stevens is one of the most competitive people he’s ever met. So for Stevens to miss a regular season game, one to be played against the East’s current No. 2 seed, it says a lot about the enormity of the situation.
As Larranaga stated, it also says a lot about what Stevens stands for at his core.
“He makes it very clear to our players on a day-to-day basis that family is the most important,” Larranaga said, “that the things they’re able to do away from the court … are so much more important than what happens on the court.”
While the Celtics grieve for their coach and what he and his friends and family are going through, they know that he wants them to put forth their best effort tonight in Chicago. It is Larranaga’s job to make that happen.
Larranaga said that he received a call from Stevens at about 11:30 a.m. this morning, during which Stevens notified him that he would coach his first full NBA game tonight. Larranaga does have head coaching experience, as he has coached Boston’s summer league team over the past three summers and also stepped in for Stevens on Feb. 23, 2014, when Stevens was ejected from a game against the Sacramento Kings.
Larranaga, 40, said that his day has been so busy since that call that he hasn’t had time to become nervous or to dream up any changes. Those comments fall in line with those of Hawks assistant coach Kenny Atkinson, who filled in for Mike Budenholzer on short notice on Nov. 14 in Boston.
Rather than making massive changes to a team that has lost three of its last four games, Larranaga believes that his best bet is to do his best Brad Stevens impression.
“I think it’s important to keep it as consistent for our players to the normal routine as possible and what they’re used to,” he said. “I’m not going to be like Brad; he is a very special person and I’m going to be my own person. But in terms of just their routine, in terms of what they’re used to, keep it as simple as possible.”
Larranaga did, however, receive a few tips from Stevens before the head coach took off for Indiana.
“After we found out he wasn’t going to be here, just real briefly talking about rotations, talking about keys to defending [the Bulls], to attacking them,” said Larranaga. “Obviously no easy answers with them, but any word of advice from coach, I want to hear it.”
It’s a safe bet to assume that Larranaga will put those words of advice to use tonight. There is nothing he and the Celtics would love to do more than deliver a win for their head coach, his family and his friends during a very difficult time.
- Marc D'Amico