Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens is known for not revealing his starting lineups prior to a game. He gave out his reason why, and it seems to be a pretty valid one.
As reported by Jared Weiss of The Athletic, Stevens said he doesn't reveal the starting lineups mainly because nobody told him that he should:
“Nobody told me the rules out here. They just sent me out here to do the media session and nobody told me I didn’t have to say it. I’m still contemplating the rules.”
He continued:
On the lineup, Stevens confirms that he is in some sort of transient state of contemplation with regard to emotionally and logically processing the order in which he shall determine his distribution of play this evening. https://t.co/d2U7354AG6
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) May 23, 2018
Apart from the reasons Stevens pointed out, it is definitely a strategy for his part. Basketball is like a chess match, after all. One has to take every advantage he can get. Stevens wants to keep his foes guessing on what his next move will be.
For Stevens, it seems that finding the perfect line up each and every night is his main priority. It may even be one of the key factors why he's been able to achieve such monumental success in the postseason, even without Kyrie Irving.
As reported by John Schuhmann of NBA.com, Stevens was asked if another lineup change was in order, after their blowout loss in Game 3. To which he answered:
“I think you do that every day,” he said.
“It's all about trying to figure out if you can be successful offensively and defensively,” Stevens said of lineup decisions last week. “Sometimes you feel like you can be a little bit more successful on one end than the other, but both ends have to be taken into account.”
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