Brad Stevens 1-on-1 on integrating Kemba Walker, his starting five philosophy and the upcoming season

Ahead of Wednesday's regular-season opener against the Sixers, BostonSportsJournal.com caught up with Brad Stevens to dissect the integration of Kemba Walker, the impact of Jaylen Brown's extension, his philosophy with the starting five this year and much more about the upcoming season. 

Q: You were highly critical of the team last preseason and that slow start appeared to carry over into the first couple months of the regular season to some degree. For the players returning from that group, do you feel like there was additional urgency this past month based on how things went last year? 

Brad Stevens: I don't know if urgency is the right word. I think it's probably -- it's still not easy because I think there are a couple of big decisions to be made, but there are not the number of decisions with regard to time and those type of things. I don't think urgency is the right word. All of the teams I have been a part of have been pretty urgent. I think the work has been more consistent this year. Maybe that's because there is a lot less unknown as we head into the year with all that we had going into last year. I don't want to say urgency.

Q: So what has been the biggest difference this year in camp? Is it simply a lack of distractions and more role definition thus far?

A: I'm not going to harp on last year but we had a lot of guys that had played bigger roles in their careers than they were going to be asked to play and that's hard.

Q: You spent the past few months getting to know Kemba Walker a bit and now you have seen him up close for a full training camp. How has the acclimation period gone for him compared to past free agent additions?   

Stevens: First of all, he's a really good player. Because of his speed and understanding of the game, he's positioned himself to be one of the better guards in the league. He's very easygoing. He's very simple as far -- I don't know, he has a lot of other things going on. He's just focused on wanting to play basketball and wanting to be great. He's really ready to win and I think he's always been a winner. I think he's been great thus far. Everybody enjoys him and has benefitted from being around him. We are going to lean on him more and more as the year goes on, but obviously I think he's ready to roll. The last three days of practice, you could see that he's in his gear.

Q: Kemba spent the majority of his time playing with the ball in his hands with the Hornets but he's proven to be valuable off the ball as well. You have had success here with Isaiah Thomas with a point guard off the ball, what's the key to unlocking the best offense for this group with Walker on the floor? 

Stevens: I don't know if it's me unlocking him. I think it's more about us trying to create a system where we have a bunch of actions in and take advantage of matchups when we think we can. We tried to prioritize a lot of movement here in the first three weeks with our interchangable parts. I don't want him to have the burden of bringing the ball up every time because I think he's just as dynamic off the ball as he is on it. That reminds me a little bit of Isaiah with the different actions you can run. He generates so much attention when he has the ball and he does when he's off the ball. When he sets a screen, people are like 'Do I help or don't I help?' He's a hard guy to guard on and off.

Q: What is your philosophy heading into this season with the starting five? Do you lean towards trying to build continuity with one group or simply playing towards the best matchup on any given night in the frontcourt?

A: With all four centers, we can play the same way so it doesn't matter. It's who is playing best, who matches up best, who brings the most, who has the most energy, who is doing their job the best. The matchups are going to be important. We're not changing how we play based on their skill-sets. All of them can get to the rim. Kanter is the best rebounder of the bunch but the other three get there a little quicker and fly way above the rim. There is an advantage to everybody and we'll lean on all four of them. We're not going to change how we play. Our system is focused around our five perimeter players because those guys are going to be asked to carry a lot of the load.

Q: Jaylen Brown obviously has been through a lot of different roles during his first three years as a Celtic. Does the fact he willingly accepted those roles and made the most of them send a positive signal in your mind to the rest of the young guys on this roster when it comes to maximizing yourself in the team concept? 

Stevens: There are so many good examples of that. I'll never forget that Evan Turner came in the first year. He was making whatever he was making. His second year was a contract year and he never said one word about coming off the bench or not. He just trusted he was going to play as well as he could, do his job when he was asked and then be a good teammate. It's good when those things get rewarded. Jaylen has seen a lot of guys do that and a lot of good role models and examples in his time. I think Smart has always been that way. He saw Terry go through being a starter back to a role player. He saw Gordon sit on the bench last year. He's had a lot of guys that he's seen and the caveat is you just come back to work and keep working. You do your role as well as you can. People in this league know who can play and who has big upside and all that stuff. Sometimes the market is the market at that time. I'm happy for him. He's a guy we believe a lot in and we think he will be a good player for a long time. This won't affect his approach.

Q: Do you think not having the weight of the contract situation to think about will be helpful for Jaylen as this season progresses? 

Stevens: I guess. I've never really been through it. Inevitably, everybody that I know that has passed on it and waited a year, they did at some point or another, inevitably it's going to cross your mind. They all handled it well. I don't know. It could probably go both ways. There could be an argument that one could rest on their laurels. I don't envision that with Jaylen. He's too competitive. I think that's one of the undersung parts of his game, the competitiveness.

Q: We didn't see much of Vincent Poirier this preseason for obvious reasons but he's someone who made the most of his minutes when he was out on the floor. How has the transition gone for him so far and what do you expect his progression to be?

A: Great guy, hard worker, he's going to pick things up quick. I don't have any doubt that if we needed him to play 20 minutes in a game that he would do everything he was asked to do and be pretty good at it. He won't be as good as he is in January, February or April, but he can do it. He's been a pro and he's been really well coached over the years. He's played in a lot of big games. I got no doubt that he can do the job when called upon.

Q: Romeo Langford has been ruled out for the opener and clearly has struggled getting reps all summer and fall long as he recovers from his injuries. Do you expect him to spend some time with the Red Claws to get his feet wet out of the gate? 

A: We have a whole plan for that whole group. We will talk about that when that time comes.

Q: Tremont Waters is on a two-way deal but impressed a lot of people during the preseason. Will you consider putting him on the active roster out of the gate for his defensive ability in certain matchups or will the focus for him getting reps in Maine? 

A: As long as we're healthy, we will try to keep him getting as many reps as he can in Maine. We have no doubt what he can and I have no worries about bringing him up and putting him in games. He's going to have to learn how to manage his size at this level but he's ahead of the game in that because he's ahead of the game in thinking the game. He's a smart player and he's super shifty.