Red would struggle too with his best player, who is still figuring things out at 23 getting a bad virus that has clearly impacted his conditioning and play, two of his other key players each missing significant time with injuries and a bench/rotation that we all agree sucks.Red wouldn’t have had trouble getting them to consistently play hard though.
Stevens may well take the fall for their mediocre season but the real story is the number of minutes lost to the virus as well as various injuries and a dismal bottom half of a roster. I can cite supporting info but I will simply say that at one point not to long ago, we were watching Jeff Teague playing some other sport in a Celtics uniform as well as Javonte Green being marketed as a core part of the rotation.
Big picture, nobody needs to or should be fired imo but if anyone deserves criticism for how the season has gone, its one Daniel Ray Ainge. On the other hand, anything that motivates him to try harder is a huge plus. I suspect we find out how far Wyc is willing to go during the off-season.