Your Morning Dump… Where Ainge says Isaiah is out another week

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

During his weekly interview Thursday morning with 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Toucher and Rich, Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said he believes injured guard Isaiah Thomas remains about “a week away” from a return.

Since taking a hard fall early last week against the Heat, Thomas’ return date has repeatedly gotten pushed back. His lower back bruise was severe enough that trainer Ed Lacerte reportedly called it “as tough a bruise” as he has ever seen.

[…]

Addressing the media Wednesday, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens did not completely rule out Thomas flying to join his teammates for Friday’s road tilt with San Antonio. Still, Stevens called the chances “very, very unlikely” and made it clear he did not expect to have the high-scoring guard for at least the next couple of games.

“I just got done texting (him),” Stevens said Wednesday. “He feels good today. He feels much better. I don’t know what that means. He has not done anything physically, and (Tuesday) when we left (to begin a two-game road trip), I actually thought worst-case scenario — even longer — because he didn’t look like he was moving good at all, and he’s still got a lot of swelling, and he’s still sore. I mean, he’s still really hurting.

MassLive – Danny Ainge: Injured Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas maybe a week away

How long have you had a weak back? Oh, I don’t know… about a week back? (RIMSHOT!)  Get it? I know, I’m sure you’ve all heard that before, but hey never a bad idea to start a Friday morning with a bad joke.  What’s not going to be a bad joke is if this back injury that Isaiah Thomas has keeps lingering.  We’ve now seen his timeline for return get pushed back a couple of times.  While I don’t think it’s especially serious, it is starting to raise an eyebrow.  We’ll see in about a week though, maybe we’ll know more concrete information.  What we won’t know is where the C’s will stand in terms of the playoffs race.  This is going down to the wire.

On Page 2, Brad Stevens can actually react like a normal fan

B/R: As you watch Butler games from afar this year, do you find yourself watching as a coach sometimes or just from a fan perspective?

Stevens: I usually watch basketball with more of a coach’s eye, but I just watch them purely as a fan, and I love it. I’ve had a ton of fun. I’m glad there weren’t any cameras on my son and I when they hit the game-winner against Creighton at the game we were at because we were jumping up and down and going nuts, like we were at the dog pound.

It’s been fun to be a fan.

Bleacher Report – Brad Stevens Discusses Differences Between Coaching in College and NBA

Video evidence or it didn’t happen.  Hell, I’d take a .gif, Vine, Instagram or even a RealPlayer video for that gem.  It’s great just to imagine Stevens jumping up and down like a crazy fan at a game (we’ve all been there).  There’s a lot of good stuff in this Q&A, including Stevens discussing the difficulties in all of the player movement, differences between coaching in college/NBA, analytics and why coaches would or would not succeed going from college to NBA.

The rest of the links:

ESPN Boston – Brad Stevens deserves Coach of the Year votes

Boston Globe – NCAA Tournament reveals deep draft pool for Celtics

Boston Herald – Marcus Smart earns fans fans in the locker room

CSNNE – Alone in 8th, Celtics control their destiny, for now | Happy retirement, Al Harrington: Thanks for the memory | Ainge: Thomas return about a week away | Celtics Talk TV: Could Boston be a match for Butler? | The Celtics ‘Smart’ decision: A rookie learning curve | Tim Welsh: Celtics should surge for playoffs, not tank