| Doc Rivers On A Short Leash, Or Is He? | |
It’s safe to say that in the eyes of most Celtics fans, this should be the make-or-break season for head coach Doc Rivers. A good majority of the fan base was irritated when Rivers received a contract extension earlier this summer, and I was one of them, due to his poor in-game coaching decisions (especially late in games). Though he did not have much to work with last season, the poor decisions were present. The same poor decisions that he has struggled with throughout his entire coaching career: questionable substitution patterns, questionable distribution of playing time, questionable timeout calls (or lack thereof), running a fairly stationary offense, playing favorites, and mismanaging certain young players. It almost seems like Danny Ainge is hesitant to give Doc the ax because of his relationship with him. Whether you like Doc Rivers as a coach or not, he is undoubtedly a very charismatic man who is very easy to like on a personal level, which is why a lot of players enjoy having him around. He’s a player’s coach and he’s an excellent motivator, but when it comes to x’s and o’s and decision making, he’s in the bottom tier among active NBA coaches. That leaves fans with one simple question: Is Doc Rivers the guy to coach this team to an NBA championship? The supporters could make a strong case by saying that his player’s coach personality will mesh well with hungry veteran’s, he will be able to let the players freestyle and not have to worry so much about drawing up plays, and they could say that he has never had a group as talented or experienced as this one. The naysayers (meaning the average Celtics fan) could make a case just as strong, if not stronger, by saying that Doc may overplay the trio (especially with this paper-thin bench), wearing them out. They may say that his late-game decisions are still there and that he won’t give construct proper game plans. This is clearly a better basketball team, but it’s still the same coach. Will Doc Rivers really coach this team to a title? If not this year, does he get a longer leash? If so, how long? My personal stance is that if this team does not make the NBA Finals this season, Doc Rivers should be fired. There is no excuse for this current roster to fail to come out of the Eastern Conference in 2008. They will need time to mesh, but if Shaquille O’Neal, Gary Payton, and Antoine Walker can put their ego’s aside to win a title in year one, why can’t a ego-free and unselfish trio of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce? Many believe that defensive specialist Tom Thibodeau is an NBA head coach in the making, and one could theorize that he was only signed to a one-year assistant coaching deal with a plan in place to replace Doc Rivers as head coach after this season. Calling that theory far fetched is not blasphemy, but calling it a possibility isn’t either. It’s impossible to read the mind of Danny Ainge, but it will be interesting to see what his intentions are with coach Rivers. If this team does not make the 2008 NBA Finals, and Doc Rivers is still coaching this team by 2008-2009 training camp, I will not be a happy camper, nor will I be alone. Will Danny Ainge man up and put their friendship past him for the betterment of the team, or will Doc be handed extra leverage once again? Ainge may have saved his job by making big moves this summer, but the length of Doc’s leash remains to be seen. No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin. Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
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August 22nd, 2007 at 8:58 am
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