Empowerment 101

O'Brien was universally respected by the players, and that worked for him and I think that Ainge honestly saw real value in that. However, it seems that O'Brien was old school and Ainge always wanted new school. So far, so good. Doc has the respect of the players, as well as (perhaps) a better teaching relationship with a much younger group than O'Brien ever had.

I'm also pleased to hear about how vocal Gary, Paul, and even Ricky Davis are being instructing the younger players during practices and the scrimmage. I found this interesting as well:

``We'll have a practice at some point where Paul (Pierce) and Ricky (Davis) have to teach,'' he said. ``They'll have to teach the guards how to get open. I told Paul he's going to have to script the whole thing and do it. I've always done that because I think it teaches you more than the other guys. Like (Friday) the rookies taught the inbounds play. We brought them in early, we taught them the inbounds play first and then they showed the vets. It was great. They didn't mess up, which we had bets on. So it's good for them and it's good for us and it's good for the team.''

It’s an important and empowering step to put the vets in positions of influence. It gives them more pride and purpose to their jobs. It also adds credibility to the things being taught because its coming from players that have been there and found success doing them. Even the rookies get a taste of what its like to teach. Great concept.

Finally, if the players in Orlando really did tune out Doc after a while, he would be smart to support this delegation of authority, so that his captains and vets can keep the rest in line. The key ingredient to all of this is Doc's relationship with Paul, Gary, and the other vets. Keep them on the same page, and the rest will flow.

Somehow, I think if Doc can get this ensemble of young, old, quiet, loud, conservative, aggressive, and everything in between players to gel and win, he might have to make room for another Coach of the Year trophy.