Doc Decision Coming This Summer

Honestly,if Doc had an ounce of dignity, he wouldn’t even attempt to come back next year.

If by some miracle Danny and Wyc resign Doc, the first priority should be to bring in a defensive coach ala Dick Harter to coach this team so defensive schemes, rather than the pick up game switch on every pick tactic that Doc employs.

Adelman and Stan Van Gundy are guys that I think could really help this team out. Especially Adelman if he was to bring that asst coach he had at the Kings that employs the Princeton offensive (his name escapes me)

Doc is probably Danny’s worst move, but you can understand that Danny would want a former player of his era to be this teams coach, kind of makes sense.

Add to the fact that Doc has a coach of the yr award (thanks to T-mac)

Just say no to Rivers

Fire Doc.

Apparently the word from within the team is that Doc will get a one-year extension. This article, coupled with Bulpett’s comments posted below, reminds me that Shira Springer may be the only local Celtics reporter who hasn’t played the role of team shill for Doc.

   I love reading all the rants from peeps about Doc. All of whom obviously are better talent evaluators then Doc. I mean , what has Doc ever done? Played on a high quality college team, then played in the NBA for many years as a Point Guard? Been an All-Star player? Coached another team and won Coach of the Year in the NBA ? Sat in a booth on national television where his job was to analyze the league’s players and relate that information on to the viewers ? Of course he knows nada. And the peeps here are assuredly better talent evaluators.

  Oh, BTW, we as peeps here, have no way of knowing what mandates were placed upon his coaching by either Danny or ownership.

I like what Rida says, “Just say no to Doc”. But “Fire Doc” has a good
ring to it.

ditto to Hobbs on Doc. I wonder to what extent DA and Wyc’s thinking is driven by the other available candidates out there and their assesment of the team’s needs in what is shaping up to be a transitionary (i.e taking the next step up) couple of years.

I am intrigued by Iavaroni and wuld be interested to hear others thoughts. He apparently is the defensive coach for the Suns though I am not sure that that is what would recommend him ;) Also wonder if ownership is willing to pay Iavaroni who seems to be a hot commodity or if in fact his price would be higher than an Adelman with or without Karil (sp?)

You have to give Doc another season, the 1-year extension is the perfect answer. That way he is not a lame duck, but if management decides later in the season or next offseason to fire him then it will not cost much. Doc is not that bad of a coach,I live in Orlando so I am very familiar with him. He was dealt a bad hand this season with the youth and injuries. Give him a season with a little bit more experienced team and see what he does. The young guys all seem to like him and we seem to be headed in the right direction. No big trades this off season and no coaching change.

Do we forget that the only reason Big Al has developed so quickly into a scoring and rebounding machine may be due to the hiring of Clifford Ray and not to anything that Doc had done on his behalf. The main reason why some players have suddenly gotten into another gear in their development has been the injuries to the core players. If some of our core players had not gotten injured, I believe Doc would have continued playing the core playesr most of the time and neither Rondo nor GG would have had enough playing time to improve to the level as they have.
Whatever improvement our players have had are due to Doc being forced to use them cause we’ve seen him enough to know that he has a one track mind with respect to who plays and who doesnt play. Injuries and Clifford Ray are the main and principal reasons why our team has improved noticeably; not Doc’s knowledge is dealing with our “Youts”.

Lets get a coach that will grow accostumed to our players and can lead them intelligently. I dont understand the theory that Doc should be allowed to continue developing our youts and then bring another coach to take us to Pennant 17. I dont understand this theory, unless its an invention of us posters and the Top Brass has not announced that such is the course of action to be taken.

Our Youts have developed in spite of Doc, so please lets stop the wishful thinking and accept what most of us have realized for a long time now: We are wasting valuable time with a lame duck coach.

Well it’s simple. If they extend Rivers, even for one second, it means they want to keep losing. I, for one, will vote with my feet if Rivers is here next year. And don’t say I didn’t tell you when the team is 9-15 in December and everyone starts wondering what went wrong this time.

It’s a typical “gut” reaction to pick on the guy doing the dirty work…in this case Doc. The fact is, we really don’t know how good a coach he can be given the “horses” to run the race.

I have been as critical as most of the bloggers here about the apparent dumb way this team has been managed. I have also been very critical of Doc’s assistant coaches. After all, Doc is not an “island” as the only teacher on the staff. There is little doubt in my mind that other coaches may have been more successful here than Doc.

What we won’t ever know or appreciate, however, is the way Doc has preserved the players dignity and thirst to learn and win in the face of so much underachievement. To know the ceiling one must first understand the DEPTH of the cellar. This team has known both and now seems committed (after so much turmoil) to take the next step.

A case in point is Allan Ray. Until given recent PT he was an after-thought and because he has met the challenge, he’s become a curiosity. He appears to have out-played Telfair and as he gains more PT, he seems to belong to the NBA. Was Doc smart to have brought him along slowly, benched him when Allan’s shot and confidence were failing, sent him to the DL to gain confidence and then open another opportunity for him to succeed? Have we under-appeciated Doc’s method of developing young talent. Why do the players love him in the face of so much adversity.

I like the idea of giving Doc the benefit of a short extension to prove his merit now that our youth is beginning to prove that they too belong.

Well, we know how good a coach he is. We’ve been watching him coach for three years. He sucks. Nice guy. Can’t coach.

As for how good he can be, let some other team conduct that experiment.

No extension. Don’t even think about it. But let him coach the team next year if the Celtics finish this year with their heads high. The Dallas game was perfect example of what I mean. There is an unusual esprit de corps with this team and Doc gets some credit for that. Doc can’t play defense on the court. The players win and the players lose. Phil Jackson would lose with this team. And anybody would want to coach them next year.

While we focus on Doc’s management of our youth, let’s not forget that he held the line on Pierce, to his own peril, for the good of the team. He kept insisting that the players must TRUST one another but the real message was to Pierce who had a tendency to forget the other players. It was Pierce charging “courageously” but stupidly into triple coverage for yet another TO. It was Doc that pleaded for ball movement INSTEAD of one-on-one play.

It was Doc who PRAISED the number of assists even in defeat. His message was subtle but somewhere along the way Pierce bought in and the team started to gel…especially in Pierce’s absence when we were without a one-on-one player. From the bench Pierce saw the advantage of ball and player movement as a way of getting open looks.

Doc’s “way” would not be my way and likely not that of 98% of the blogger’s on this board. If he has greatness he certainly won’t achieve it by following the “masses”. We represent the majority but our way may be a well intentioned path of mediocrity. Doc may be less than us or he may be the leader that none of us are.

Since he took the heat to play the hand dealt to him, despite severe criticism from the likes of us, sympathy from other coaches instead of condemnation, his courage deserves the chance to prove us wrong. Here’s hoping that we are wrong!

…no extension, its show-me time….

…I really hate Doc’s “smallball” approach to end-of-games situtaions….one year extension its fine but we’ll probably miss on RAlderman if that’s the case.

Coco pleads for no extension, it’s show me time….Management wants us to play hard yet keep our draft position…What does one do to please all?

Now place youself in Doc’s shoes….do you win now and lose our draft position….the courageous choice…. or do you take another hit “on-the-chin” for the sake of the Celtic’s future?

Of one thing you can be sure, whatever Doc decides it will surely be criticized by most of us. Should Pierce “protect” his coach by shutting-down and take that “suicide choice” out of Doc’s hands?

How many of you now want to be in Doc’s shoes?

Don’ get me wrong, i think this should be Doc’s last season here. Personally, i’d love to see Rick Adelman, or Stan Van Jeremy. But at the same time, i don’t understand why people refuse to accept that Doc has some positive qualities, as well as negative ones. I don’t understand people saying the youth have developed in spite of Doc – it’s hard to keep players playing hard, when your team is losing game after game.

He’s not a good coach, and we deserve better. But he’s not costing us as many games as, say, the poor make-up of the team is.

I admit that Doc has some good qualities, but coaching is not one of them and we need someone who can coach. Fire Doc.

its time to right the ship. 1)fire doc 2)draft durant 3)trade away G.Green, Delonte etc. (Anyone but Al, Rondo, Pierce) for an impact player 4)bring back jim obrien

Your never going to get a well regarded coach if you fire doc at the all-star break. You’ll simply have to have an assistant coach fill in until the off-season. If we get a top 2 pick combined with our current level of talent we won’t have any trouble finding a new coach. As for those of you who ask if I would want to be in Doc’s shoes right now my answer is hell yes! I’ll take 3 million a year to poorly manage a game any day of the week. We don’t owe a thing to doc for coaching us during a rebuilding period, that’s what we pay him for. If he had been such a good coach we wouldn’t be leading the nba in games lost by less than 3 pts the last 3 years.

How can anyone know for sure if Doc can be a good coach with a good team? What was his record with other teams before we got him? If he has only coached bad teams, Why is that? Nobody has been willing to let him coach a good team with good players? Why is that? Makes you wonder? I think the final answer is in his W-L record and for the decisions he is critiziced for all the time. Something stinks in the state of Denmark, so there must be a reason for it. It is called Doc Rivers. I think we are ready to let him dazzle other teams with his intellect or baffle them with his incompetence. Choose your poison. And Danny better get his act together or he will follow suit. You can only stretch a rubber band so far. Peace.

   I’m not sure that I am qualified to determine Doc’s ability, but I do know that losing attitudes need a catalyst for change, and in team sports, its usually the coach. Coming in with a new top draft choice and a new coach with a new philosophy and attitude is a very logical and necessary thing to do. especially in this situation where every significant player on this team has never played anywhere else, and at least 6 have only played for Doc.

I’d like to see some of these Doc bashers get the opportunity to coach the Celts next year so we can see if they know what their talking about. Oh yea, don’t forget to have major injuries and a lot of youth so that it’s a fair comparison.

 Most of the players like Doc, but few have played for a real coach. To say he has earned anything, but the door at the end of the year is absurd. Injuries and playing time are what helped our young players. Doc’s trying to take credit makes me laugh! If we are to improve to a contender why should we wait another year with a pretender. Nice Guy! BAD BAD COACH!!!!

please, we donot need doc. we have had enough of him. of course, he has added some very important things to this team and these players, but he is mediocre at best.
he will always count for something good if he is canned at the end of the season. if he is retained, more of the same- terrible in game decisions, terrible time outs or lack of, small ball, and i don’t care what he said to pierce 2 years ago, i am tired of watching the players waiting for paul to dribble around and take his shot while they twiddle their thumbs. and they play crap defense. and they need more cuts to the basket and pick and rolls.

Whether or not we bloggers could do a better job of coaching the Celtics than Doc in no way disqualifies or prevents us from criticizing him. If that were the case, then no citizen could criticize the President, no reader of novels could criticize the novelist etc etc