Doc: "Pick" is a 4 Letter Word

I’m in agreement that as Coach, it’s the proper message to convey. Problem is, why did it come so late? The C’s have been relagated to or near the worst record in the league for quite some time prior to him making the statement. Like many in-game decisions and personel moves, you’ve got to again question Doc’s poor timing.

hagrid said:
  “I’m in agreement that as Coach, it’s the proper message to convey. Problem is, why did it come so late? The C’s have been relagated to or near the worst record in the league for quite some time prior to him making the statement. Like many in-game decisions and personel moves, you’ve got to again question Doc’s poor timing.”
————————————————————————————————-
Doc may not have uttered the four letter word before, that we know of, but his message since the start of training camp has been to win games. There is nothing wrong with his timing. Also his game decisions and personnel moves have been more about inconsistency in his players, which you would expect with this roster. Things seem to be turning around the last four games and when this team does execute as directed Doc’s questionable decisions are no longer questionable. He has been making good decisions. The players haven’t cooperated. This is no one’s fault. It is a PROCESS.

 >:( I can’t say that I agree with Coach. I understand that he needs to get the C’s fired up to put their uniforms on, but, as I stare at the Lotto Watch (Chances of getting one of the top 2 picks is 38.9%) I can’t help but wonder where this was at the beginning of the season. And really, would you rather lose with the C’s, or be a Seattle fan, perpetually stuck in mediocrity with Johan Petro and Ray Allen fighting for loose balls? Sometimes you need to break something completely in order to fix it and when I hear Doc cussing the pick (PLEAAASE Fates, don’t take him seriously, he was only kidding!), you have to wonder where this organization is going where they can’t figure out how to tank correctly?

I understand that in this age of coaching, tomorrow is not promised. In my opinion, we should not even have gotten this far. Rivers has not coached the Celtics well and needs to be replaced with a more capable coach.

I went back and looked at the last 25 drafts. In 12 of those 25 drafts, the #1 or #2 pick was NOT the best player in the draft.

1. picks have been particularly cursed: only two #2 picks turned out to be best players, and those were weak years (Gary Payton in 1990 and Jason Kidd in 1994).

Here are some HOF/all-star caliber players who were passed over for the top two spots: Dominique Wilkins (1982, #3), Clyde Drexler (1983,#14), Michael Jordan (1984, #3), Tim Hardaway (1989, #14), Kevin Garnett (1995, #5), Kobe Bryant (1996, #13), Steve Nash (1996, #16), Tracy McGrady (1997, #9), Dirk Nowitski (1998, #9, with Paul Pierce right behind him), Andrei Kirilenko (1999, #24), Michael Redd (2000, #43), Paul Gasol (2001, #3),Amare Stoudamire (2002, #9), Chris Bosh (2003, #4), Dwayne Wade (2003, #5)), Chris Paul (2005, #4).

Each draft is unique, and Oden and Durant may indeed be the best players in this draft. But it wouldn’t suprise me in the least if they were not. Julian Wright (just to name one) is going to be very, very good.

One thing that jumps out at you when looking at draft history is that international players are consistently undervalued. There is a clear bias towards “athletic” American players. Some international speepers include Arvydas Sabonis (1986, #25, and arguably the best player in the entire draft that year), Drazen Petrovic (1986, #59), Vlade Divac (1989, #26), Tony Kukoc (1990 #29), Nowitzki, Kirilenko, Tony Parker (2001, #28), Mehmet Okur (2001, #38)and Boris Diaw (2003, #21).

They say the international class is weak this year, but if Splitter slides into the teens or Belinelli slides into the second round they will be absolute steals. Then there is Marko Tomas, who shoots the ball like Korver or Kapono but is a better slasher than either of them. I won’t comment on Yi JianLian because I’ve never seen him.

So if history is any indication, Rivers is right. Win the games, let Ainge worry about the pick. But I also agree with hagrid: why wasn’t this message delivered 35 games ago?

brick:
again!
we are in concurrence

Things seem to be turning around the last four games and when this team does execute as directed Doc’s questionable decisions are no longer questionable

With all due respect truegreen, if you’re going to use 4 games to excuse Doc’s poor coaching over the entire season, then there’s really no way to argue with you. I can take an inappropriate sample size and prove any theory I want too. It doesn’t mean the theory is correct though.

If the “message has been there since the start of training camp”, then both this team and particularly Doc have a hell of a way of showing it. If it’s been there all season, why is the first real public reinforcement by the coach only coming out now?

It never should have ever gotten to the point of him having to say “**** the pick”.

Let me add that, from a historical perspective, there has only been one year in the past 25 years in which the TWO best players were taken #1 and #2. That year was 1992, when the two top picks were Shaq and Zo.

I suppose 1986 might have been another, but we’ll never know, since Len Bias died. Also, Arvydas Sabonis was arguably a better player than Brad Daugherty, who was taken #1.

So if history is any guide, if Oden and Durant are taken with the first two picks, one of those picks is very likely to be a mistake.

Good for Doc. It’s exactly what he should be doing right now. Keeping the youngin’s spirits up and building an atmosphere is winning is much more important than betting everything on Papa’s Moustache in the fourth.

As far as needing a new coach: I’m not 100% positive Doc can’t make this team better than it is now, although I’m fairly sure he’s not going to get them to playoff or conference contention. Just give him a healthy troupe for a month or two before bringing out the firing squad, that’s all I’m saying.

Btw – Jeff, you have a bug on your site I’ve noticed a few times now. I get someone else’s handle in the Name field when I go to write a comment (presumably, the handle of someone else posting at the same time). I think it might have something to do with anonymous users. Get in touch if you need more info about it.

“It’s exactly what he should be doing right now. Keeping the youngin’s spirits up and building an atmosphere is winning is much more important than betting everything on Papa’s Moustache in the fourth.”

^of winning, not “is winning”. Man I wish I could edit comments.

Doc has had his shot to show that he can coach and he hasn’t showed anything. The zone still mystifies this team. Tony Brown actually said they need more practice. It’s March! That sort of stuff should be worked out in training camp. They came out of training camp looking totally unprepared. Injuries or not, losing 18 in a row is inexcusable. Doc has struggled with many different rosters so I can’t point to the players. He would make a 40 win team a 50 win team. I say fire away. He’s a great character guy but he gives us no edge at the coaching spot.

This years draft is a deep one and I’m sure the celtics will make out alright if they’re in the top 5. There are great international prospects that might be considered #1 prospects if they played college ball here.

If Doc is now saying **** the pick, does that mean they were playing FOR the pick before that?

what does doc care about the pick….. not like he will be coaching whoever we draft

Note: Philly and the Bucs have a 4 game lead on us for third pick, we currently are second. So we have some wiggle room to play some good ball..

Win the games, let Ainge worry about the pick". amen.

Players like kokoc and sabonis were later picks not because they’re undervalued as players but becaus eof a huge uncertainty of whether they would play in the NBA or not. Sabonis was drafted in 85 and made his debut in 1994!!!

You forgot to mention the #40 pick: Dino Radja in undervalued europeans!

Get a life Brick..

sheesh..

Good points :)

No (expletive) you Doc.This guy is such an idiot. I’m not saying he advocate tanking, but come on Doc, your job is on the line here. Where was all this urgency when we started 1-6. Idiot..

hagrid, I’m not using these last 4 games “to excuse Doc’s poor coaching over the entire season”. I’ve been say all season that Doc IS a good coach, but hasn’t really had the chance to be a “coach” because his players couldn’t execute on the floor and that he’s been more busy teaching remedial basketball to a high number of young, inexperienced players (four of whom came straight from high school). He’s had a team that has been together one year and has had injuries galore. I think Doc is a good coach. For those he think he isn’t I think it’s premature to make such a judgement.

JHTruth said:
  “No (expletive) you Doc.This guy is such an idiot. I’m not saying he advocate tanking, but come on Doc, your job is on the line here. Where was all this urgency when we started 1-6. Idiot..”
————————————————————————————————-
I really don’t think Doc needs this job. Before he took it he had 3 or four years left for Orlando to pay him, he was doing t.v. work a few days a week and playing golf at home the rest of the time. He didn’t go to Danny and beg for the job. Danny came to him and spent a day convincing him to take it. If Doc were fired today it might be a blow to his ego, but I’m sure a few days of golf would cure that. Jim O’Brien resigned under a much better situation than Doc has now. Doc was handed a team that wasn’t ready to compete. Since he’s been here and throughout this whole season he hasn’t stopped teaching. Even when they won that last game he wasn’t happy with the win because so many mistakes were made. Instead of jumping in the air after the game he was talking to Ryan Gomes about Gome’s failure to foul Hudson before he hit that three in regulation. Do you think Phil Jackson would do any better here. Jackson would never take on a team like this. Last year Larry Brown had better players and his team was lousy. And Brown is regarded as one of the best coaches in the league.