Doc Upset At Unacceptable Lack Of Execution

by Jeff Clark on Feb 11, 2012 7:39 AM EST in Boston Celtics News & Links

Doc's tirade was completely understandable. I'm sure many of us have wanted to yell some sense into these guys from time to time.

Celts done in by bad Rap - BostonHerald.com

So sure, you could say Rivers was — and still is — ticked off. "Awful," he said, just starting to build steam. "I was really frustrated with our execution. We couldn’t run a play out of a timeout. That’s focus, or something. We have to fix that, because we’ve been playing too well to go back down this road again. We’ve worked out all of our kinks, and then in the last couple of games it’s come back out of nowhere. It’s part of coaching. It shouldn’t be, but you just have to keep finding the right button. "And it’s everybody. Everybody keeps getting frustrated with each other. Two guys knew the play, one guy didn’t, and it drains energy. Not being a professional drains energy. Being a professional is knowing every set you run, knowing your rotations. Because it’s draining for the pros who know, who do the work. "I’ll use Mickael Pietrus as an example. He’s been here the least amount of time, and he knows every single rotation and every single set because he’s a pro. It’s just unacceptable."

Whoever it was that missed the play (Chris Wilcox and JaJuan Johnson are mentioned in the article as getting the bulk of his timeout tirade) should be benched until they can demonstrate that they know all the plays.

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Comments

you know what unacceptable doc ??

you still keep on playing your starters even if they are ineffective. Why cant you give the rookies more PT instead of the ineffective starters. Give them a chance to play in order for them to handle pressure in crunch time and to learn more of the system. I jst don’t get it why u still have problems giving the rooks some more PT.

by reb0undwins18 on Feb 11, 2012 8:49 AM EST reply actions

"why can't you give the rookies more play time instead of the ineffective starters"

Because of the exact reasons listed in the article. If they don’t know the plays, they can’t be on the court.

by KY Celts fan on Feb 11, 2012 11:23 AM EST via mobile up reply actions

I’d say next time we show no effort from the beginning bench the starters and give em the night off. The worst that happens is we lose 1 game.
I think still think we’ll be OK – we’ll get to the play-offs and see how it goes from there.
Though it makes me wonder whether whoever didn’t know his stuff is going to ask Mickael Pietrus for some help with his homework.

by SparkyJ23 on Feb 11, 2012 9:05 AM EST reply actions

Kevin McHale on Jim Rome yesterday

Kevin McHale told the Jungle the key to success in the NBA & life: "you’ve got to outwork your talent."

by bbeingphilled on Feb 11, 2012 9:43 AM EST via mobile reply actions

Sounds like it was clearly just one guy and you know if it was a rook--

Doc would have said something different and used a different example. Sounds like most of the starters were flat but Doc took it out on Wilcox.

by clover on Feb 11, 2012 10:43 AM EST reply actions

I can't see Doc blowing up over a rookie and a reserve ...

If that, in fact, is what he did, I think the issue is something deeper, like him being angry with the starters but not wanting to show them up. Because normally if he’s angry at a bench player for playing bad, he just yanks the guy from the game and leaves him there for a good long while, without ever showing any emotion about it.

Now I can certainly see some of the new guys, like Johnson and Wilcox, not yet knowing all the rotations and sets, since Doc is known for having a playbook the size of War and Peace, but I also think you can’t expect guys to know the playbook thoroughly without getting plenty of hands-on experience—we all know how little Johnson’s played, and even Wilcox hasn’t played as much as many of us thought he would, even when healthy.

There are certainly issues with the bench, but I think the major problems lie more with Doc and the starters. The starters played a ton of minutes in the Lakers game, so what happened to Doc’s plan of resting them on the second half of a back-to-back after such heavy playing time? As for those starters, it’s not the bench’s fault that JO grabs so few rebounds, or that KG doesn’t play aggressive offense, or that Rondo can’t shoot outside of 10 feet.

by rocknrollforyoursoul on Feb 11, 2012 3:00 PM EST reply actions