Is Doc really interested anymore?

by Ogaju on Feb 12, 2012 1:49 PM EST

A few weeks I captioned a post 'Blow it up, but start with Doc', that post was not received well by the readers, but a few weeks gone by has shed some more light on the Doc issue. There is now a building constituency of readers that are starting to question Doc's coaching, from the overall strategy, player development, player confidence, and use of his bench.

The events of the past week did not help those that have defended Doc. There is no answer to the charge that he rides Rondo and the big three, and only goes to other players when forced to by injury or foul trouble.

The fact is the Celtics can bring in as many star players as mopney can buy, but it will not make a difference if these star players are not hungry veterans like Allen, Garnett, and Pierce. The combination of the Celtic's Big 3 was a perfect storm of veterans who were hungry for a ring, and who did not need any personal accolades at that point in their careers. If we get a bunch of young stars like D12 and Deron Williams they may not have the level of success that our Big 3 had with Doc. We would still need a better coach to get them to the title.

Another Doc problem that is not mentioned is player personnel, why does he sit back and allow his players to be cast away by management. Where was he when Perk was traded, when TA was let go, etc. Perhaps Doc should have been given his wish and allowed to leave a couple of years ago.He just does not seem interested anymore. Danny Ainge of all people should understand that coaching a championship requires tremendous sacrifices, and is rarely achieved by cutting corners. When a coach says he wants to leave because he has confliciting interests, the Celtics should have probably let him go.

There is no need for Doc to get upset with his team in post-game pressers, because the best way to get the veterans' attention is to bench them and put in the bench, but you cant do that unless you have put in the time to coach up the bench.

Be respectful and keep it clean. Thanks.

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OMG, was this post really necessary when we have another "Doc must go" fan post already done today?

Piertrus said his chief reasons for coming to Boston were KG and Doc Rivers. Shaq said Doc is the best coach in the league and one of the best he ever played for. Players in this league love Doc and want to play or him.

And when Doc said he had conflicting interests, it had to do with coaching and spending time with his family. It had nothing to do with management. Have you seriously never felt the same thing with your job and family?

And what does Doc have to do with personnel moves? He’s the coach, not GM. He can give his opinion, but it is Danny Ainge who makes those decisions. How do you not know this?

I love the Celtics. I love the players. And I love talking about them. But I’m getting pretty sick to death of their fans. How can the most stories franchise in the league have spurned such a large group of cry babies who can’t take a loss without crying “Blow it up!”.

by KY Celts fan on Feb 12, 2012 2:04 PM EST via mobile reply actions

BRAVO..

hey ky..I couldn’t have said it better myself!!

by seze70 on Feb 12, 2012 7:18 PM EST up reply actions

A true fan.

It seems that the celtics blogs have been devoid of TRUE fans. It is inspiring to see that there are still true fans out there. I am absolutely disgusted with the lack of faith that some of our “fans” are showing.
Doc is an amazing coach. He knows how to get his players to play hard every single night, and when they don’t, he benches them.
This user is obviously oblivious as to how the NBA works in terms of hierarchy of team management.

by Thecapedcrusader15 on Feb 12, 2012 8:23 PM EST up reply actions

I know how management works

a strong coach will stand for his players with mgt.

by Ogaju on Feb 12, 2012 11:42 PM EST up reply actions

He may stand with them, but it is still DA's decision.

It’s not a “you jump, I jump” situation. Doc is not going to quit his job with the Celtics over Tony Allen.

by KY Celts fan on Feb 13, 2012 12:16 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

We need a strong coach

maybe its not such a great thing for players to love the coach. Do we know why they love him so much? Does he allow them to slide. You are right work does take up a lot of time and we all wish we could spend more time at home. The question is whether Doc is putting in the time to develop our young players. He is paid quite handsomely to get the job done, I just dont see him doing this.

by Ogaju on Feb 12, 2012 2:10 PM EST reply actions

good god there is so much wrong with this post

lets start with the title: yes doc is interested. he wants to win just as bad as you or me. moving on…

“there is no answer to the charge that he rides rondo and the big 3” i think its safe to say every coach in the nba “rides” their best players. a coach is only as good as the players he has on the floor.

the we need hungry veterans thing: i think docs biggest strength is his ability to motivate his players. against the heat in the 2nd game of the season the commentators said he should rest his veterans and not try to win the game and instead he rallied the troops and got the team to within a point. also during the 18 game losing streak when everyone was injured he consistently got the young guys to give effort every single night even though they didnt have a chance most games.

its not a doc problem when danny trades players you like. docs the coach, hes supposed to worry about winning that night and danny is supposed to worry about putting us in the best position long term.

by rm81 on Feb 12, 2012 2:46 PM EST reply actions