If anyone wants to know how Doc is earning his paycheck, look no further than how he's managing his players egos and expectations. From Bulpett's article today:
"Well, I’m not going to try to keep it down as far as outside of us because I can’t control that," he said. "But inside of us, we know that Detroit’s won a title, Cleveland’s been to the Finals, San Antonio’s won a title and we’ve done nothing. And that is something I will never stop telling this team because the day we start thinking about it and thinking we’re all set is the day we’ll be in trouble."
"I love how we are as a team," [Garnett] said. "I love how we mesh. I love how a (expletive) can crack a joke on me and I can crack a joke on him. When I tell somebody something, it’s not like I’m trying to (knock) him. When they tell me something, it’s not like they’re not respecting me. Ain’t none of that. Man, we’ve got a really, really, really rare group of guys, and it starts with Doc. He laid that down from Day 1."
I was pretty hard on Doc last year (though not as hard as many) but one thing I made clear was that nothing would make me happier than to watch him turn it around. He's done that and then some.
Sure the team under him got a whole lot better in the offseason, but you can't deny Doc deserves some of the credit.
He has done a pretty good job at managing the rotation by keeping minutes down for the big three and getting the most out of the reserves. But most of all he's done a great job at motivating the team to play together as a team and even a family.
You could even make the case that he's putting them in a good position to win with his decisions. He certainly hasn't cost the team any games and all those huge 3rd quarters have to have something to do with halftime adjustments. Beating good teams the second time around takes making adjustments as well.
The real test will come in the playoffs, but so far so good with Doc Rivers. He's a great fit for what this team needs right now.