How is it that Doc Rivers came to be well-regarded as a coach?

[masonanddixon]

When he was on the Celtics he was widely viewed as the weakest link to an already-built, made-to-win squad.

Is he receiving some form of coaching affirmative action?

Because as coach of the Clippers he has not improved upon Del negro's work despite having more talent this past season and the West being much weaker than in past seasons.

[Milbuck]

the West being much weaker than in past seasons.
:whatever:

[masonanddixon]

:whatever:

OKC was at 40% strength last season, Denver had injuries, Dallas was geriatric, and all the other teams were just decent.

[Orlando Magic]

Doc was one of the shittiest coaches in the league during Orlando.

He is a motivational coach... that I'll give him. He's pretty good at that and can get the players respect him and typically give a great amount of effort.

However...

In terms of offensive & defensive strategy... X's & O's... he's ****ing terrible.

[navy]

Doc has been with the Clippers for one year and got their best record even with CP3s shoulder injury and they would have beaten the Thunder if not for a choke and ref job out of Doc's control.

[SupermanOnSteroids]

his teams usually run the most complicated sets out of any other team out there. he's also a good manager and a good motivator.

[Pushxx]

As a Celtics fan, I can give you a scouting report on Doc:

Strengths
His players respect him.
He's a good strategist.
He coaches defense well.
His teams execute well.
He keeps his composure during pressure.
His after time-out plays are drawn-up well (except for end of 4th quarter).

Weaknesses
He's below average at adjusting rotations before or during games.
His half-court offensive sets aren't very fluid or varied.
He doesn't coach or stress rebounding enough.
His last play of the game plays are horrid.

[no pun intended]

He's a product of Thibs.

[kennethgriffin]

hes just a motivational speaker. he does no actual coaching. his career before getting rondo/ray/pierce/garnett/perk in one lineup was shit. and after he had that his career has been shit


i could coach that starting lineup to the finals too... i already know what doc says

"MOVE THE BALL! YOU GOTTA BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!"



" BE A TEAM OUT THERE!"



"MOVE THE BALL!"



lol

[KBaller33]

He's a product of Thibs.

Isn't it the other way around?

[no pun intended]

Isn't it the other way around?
It was Thibs' doing that the Celtics became such a potent defensive force. It's not coincidental that the Clippers under Doc Rivers have been suffering on the defensive end without Thibs by his side.

[Mr. Jabbar]

reverse racism

[masonanddixon]

reverse racism

Thats what I am thinking. Clippers barely got past a team missing its starting center and needed some serious ref intervention at that.

[qrich]

He hasn't improved the Clippers since Del Negro?

Really?



You expect me to take this seriously after such an idiotic comment?



Jordan took the leap and finished 3rd in DPoY, wouldn't have occurred under Del Negro. Blake took a big step when Chris got injured, likely wouldn't have happened under Del Negro.

In fact, he took a roster that missed Chris for 20+ games, missed Reddick for more, had Jared Dudley have an anomaly of a season with Barnes starting, and started with a backup rotation of Antawn Jamison/Ryan Hollins/Byron Mullens before adding Hidayet Turkoglu and Glenn Davis.

Imagine the Clippers having Reggie Evans behind the bigs, and adding Kenyon Martin later on in the season, would have been even better.


Didn't make a difference over Del Negro :facepalm

[masonanddixon]

He hasn't improved the Clippers since Del Negro?

Really?



You expect me to take this seriously after such an idiotic comment?



Jordan took the leap and finished 3rd in DPoY, wouldn't have occurred under Del Negro. Blake took a big step when Chris got injured, likely wouldn't have happened under Del Negro.

In fact, he took a roster that missed Chris for 20+ games, missed Reddick for more, had Jared Dudley have an anomaly of a season with Barnes starting, and started with a backup rotation of Antawn Jamison/Ryan Hollins/Byron Mullens before adding Hidayet Turkoglu and Glenn Davis.

Imagine the Clippers having Reggie Evans behind the bigs, and adding Kenyon Martin later on in the season, would have been even better.


Didn't make a difference over Del Negro :facepalm

Every other team had just as many injuries and in the end the Clippers BARELY beat a Warriors team missing its center and 2nd most important player.

[qrich]

Every other team had just as many injuries and in the end the Clippers BARELY beat a Warriors team missing its center and 2nd most important player.

What other top team had their starting backcourt miss 67 games?

They won the series, which is the bottom line.


You are quite lacking when it comes to basketball knowledge if you really believe that the Clippers didn't improve from Del Negro to Rivers. Really idiotic statement in itself.

[masonanddixon]

Thunder had Westbrook missing quite a few games.

Mavs had an assortment of injuries throughout the season

Grizzlies had Gasol missing like 40 games and Conley missed about 10.

Warriors had injuries as always.

Clippers realistically would have been in the 4-5 spot if all teams were healthy.

That said, barely beating a 6 seed in the first round is not impressive, and then losing to a struggling team in the conf semis is even less impressive.

[qrich]

Yeah, you really do lack a single iota of basketball knowledge.

4th-5th seed if all teams were healthy :roll:

You do realize that equates to Paul and JJ being healthy all year, and Dudley not having an anomaly of a year, playing through an injury, as well, right?

But what can you say to someone who thinks Del Negro is on the level of Rivers.

[masonanddixon]

Yeah, you really do lack a single iota of basketball knowledge.

4th-5th seed if all teams were healthy :roll:

You do realize that equates to Paul and JJ being healthy all year, and Dudley not having an anomaly of a year, playing through an injury, as well, right?

But what can you say to someone who thinks Del Negro is on the level of Rivers.

I guess Marco Gasol missing nearly the entire season, not to mention several other Grizzlies players means nothing to you.

And in the end, all it resulted in was BARELY making the 2nd round by beating an injured squad.

So basically Doc Rivers led your squad to where del Negro got your team with lesser talent and against tougher competition.

[wally_world]

reverse racism

This.

But he does have that tough edge, sorta like what Riley brought to the 90s Knicks. He's definitely more of an emotional/motivational leader kinda coach.

[miggyme1]

I guess Marco Gasol missing nearly the entire season, not to mention several other Grizzlies players means nothing to you.

And in the end, all it resulted in was BARELY making the 2nd round by beating an injured squad.

So basically Doc Rivers led your squad to where del Negro got your team with lesser talent and against tougher competition.

wtf are u talking bout?

clipps got eliminated in the first round in 2013 to the grizz. they beat the grizz in seven games in 12 then got SWEPT by the spurs in the second round...that spurs team eventually would lose 4 str8 to the thunder in the wcf.....

doc did a good job..it was just his first season in la...was u expecting him to go all the way to the finals his first year?:facepalm

all this talk about injuries....who cares...westbrook got injured in the first round last year and the thunder still beat the rockets.

the warriors are a better team when they go small anyway..it was proven in the 2013 playoffs when they beat the nuggets without david lee or bogut....GOODNIGHT

[ImKobe]

He got a good reputation off that 2008 Playoff run with a stacked Celtics team (that ACTUALLY underachieved even that season, with two game 7s in the 1st 2 rounds), that core should have won more than 1 ring, they dropped the ball in 2012 when they were up 3 - 2 on Miami.

Rivers had Brandon Bass guarding Lebron CLOSE UP on the perimeter in a freaking Game 7, yes, Brandon got torched.

horrible at in-game adjustments. If his game plan doesn't work, team is screwed because he can't counter for shit. Thibs was the real genius behind the Celtics anyways.

[masonanddixon]

wtf are u talking bout?

clipps got eliminated in the first round in 2013 to the grizz. they beat the grizz in seven games in 12 then got SWEPT by the spurs in the second round...that spurs team eventually would lose 4 str8 to the thunder in the wcf.....

doc did a good job..it was just his first season in la...was u expecting him to go all the way to the finals his first year?:facepalm

all this talk about injuries....who cares...westbrook got injured in the first round last year and the thunder still beat the rockets.

the warriors are a better team when they go small anyway..it was proven in the 2013 playoffs when they beat the nuggets without david lee or bogut....GOODNIGHT

OK so what you're saying is Doc the Great Rivers gets you two more wins in the 2nd round than del Negro, and against a team that barely escaped a 7 seed.

[KG215]

It was Thibs' doing that the Celtics became such a potent defensive force. It's not coincidental that the Clippers under Doc Rivers have been suffering on the defensive end without Thibs by his side.
Clippers 2013: 103.6 DRtg (8th), 94.6 opp PPG (4th), .443 opp FG% (9th)

Clippers 2014: 104.8 DRtg (9th), 101.0 opp PPG (14th), .441 opp FG% (5th)

For whatever reasons, the Clippers defense was worse last year. Could just be players learning a new system, but for being known as a "defensive coach", and after all the flak Del Negro got during his Clipper tenure, I was surprised to see the Clippers defense fell off from 2013. Still think the Clippers will be better this year. That has as much to do with Blake seemingly taking "the leap", though, than it does Doc in my eyes. Not saying Doc won't play a role, but even under Del Negro the Clippers really just needed Blake to go from being a really good All-Star to a legit superstar 1st/2nd team All-NBA caliber player -- which he was last year. Guess it's very possible you could give Doc credit (some of it at least) for that, though. Maybe he was able to motivate Blake in a way Del Negro never could.

[KG215]

OKC was at 40% strength last season, Denver had injuries, Dallas was geriatric, and all the other teams were just decent.
40% strength? How the hell did you come to that conclusion? Even Westbrook missing 36 games doesn't really equate to "40% strength." He was back and fine for the playoffs anyway and Ibaka missing two games after OKC eliminated the Clippers doesn't mean anything, either.

[masonanddixon]

40% strength? How the hell did you come to that conclusion? Even Westbrook missing 36 games doesn't really equate to "40% strength." He was back and fine for the playoffs anyway and Ibaka missing two games after OKC eliminated the Clippers doesn't mean anything, either.

He never looked quite right and the offense has been terrible and predictable since Harden left.

OKC really struggled against Memphis and many might say the officiating played a critical role in their advancing to the next round.

I just feel like the Clippers pretty much lost to the worst iteration of the Thunder since 09-10. Ultimately I don't really see what tangible improvements Rivers has brought to the team, but I do find his constant whining and complaining and PC liberal nonsense to make the Clippers unwatchable.

[bdreason]

He's a good coach, but definitely 2nd tier.

[miggyme1]

OK so what you're saying is Doc the Great Rivers gets you two more wins in the 2nd round than del Negro, and against a team that barely escaped a 7 seed.


so what u are saying is the thunder should have swept the grizz?? is that what u are saying??? get outta here with the bs kid. u cant win.

doc rivers first season in la...stop hating. del negro failed in chicago and was replaced after two seasons..he failed in la and was replaced after....guess what..two seasons...everywhere doc has coached he has stayed at least 4 seasons. enough said.

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

Thibs and KG made his career
they were the real coaches

now its CP

[miggyme1]

He's a good coach, but definitely 2nd tier.


who is in the top tier then??

i got pop,thibs,vogel,rivers and carlisle

if u say coach spo...........and ill leave it at that

[masonanddixon]

who is in the top tier then??

i got pop,thibs,vogel,rivers and carlisle

if u say coach spo...........and ill leave it at that

Hornacek, SVG, are first rate coaches

[miggyme1]

Hornacek, SVG, are first rate coaches


hornacek?? how many years has he coached?? oh thats right....1 season and u already crowning him?lmao HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

svg is good but not first rate...2nd tier for sure tho

[KBaller33]

With the way the media talks about him, you would think he was on Pop's level.

[GimmeThat]

his bench units have generally been decent when he's been given the players.

critical to a deep playoff-run, useless on a lottery team.

[The_Yearning]

He has white in him.

So white players respect him.

His wife is white.

So black players definitely respect him.

This is what people really mean when they call him a "player's coach" and a "father figure".

In actuality, dude is as bad of a coach as his son is on the court.

[LakersDaBEst]

he's pretty good. I'd love him on the Lakers :cry:

[hawksdogsbraves]

who is in the top tier then??

i got pop,thibs,vogel,rivers and carlisle

if u say coach spo...........and ill leave it at that

Vogel and Rivers are complete garbage coaches compared to Pop, Thibs, and Carlisle.

Budenholzer is much better than Vogel or Rivers.

[stalkerforlife]

He can thank Tom Thibodeau for his career taking off like it has.

[Optimus Prime]

Right place, right time. He was considered a terrible coach by many Boston fans (including Boston homer #1 Bill Simmons) until the Big 3 came together and got him a ring. Then he went to a rather good Clippers team and well...not much so far.

He's average to above-average at best, like Spoelstra.