 |
| Doc Rivers disappeared from Boston in the messiest of ways. (Credits: Mark L Baer/USA Today Sports) |
On the surface, Rivers fit the Celtics head coach billing perfectly. He's demanding, intense a preacher of defense and a witty public speaker. If you'd ask any Celtics fan if Doc Rivers if a great coach they'd answer with a definitive "yes." But, most of them forgot about him in the pre-Big Three Era. He led the Paul Pierce, Antoine Walker and Ricky Davis Celtics to the playoffs in his first season, but he only won 57 games from '05-'07 and many were calling for his head. It wasn't all his fault, the team was pretty much Paul Pierce and no one else in those years, but it also wasn't completely excusable. Once Rivers was given to the keys to the Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Pierce version of the Celtics he turned it into an unstoppable machine. They won 66 games in that '07-'08 season and won the franchise's 17th championship, Rivers was now heralded as one of the best coaches in the league. But he was actually probably somewhere in between, not a man deserving of a firing and yet also not deserving of such lavish praise.
Think of what Danny Ainge brought him in that magic summer of 2007? Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in the prime of their careers to team with Paul Pierce? That's a titanic shift in talent and leadership. Add the emergence of Rajon Rondo and Doc Rivers had one of the better teams in NBA history. Their 66 wins and NBA Championship would back that up. However, when you look at the team Rivers was outfitted with you can't not compare him to Erik Spoelstra. RELAX. I'm not saying that Spoelstra is as good as a head coach as Rivers, but they were thrown into similar situations. They both had the underratedly difficult task of perfect searing together three major stars into a winning team. From the outside that task looks overly simply, three stars in the primes of their career? They can coach themselves, right? Yet, it's more difficult than that. Managing egos, explaining when the three need to defer to each other, etc. Rivers was able to successfully merge the Big Three in his first season; it took Spoelstra two years to get it right. But here we are in 2013, Spoelstra with two titles and Rivers with only one.
Obviously Doc had the older team. He wasn't able to run his players into the ground in the regular season like Spoelstra could and still compete in the playoffs. He had to manage his aging Big Three and didn't have the opportunity of having the Best Player in the NBA who is also a humanoid and rarely never tires. Yet, I don't think that excuses him from not having at least two titles. I know the Kendrick Perkins injury excuse is a widely acceptable one for why the Celtics didn't beat the Lakers for a second time in '09-'10, but as we see Perkins becoming basically null and void in OKC it might not have been that great of an excuse after all.
Whether or not you see Doc as a great coach or just a good one, his latest move was one of a weak-hearted man. There's something annoying about the process of players pushing their way out of small markets, or off of lesser teams to improve their ability to win championships. That's pretty much become kosher in the NBA and while it irks some people, no one is taking pitchforks to the league offices about it. But when a coach does it? Now that's a problem. Coaches are not the stars in the league. I don't care if Rivers was Phil Jackson or Gregg Popovich, they are not the stars. They don't create revenue. They don't make the NBA exciting. While coaches certainly can exert some influence over a game, they aren't out there playing, making shots, rebounding or defending. They certainly do not have the power that stars do and they should not be able to push their way out of unfavorable situations.
I just don't understand how a man, who was on the verge of retiring two summers ago, could sign a five-year contract to coach a team. He clearly knew the risks involved, an aging squad, a phenomenal but erratic point guard, Jeff Green's health issues. He knew at some point this team would need to be blown up and rebuilt in some capacity, so why did he sign on for so long? For him to abandon the Celtics like this, especially with the franchised mired in uncertainty, is really a cowardice move. He is not a superstar player, not even a "superstar" coach and yet he tried to make his demands to leave the Celtics (with three years left on his contract) look like they were appropriate. It wasn't and it isn't. It was wrong.
Doc will get a free pass for his one championship and numerous winning seasons, but it shouldn't be that simple. He only lifted one banner, the team has 16 others hanging in the rafters. Yes, he brought back the Celtic Pride, but he couldn't even turn this team into a mini dynasty. If this widely positive tenure had ended with a mutual parting of the ways, then that would've been just fine. But it didn't, Doc stomped his feet, reportedly almost got into a fight with Rajon Rondo and had his merry way. If I'm a Celtics fan I thank him for his service, but I don't give much respect from now on.
What did they say about "Honoring your word?"
0 comments:
Post a Comment