Being the Doc supporter that I am I could go into a long explanation why he isn't nearly as responsible for the 5 losses in the postseason as people, like yourselves, are giving him. But I've said it all before and most of you will just not budge an inch in your blame game at Doc. But why not, here I go again.
Here's a fact. Doc bears responsibility for what has transpired in the playoffs.
Here's another fact. The players bear responsibility for what has transpired in the playoffs.
How much blame for 5 playoff losses belongs to whom is the debateable part.
I happen to believe that Doc isn't nearly as responsible for this teams successes or disappointments that have occured this postseason as most who will probably post in this thread think. He should have used the end of the year to get a playoff rotation set. He could have handled the benching of Eddie, Tony and Big Baby better than he did. There have been some very, very strange substitutions that have occured during the playoffs. All this I give you.
But this group of players have severely underachieved thus far in the postseason. A lack of focus, a lack of motivation, a lack of effort and a lack of listening to your coaches are problems that have been and are occuring that has nothing to do with Doc and everything to do with the players. The problems I mentioned are problems that are 100% player related and, as far as I am concerned, have contributed a lot more to the Celtics playoff woes than any 3 minute substitution has.
In last night's game thread, or was it the game before's, wdleehi and I discussed who is responsible for proper player motivation in the playoffs. He tended to say that if the player isn't motivated then it is ultimately the job of the coach to motivate him(correct me if I'm wrong, wd). I stand on the side that if a professional athlete can't get motivated to play his best in a playoff game then ultimately there is little the coach can do. The first, last, and only person responsible for making sure a player is motivated to play is the player, IMHO.
And in many long, long stretches on the road the Celtics have looked lethargic and unmotivated. Many, many of them have. Doc cannot bench the whole team, that is just not an option.
So it falls on the players to man up and give the effort, mentally, physically, and emotionally that is required for playoff success. And honestly, to a man, I have not seen that.
So for that reason, although Doc hasn't exactly been the second coming of Red Auerbach, the players should bear the brunt of the responsibility for their performances thus far. I just refuse to believe that if Doc had made every change, every substitution, every adjustment that this team's record would be all that different than what it currently is. People are screaming for adjustment and there have been a ton mentioned, many that contradict each other(See "Doc should have a 8-9 man rotation and then in the same breath that same person is asking why BBD, Eddie House, TAllen, and Scal aren't being used. There are quite a bit more just as contradictory).
Doc doesn't miss free throws.
Doc doesn't turn the ball over.
Doc isn't the player that isn't listening to good coaching.
Doc aren't the players that are averaging 4.5 points less than their season averages.
Doc isn't shooting 26% from the three point line in this series.
Doc isn't shooting only 40% from the field in this series.
Doc isn't allowing everyone other than LeBron to shoot 47% from the field.
Doc isn't allowing everyone other than LeBron to shoot 38% from the three point line.
Doc wasn't responsible for the horribly one sided officiating in the Atlanta series that led to an obscene 68 free throws attempted discrepency.
As I said, although I am a Doc supporter I see what the Doc detractors see as well. And I agree that they have hurt the team. But I just don't think he has hurt this team this postseason nearly as much as the players and their performances have.
Being a Doc detractor, can you say that you can see any of what the Doc supporters see without claiming the only reason for what the players are doing is because of Doc's coaching? I'd be interested in knowing what you have to say.