Doc Rivers

[Chris]

My 9 year old knows you pass before the trap comes vs. after they are there. These players know that too. It's not Doc's fault they continue to do this. They have been told. They have practised it.

What I think kills them is when Rondo takes the inbound pass and slowly brings it up the floor which allows them to set this up. We need to push this up the floor and attack before they set up. This way we will end up with layups instead of turnovers!

What are the players being told?


All I have ever heard was the Celtics need to 'run their stuff.' 


Well, up to that point, 'their stuff' has been built around the pick and roll.  The exact thing this defense takes away. 

So let me see if I have this right. You think that after all the years of playing high school, college, and professional basketball and now coaching that Doc Rivers can not only not recognize a press trap, but also that he thinks the best way out of it is to "run their stuff" meaning their regular offense?

Simply because that's all you have ever heard him say in a press conference or in the total audio and video footage of about 20 minutes total that the networks have played spanning hundreds and hundreds of hours of games, you think that's all Doc is telling these guys in the huddles?

I know you have no respect for the guy as a coach and will do whatever you can to question his every move(many times validly), but you're way off base here if you think that not only Doc, but the entire Boston coaching staff didn't recognize what was happening and didn't tell the players the right things to do.

Believing that Doc is an imbecile simply because you don't like him as a coach isn't exactly the right way to jump to conclusions.

I believe the entire coaching staff told these guys what to do and I believe they have practiced it many, many times. I don't have proof, I'm not at their practices, I'm not in their huddles. But I will give the entire coaching staff a lot more credit than you apparently will and say that I think they were able to figure out what was happening and the players just didn't execute.

After all about one hundred years of combined basketball playing and coaching experience sits on that bench with the players. I seriously doubt the team would be 5 wins from a title if all that coaching experience couldn't recognize the press trap or properly call the right press break to counter it.

While I agree that this logically makes sense, the fact is that there were no visible adjustments in either Game 3 or Game 5 to beat the press.  The players were making the exact same mistakes repeatedly.  If the players are absolutely refusing to implement Doc's instructions, then he needs to get new players in there, rather than watching them blatantly disregarding his orders and hemorrhaging a big lead for two wins in a row.

(The players and their lack of execution here is obviously heavily to blame, because regardless of Doc's adjustments or lack thereof, I doubt he's telling his players to dribble the ball to the sidelines or to make lazy passes.)

There is a difference between "absolutely refusing to implement Doc's instructions", and freezing up under the pressure and making boneheaded decisions.

I guarantee you, Doc did not tell them to hold the ball when the double team comes, and then try to dribble around it.  They were freezing.

Now clearly the coaches needs to work with them on it some more.  If they did work on it after game 3, perhaps they failed to reinforce it after game 4 (which is a mistake by the coaches).

But the bottom line is the players looked like deer in headlights when the traps came, and instead of actually doing anything to try to beat it, the turtled.  So while some blame goes on the coaches for not preparing them enough, this is mostly on the players who did not handle the pressure well.

BTW, they should be able to run the pick and roll against this press.  They just need to make the pass out of it much quicker, instead of allowing them to trap off the pick.  If it is executed correctly, there should be two passes to a wide open shot.  But it all starts with the first pass, which was simply not being made until it was too late.

[kenmaine]

Thank you Doc for pulling Sam after that awful turnover. And as long as PJ is decent, I can't argue with not using Powe or Big Baby. Well, maybe five minutes of Powe couldn't hurt, I love the guy.
And I hope Ray continues to prove me wrong, he was fantastic last night. And how he keeps his temper with all the dirty crap Hamilton is pulling is amazing.
Perk was absolutely spectacular, he's become an offensive force! I figured he wouldn't be as effective in the fourth after sitting for a while. Probably should have just played him till he dropped and not let him stiffen up on the bench, but that's a minor quibble, and I'm probably wrong anyway.
So Doc, if you can have the troops make a couple less careless passes, maybe fine Rondo when he passes up another twelve foot shot, and fine KG when he's 6 feet from the basket and tries to force a pass to Perk 3 feet away, then #17 will be a piece of cake.
But honestly, our expectations(mine included) have become ridiculously high in just one year.

[jay_jay54]

Thank you Doc for pulling Sam after that awful turnover. And as long as PJ is decent, I can't argue with not using Powe or Big Baby. Well, maybe five minutes of Powe couldn't hurt, I love the guy.
And I hope Ray continues to prove me wrong, he was fantastic last night. And how he keeps his temper with all the dirty crap Hamilton is pulling is amazing.
Perk was absolutely spectacular, he's become an offensive force! I figured he wouldn't be as effective in the fourth after sitting for a while. Probably should have just played him till he dropped and not let him stiffen up on the bench, but that's a minor quibble, and I'm probably wrong anyway.
So Doc, if you can have the troops make a couple less careless passes, maybe fine Rondo when he passes up another twelve foot shot, and fine KG when he's 6 feet from the basket and tries to force a pass to Perk 3 feet away, then #17 will be a piece of cake.
But honestly, our expectations(mine included) have become ridiculously high in just one year.

Im watching the replay of last night game on NBA.TV as i write,i agree with what you posted here,Perk was a force last night,even when watching it for the second time around...i like how Van Gundy says "its KP43 house tonight",made me laugh.Im glad to see Perk playing so well.Garnett makes a few bad plays,i admit,but we was able to hold the Pistons off in the end.TP for your post and recognizing Perk for his stellar performance last night.