GP on Doc

[guava_wrench]

Payton called Doc the "hands down" coach of the year for this year.

Based on what he said, Payton clearly considers Doc a coach that people like to play under and blames his bad seasons on lack of talent.

[cordobes]

Payton is right. However, I bet that 90% of the posts in this thread will be "Doc is a great motivator, but he's not so good with rotations and Xs and Os".

[Toine43]

Payton is right. However, I bet that 90% of the posts in this thread will be "Doc is a great motivator, but he's not so good with rotations and Xs and Os".

I don't think from a fan's standpoint that there's ever a way to tell whether a coach is good with Xs and Os, no matter how much a fan may know about Xs and Os in general. Anyone who claims they know very much (personally, not from hearing analysts talking about it) about Doc's Xs and Os ability is mistaken. Van Gundy has said numerous times, though, that Doc is the best coach in the league drawing up plays in timeouts, and that there's data to back that up.

Doc's rotations are fair game. It's funny though. 2 years ago, no one seemed to like Doc's rotations, and now it's as if the man couldn't make a mistake if he tried. What's the moral of the story? The NBA is, and always will be, a players league.

[Chris]

Payton is right. However, I bet that 90% of the posts in this thread will be "Doc is a great motivator, but he's not so good with rotations and Xs and Os".

Aren't we past that?

[cordobes]

Payton is right. However, I bet that 90% of the posts in this thread will be "Doc is a great motivator, but he's not so good with rotations and Xs and Os".

Aren't we past that?

Past what?

[Chris]

Payton is right. However, I bet that 90% of the posts in this thread will be "Doc is a great motivator, but he's not so good with rotations and Xs and Os".

Aren't we past that?

Past what?

The need to put down Doc's coaching.  I am probably (OK, almost definitely) wrong, but I figured at this point, he would be getting a reprieve from the "he is doing a good job, BUT" arguments.

[cordobes]

Payton is right. However, I bet that 90% of the posts in this thread will be "Doc is a great motivator, but he's not so good with rotations and Xs and Os".

Aren't we past that?

Past what?

The need to put down Doc's coaching.  I am probably (OK, almost definitely) wrong, but I figured at this point, he would be getting a reprieve from the "he is doing a good job, BUT" arguments.

Unfortunately, I don't think that's the case.

[LB3533]

I think if your team is pretty stacked, then your coaches don't really need to do a lot of "coaching".

The coaches mainly need to do is keep people on the same page, square away the bench, and make sure the younger guys are staying in line.

[guava_wrench]

I think if your team is pretty stacked, then your coaches don't really need to do a lot of "coaching".

The coaches mainly need to do is keep people on the same page, square away the bench, and make sure the younger guys are staying in line.

Aren't there many teams that have been stacked with talent yet ended up garbage?

Like most things in life, we can't figure out who gets credit for what when a team wins. It seems obvious that coaches do have a significant effect. Look at D'Antoni in NY, winning more games with same same roster (before the 2 trades) Isiah lost with, minus some (no Marbury and Curry).

There is a reason the team often looks sharper after they get full practices in. The coaches are helping them execute better.

[Scribbles]

Payton is right. However, I bet that 90% of the posts in this thread will be "Doc is a great motivator, but he's not so good with rotations and Xs and Os".

I don't think from a fan's standpoint that there's ever a way to tell whether a coach is good with Xs and Os, no matter how much a fan may know about Xs and Os in general. Anyone who claims they know very much (personally, not from hearing analysts talking about it) about Doc's Xs and Os ability is mistaken. Van Gundy has said numerous times, though, that Doc is the best coach in the league drawing up plays in timeouts, and that there's data to back that up.

Doc's rotations are fair game. It's funny though. 2 years ago, no one seemed to like Doc's rotations, and now it's as if the man couldn't make a mistake if he tried. What's the moral of the story? The NBA is, and always will be, a players league.

So true, about the NBA being a players league.  I think it does help to play for someone that the players like and respect rather than a more militant style coach, who you may respect more than likely dislike. Just my opinion though. 

[nickagneta]

I think Doc has been doing a great job that last three to four years maximizing the results and effort of the talent that he is given. Not every coach can have a team of first through third year players and have that team be competitive in virtually every game they play and then get a team with three superstars and have them sacrifice their games while incorporating the youngsters to create a championship squad.

I think Doc has been amazing in his time here as coach. His development of young players is awesome(Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, Leon Powe, Glen Davis, and from the looks of it recently, Gabe Pruitt). There is so much more that goes into coaching besides the X's and O'sof the game that it really isn't fair to judge a coaches performance by how extensive one perceives a coaches knowledge is in that area.

Yeah, he drives me nuts sometimes with his love of a total second unit and some of his substitution patterns but how can we argue with the results?

[TatteredOnMySleeve]

I can only hope he doesnt win it, its been nothing but bad luck in the past

[bballdog384]

Doc is a great X's and O's coach. The Celtics are the best in the league at scoring after a timeout.

[PaulPierce34G]

"So true, about the NBA being a players league.  I think it does help to play for someone that the players like and respect rather than a more militant style coach, who you may respect more than likely dislike. Just my opinion though." 


I think you can go back to the Rick Pitino era, the season he resigned & Obie took over.  The team still missed the playoffs that season, but they were making a run at the 8th seed with the Magic if my memory serves me correct, whereas before that it was just going to be another dismal season.  Definitely were playing better when when Pitino resigned.  You could say it was for many reasons...a la, Jim O's system worked better for them, they were tanking games because they just didn't care playing for Pitino, which I believe to be true.  Definitely is true that players will respond to a coach they appreciate & enjoy playing under.

[TrueGreen]

Payton is right. However, I bet that 90% of the posts in this thread will be "Doc is a great motivator, but he's not so good with rotations and Xs and Os".

I'll join the 10% who say Doc does know something about X's and O's. Doc has set up an offensive and defensive system that works for this team. Over and over again the team plays poorly when they get away from the system. And one thing I don't think people understand is that Doc is a coach who wants to allow the players to play. He's not a control freak. The recent talk about Doc wanting Rondo to call the plays illustrates this. Doc also doesn't like to call time outs when things are going badly. He'd rather the players work themselves out of it. One place where Doc excels in play calling is during time outs. Let's face it, there are still many of us bloggers who don't like Doc. This comes from the years where Doc didn't have the players to work with. I think Doc's coaching credentials go without saying, but there will always be many that need to criticize regardless of what is really going on.