Why isn't Doc being called out?

[ThaPreacher]

 The "blame game" that goes on with the Celtics fan base is bordering on ridiculous.

  We're old. We're hurt.  We're slow.  We have no consistent, quality depth other they Ray and he is a shell of himself due to bad wheels.  We have almost no inside game on offense.  We're in year 5 of a 3 year plan.  We looked like a lottery team only a couple of short months ago.

 Considering everything we're lucky to have gotten this far and no one is to blame if we go no further.

  Blaming one of the top 2 or 3 coaches in the NBA right now for not winning with a depleted and old roster is silly.  

I agree that Doc Rivers has done a marvelous job with the Celtics in the last few years.
However, he should be challenged when the situation arises. 
Philly: Game 4
Small ball.  Pierce at Power Foward.  Rondo, Allen, Bradley, Pierce and Garnett.
This was at times a good move.  But not in the last 4 minutes of the game.  Pierce is too small and not athletic enough to play the 4.  Philly dominated with weak side cutters receiving passes from the low post.

And then the last two Celtic possessions.  Rondo, Pierce dribbling.  Celtics standing around.

I will say that Doc has since gone to Bass.  Played Hollins and Steisma more.
But game 4 is on Doc and Rondo.  Clearly, we need to get better possessions in the waning minutes of ball games.

[CelticsFanNC]

 The "blame game" that goes on with the Celtics fan base is bordering on ridiculous.

  We're old. We're hurt.  We're slow.  We have no consistent, quality depth other they Ray and he is a shell of himself due to bad wheels.  We have almost no inside game on offense.  We're in year 5 of a 3 year plan.  We looked like a lottery team only a couple of short months ago.

 Considering everything we're lucky to have gotten this far and no one is to blame if we go no further.

  Blaming one of the top 2 or 3 coaches in the NBA right now for not winning with a depleted and old roster is silly.  

I agree that Doc Rivers has done a marvelous job with the Celtics in the last few years.
However, he should be challenged when the situation arises. 
Philly: Game 4
Small ball.  Pierce at Power Foward.  Rondo, Allen, Bradley, Pierce and Garnett.
This was at times a good move.  But not in the last 4 minutes of the game.  Pierce is too small and not athletic enough to play the 4.  Philly dominated with weak side cutters receiving passes from the low post.

  Don't you think Doc's had has kind of been forced without Wilcox, Green, and the corpse of Jermaine O'Neal?   Brandon Bass is only useful on the court when he is hitting shots.  In this series he has had one game when he was hitting shots.

  I believe Doc went small because he believed it gave him the best chance to win.   Pierce although not ideal at the 4 spot is out rebounding Bass in this series. 

[thestackshow]

Its not his fault that the entire starting lineup is severely injured.

[ballin]

Fact: the main thing that a coach controls that has a direct impact on whether a team wins or loses is who he decides to play, and for how many minutes.

THAT is what the main job of a coach is, in terms of during a game especially. And you know what? Doc's decisions have been pretty poor in that regard by continually playing Ray, who's looking awful. Sorry, but a healthy Pietrus is better than this shell of Ray Allen we're witnessing. Doc can absolutely be criticized for keeping Ray in the game. It's hurting the team.

[looseball]

Its not his fault that the entire starting lineup is severely injured.

Pierce and Allen broke down from playing too many minutes too many nights for guys their age.  Doc gets the blame for this.

Meanwhile, in San Antonio, Duncan and Ginoboli both averaged under 30 mpg during the year, and both are going strong in the playoffs.  Pop gets the credit for this.

[wdleehi]

Its not his fault that the entire starting lineup is severely injured.

Pierce and Allen broke down from playing too many minutes too many nights for guys their age.  Doc gets the blame for this.

Meanwhile, in San Antonio, Duncan and Ginoboli both averaged under 30 mpg during the year, and both are going strong in the playoffs.  Pop gets the credit for this.

SA also had a better roster after the starters.  Their depth never took the injury hit the Celtics did.


SA cruised into the playoffs, the Celtics had to battle their way to where they are.

[celtics2]

Clearly, several players weren't perfect in tonight's game. But it absolutely baffles me how so many Celtic fans refuse to blame Doc for anything. He won a title with a ridiculously stacked roster, he's really good at drawing up plays during timeouts, and he relates well to the players. Beyond that, IMO, he's an extremely flawed coach.

There's an old saying in coaching that you're either coaching it or allowing it to happen. How many times do we have to go several minutes at a time without getting a single good shot, make or miss, before people start to realize that the coaching is the problem? Also, our defense in the second half of Game 4 and 6 was absolutely pitiful. Again, that's coaching.

I didn't even post here after Game 4 because that was one of the most pathetically coached games I've ever seen. No way you can let a veteran team with this much talent and experience just hand away a huge playoff game on a silver platter.

Doc can't do anything about it when guys like Bass or KG miss wide open looks, and that certainly hurt Boston tonight. But there's no way this team should ever go possession after possession without getting a single good shot in a crucial playoff game, especially when the big 4 has been together for so long. This isn't just a 2012 problem, but it's been going on for awhile now. And to be taken seven games by the eighth seed? This is completely different than Atlanta in '08. Now, with the age/health issues this team faces, closing this series in five or six games was absolutely vital. The players knew this and Doc knew this. And the '08 team had never played together in the playoffs.

Doc's had a love in since he's been here. A few others and myself have brought up on several occasions shortcomings from the Coaching Staff. I'm a Celtic fan but most here bleed for the Celtics. He just doesn't get the best out of his Teams. He settles for mediocrity. Rondo gets out of control like every other game. I don't care how good he is he needs to stop the Circus act and Doc can't influence him at all. For a few seasons he just wore the starters out. We just threw the 5th game away. Now Philly smells over aged meat and they will bring lots of energy. Only thing going to help us is they may choke the 7th game. Teams know no lead is large enough for the Celtics.

[looseball]

Its not his fault that the entire starting lineup is severely injured.

Pierce and Allen broke down from playing too many minutes too many nights for guys their age.  Doc gets the blame for this.

Meanwhile, in San Antonio, Duncan and Ginoboli both averaged under 30 mpg during the year, and both are going strong in the playoffs.  Pop gets the credit for this.

SA also had a better roster after the starters.  Their depth never took the injury hit the Celtics did.


SA cruised into the playoffs, the Celtics had to battle their way to where they are.

A lot of different guys made worthwhile contributions off the bench for us over the course of the year.  Although there were no allstars, it proved to be a deep bench.  The guys we lost to injury off the bench weren't allstars either, just contributors like the guys who replaced them.

A coach has to trust his bench to succeed.  I think this is Doc's biggest shortcoming as a coach.  The bigger the game the less trust he has in his bench, and the more he sticks with his starters.  You might get away with this with guys Rondo's age, but it's the kiss of death for the older guys. 
Like Phil Jackson was caught on camera a couple of years ago telling his team: the Celts lead the league in 4th quarter fades.

[Meadowlark_Scal]

Celtics are 20-7 in Game 7's and Doc Rivers is the head coach of 3 of those 7 losses (2 of them in Boston - and those 2 losses were not close by the way).

going to game 7's against inferior teams is not a medal of honor...!

[JohnBagleyValueMeal]

If you took a poll of fans in the NBA that said "If your coach were suddenly vaporized and David Stern allowed your team to pick any other coach in the league to replace him", Pop would be first. Doc would probably come second, or maybe third behind Thibs.

Does this mean he's perfect? Of course not. But I don't doubt for a second if Red himself were coaching in the Internet era we'd still get threads like this.

[JohnBagleyValueMeal]

Doc's decisions have been pretty poor in that regard by continually playing Ray, who's looking awful. Sorry, but a healthy Pietrus is better than this shell of Ray Allen we're witnessing.

That might be true. If only we HAD a healthy Pietrus.

[mctyson]

I think Doc stays the course tonight except for maybe one or two wrinkles...

1) Pietrus will get more minutes

2) Maybe a Sasha sighting if we continue to shoot poorly, especially from 3

[MBunge]

SA also had a better roster after the starters. 

In Doc's tenure, especially this season, we've seen bench guys come in and play very well, only to be exiled back to DNP-CD land.

And while it is true that whenever Doc tries to play 5 bench guys at once, the results are not pretty, I think we have to start wondering if that doesn't have more to do with the offensive scheme than the players.  I mean, given how terrible Boston's offense can look with the Big 4 in the game, should anyone be surprised when bench players come in and perform even worse?

Mike

[Meadowlark_Scal]

Blaming rondo....hmmmm, you didn't call him out when the celts were younger....when guys could shoot or go for a layup, AND play defense...and rebound....there was guys to run with.....yet now that the rest of the team is weak...people blame rondo.....

[Celtics18]

I blame those darned Sixers for attempting to put up a roadblock to our "easy" trip to the ECF. 

Thanks for the challenge, Philly, but I think it's time for your nice run to end  tomorrow night up in Boston.

Go Cs!!!