Doc Rivers: Press Conference and Celtics

[mutineer33]

I never thought much of Doc as a head coach, but I don't get all the hate for him in these forums.  His leaving was a win/win for everyone.

Doc had his strengths and weaknesses.  I would rate him:

-- Leadership (Getting players buy in):10/10
-- PR Skills: 10/10
-- Xs & Os: 7/10
-- Rotation Management: 6/10
-- Young Player development 5/10.

For teams competing for a championship  Leadership and PR (Being in the national spotlight) mean everything.  He was the right man for the job for the big 3 era.

But it has been clear that Ainge wanted to move on from the Big 3 era (Allen was already gone) and get younger. Doc was not the right coach for a retooling or rebuilding team.

So he goes to a quality team in desperate need of Leadership and good PR.  Celtics get out from his contract, get to hire a coach more suited for player development, and got a future first round pick in the process.  Everybody won -- only the incompetence of Sterling made the transition ugly rather than the smooth deal it should have been.

The only downside is that "Little Napoleon" Stern got involved in one of his inevitable power trips -- because KG and even Pierce following Doc to LAC would have been a perfect ride off in to the sunset.

I writes this as one who is a "loyalist" and believe that KG and Pierce should be allowed to complete their careers as Celtics.  However if it has been decided that the C's are going to rebuild/retool then sending them to a contending team in LA makes sense.  The idea of dumping Pierce to Milwaukee or Cleveland seems awful to me on so many levels. Frankly I think it would be a stain on the reputation of the Franchise to do this to these guys (Pierce in Particular).

[lightspeed5]

Since we cant trade players with the clippers, why dont make KG our coach then trade him since coaches are tradeable? I know, stern would veto it quick, but i can see danny doing it just to mess with stern

[NocturnalRebel]

I'm just glad this is all over with. I would have preferred that Doc stay, but at tha same time i'm glad this team is finally taking steps forward towards rebuilding this team.

Doc claimed he wasn't seeking change, but he's quoted as saying it was time for a change. As much as I love Doc, I felt he put tha C's on tha back burner when he thought KG would join him in Clipper land. And I think he would have used tha C's as a fall back plan if tha deal didn't fall through. It was obvious Doc still wanted to coach but he wasn't fully committed to a rebuild if Danny was planning to go that direction.

Tha reasoning on both sides are different but I believe in Ainge's and Wyc's comments more than I do Doc's. During this mess with tha Clippers, Doc was still wanted by tha C's. He signed an extension well aware of possible rebuild and it does look as if he sold being down with that rather than Ainge selling him on tha team. But what's done is done.

Doc chose to move on and so will I. I have no plex with Doc. I wish him tha best but I'm still a Celtic, always will be. I'm ready for what tha future holds for tha C's. I and I'm kind of excited about it. Let our quest for banner 18 begin.

[thirstyboots18]

Since Doc was working closely with Danny on the draft, I assume he knew what Danny planned to do.   His leaving (and the proposed KG trade to the Clippers) makes more sense now.  We all know how loyal Doc was to KG and PP.  I think he made the correct move...and he didn't give away any inside information or slander anyone while he was leaving.  Class gentleman.