Doug Collins' Huddle Message to the Sixers

[Redz]

I love what Collins has done with the Sixers and I think it's great for the NBA that he is back on the sidelines, but I wasn't a big fan of the message he was giving his team during a 3rd period time out.  The Celts were in the midst of completely dominating his team and he was telling them to keep their chins up and keep playing hard (good message).  He went on to tell them that there are whole bunch of teams who would be happy to be playing right now (bad message).  I think this was telling his team that they can't play with the Celtics and they should just soak in the playoff experience and be happy to have made it this far.

Now, one could easily argue they are indeed fortunate to have advanced as the 8th seed when Rose went down, but still, they'd played their butts off in the first two games and showed that they can play toe to toe with the Celtics, and indeed beat them.

I'm sure he'll ring a different tone with the team today and tomorrow.  It's just rang of conceding to superiority to me.  

Had I not heard this, I would have thought the Sixers could bounce back in Game 4.  Now, I'm pretty convinced it's the Celts in 5.

[jgod213]

To further your point, Redz, i thought his post game remarks had the same effect.  When asked about the play of the Celtics he said something along the lines of "i think, with bosh out, they're looking at the big picture and see an opportunity infront of them."

I mean i think we all agree that's the case, and it's nice to hear a coach being candid, but the tone he used along with those words kind of gave the impression that he agreed that the 6ers were essentially just a speedbump at this point and that a focused Celtics team will advance to the next round.  Certainly looks that way but c'mon man! your team has a chance to pull even at 2 games a piece! Show some pride!

[thestackshow]

Celtics played like they didnt care in the first two games, in game three they played like it was the playoffs.

Big difference.

Sixers should be lucky they are even in this position, they wouldnt have won a playoff game if Rose hadnt gotten injured.

[Redz]

Celtics played like they didnt care in the first two games, in game three they played like it was the playoffs.

Big difference.

Sixers should be lucky they are even in this position, they wouldnt have won a playoff game if Rose hadnt gotten injured.

Right, but should the coach be reinforcing that they should feel like they're lucky to be there? 

[Lucky17]

I hear what you're saying, Redz.

You'd have felt better about Collins if he'd asked his team something like this:

"Do we belong here? Do we deserve to be here? In the playoffs? If you don't think so, tell me now, so I can sit you down for the rest of this game, and the rest of the series.

If you do, start playing like you give a [dang]."

[LarBrd33]

TP Redz... I had the exact same impression after watching that.  I even said out loud, "I get that they are a young team, but there is no freakin way Doc Rivers would be saying this to the Celtics in a blowout"... Doc would have been saying, "FOCUS GUYS!!! WE CAN WIN THIS!!"... KG and Pierce would be on the bench hyping up their teammates.   I felt that COllins telling the Sixers they should be proud of how far they have gotten is a horrible message.  The excuse is that they are a young team.  Still.  That basically takes the fight out of them and admits they are a lesser team.  The CEltics would never do that.  They will be down 0-3 heading into Game 4 against the Thunder and they will still be yelling at themselves about how they are the superior team.

The better message was a  no-brainer.  Collins should be saying, "We just upset the #1 team in the league in our last series.  We just beat the Celtics in our last game.  Frankly we should be up 2-0 in this series, but just got unlucky.  DO NOT BE AFRAID Of these guys.  You are better than them.  GO OUT THERE AND PLAY LIKE IT!"

[ManUp]

My impression of Collins is that he doesn't really believe in his team and in turn they don't believe in him. I remember the last rs game we played them, there was a sideline story about how difficult it was for him getting through to his players. According to Collins they were a bit too sensitive and that they didn't take constructive criticism well at all. During their second half colllapse all the talk was about how he had lost the team. Beating the Bulls helped people forget, but this Sixers team has chemistry problems. There's times when you see things falling apart and Collins just sits back in disbelief hands behind his head legs spread out. I don't think he feels the team is mentally tough enough to fight up hill battles. This Philly team is soft in the middle, atleast that's what Collins thinks.

[Who]

Doug Collins may have lost that locker room. Might be a time for a change this summer.

Their performance over the final 60+% of the season was wholly unacceptable.

[fairweatherfan]

The impression I got of the "a lot of teams aren't playing right now" remark was "we deserve to be here, don't give up", not "just be happy to be playing".  But I could see how it could be taken the other way.

[timpiker]

I agree - he sounded like he was talking to some 10 year old girls getting beat by 10 runs in the 2nd inning....

[samantha28]

The impression I got of the "a lot of teams aren't playing right now" remark was "we deserve to be here, don't give up", not "just be happy to be playing".  But I could see how it could be taken the other way.
[/quote

I agree. He was probably saying to these guys–don't have a defeated attitude etc. I don't think it's the right message necessarily, but I get what he was trying to do.