Is Phil Jackson vs Doc Rivers the biggest Finals coaching mismatch of all-time?

[crownsy]

Doc can certainly silence some critics and turn me from netrual to doc supporter with 4 W's, i'll tell you that much....

[Roy Hobbs]

Phil is underrated by Celtics fans, but overrated by everybody else.  I think he's pretty clearly a better coach than Doc, but it's not like he will single-handedly lift the Lakers over the Celts.

Also, I agree with nick that Doc has been getting better.  He's still not perfect, and his rotations / four-man bench units frustrate me to no end, but if he maintains the level of coaching he showed towards the end of the Cleveland and Detroit series, we should be fine.

The most important thing in this series won't be the coaching, but will be the execution of the players, in particular Ray and Rondo on offense, and everyone on defense.

[Edgar]

Phil is underrated by Celtics fans, but overrated by everybody else.  I think he's pretty clearly a better coach than Doc, but it's not like he will single-handedly lift the Lakers over the Celts.

Also, I agree with nick that Doc has been getting better.  He's still not perfect, and his rotations / four-man bench units frustrate me to no end, but if he maintains the level of coaching he showed towards the end of the Cleveland and Detroit series, we should be fine.

The most important thing in this series won't be the coaching, but will be the execution of the players, in particular Ray and Rondo on offense, and everyone on defense.

Specially Ray, Rondo,Tony, Pierce and Posey who will eventually guard Mr. Anoying himself.

[Kuberski33]

All this Doc talk again is starting to **** me off!  Get off his back, look at what he has accomplished with this team so far!  To top things off, he has the respect of all his players.
Doc will only be appreciated here after he wins a couple of championships, which he will do, mark my words!

You can't argue with the results to date.  Doc also did a very good job vs. Detroit.

Jackson's a decent coach, but to me he'll always be the hatchet man that he was with the mid 70's Knicks.  He was kind of like Laimbeer without the long range shot.

He's also every bit as arrogant as Pat Riley and as with Riley, the Celtics can't beat his teams enough times to keep me happy. 

A 4 game sweep would be nice.....

[Roy Hobbs]

One scary thing: I remember seeing a stat that Phil Jackson teams are something like 47-0 when winning Game 1 of a series.  We need to come out and defend our home court.

[Kuberski33]

One scary thing: I remember seeing a stat that Phil Jackson teams are something like 47-0 when winning Game 1 of a series.  We need to come out and defend our home court.

Because he has usually had the best team and they've been home for Game 1.  But you're right.  Game 1 sets the tone and I really think they C's need to hold serve on Thursday to have a chance at winning this thing.

[Who]

Phil isn't the type to ... let me say it another way. Don Nelson will throw mismatches out there on you and force you to react. Larry Brown will try to attack your weak points and beat you with X's on O's, playcalling. Control tempo with timeouts. Pat Riley was similar. They are all very active in their in-game coaching. Phil Jackson isn't. Phil's the type that spends the entire season preparing the team for how he wants them to perform in the playoffs. Phil spends the vast majority of his time worrying about what his team does with very little consideration for the opposition.

Phil isn't going to be coming out here and forcing Doc to react to a bunch of things Doc didn't see coming. Same Lakers each night.

[Steve from Milford]

In all the talk of how great Phil Jackson is, the first comment you always hear is how good he is in getting his players to put aside their egos for the good of the team. I don't ever recall hearing that he is a great x's and o's man.

When people talk about the greatest strength of Doc Rivers, it is always about how good he is at getting the players to put aside their egos and play hard for him.

Seeing as how this is the first year that Doc has had the talent to match Phil, I absolutely believe that the coaching battle will be very close to a wash!

[Kuberski33]

Seeing as how this is the first year that Doc has had the talent to match Phil, I absolutely believe that the coaching battle will be very close to a wash!

And he finished with the best record and got his team to the Finals in its first attempt.  I'd say he ended the 'Doc Can't Coach' debate, but I'm sure it will linger on with some.

I have to say the performance of his team in the 4th Quarter Friday night won me over.  Those guys played like a Championship team and you can't say it happened in spite of the coach.  I'd say the coach had a big hand in it actually.

[crownsy]

One scary thing: I remember seeing a stat that Phil Jackson teams are something like 47-0 when winning Game 1 of a series.  We need to come out and defend our home court.

we have to win both at home, with the 2-3-2 format, i don't want LA going hom with anyway to close us out without a return trip.

[LakerLanny]

Coaching in the NBA is vastly overrated.

I will take a team with great talent and a bad coach over a team with bad talent and a great coach any day of the week.

This isn't college ball, this is the pros.  Talent wins.

[wdleehi]

I think the head coach has been the biggest mismatch for the Celtics all post season.



Hasn't stopped them yet. 

[Discoflux]

Did you guys hear Doc Mic'd up for TNT? 
His coaching style was the equivalent of Rob Schneider in 'Waterboy'.  Youuuucandooooittttt!!!!!
Phil Jackson is top 3 best coach in NBA history.  He may be the best, but let's not split hairs.

If PJ is not the best ever, he is certainly the perfect coach for LA.  He and Tex with Kurt Rambis (remember him?) and B.Shaw make up a great staff. 

PJ built this Lakers team, its his vision melded with Kobe's vision as a team unit out on the court.  If you live in LA... the style of play looks beautiful, like Brazil playing soccer. 

I hope this is a historic series!  Good luck!

[wdleehi]

Did you guys hear Doc Mic'd up for TNT? 
His coaching style was the equivalent of Rob Schneider in 'Waterboy'.  Youuuucandooooittttt!!!!!
Phil Jackson is top 3 best coach in NBA history.  He may be the best, but let's not split hairs.

If PJ is not the best ever, he is certainly the perfect coach for LA.  He and Tex with Kurt Rambis (remember him?) and B.Shaw make up a great staff. 

PJ built this Lakers team, its his vision melded with Kobe's vision as a team unit out on the court.  If you live in LA... the style of play looks beautiful, like Brazil playing soccer. 

I hope this is a historic series!  Good luck!

First team he ever built. 

[Brickowski]

In this series we should actually be looking at Tom Thibideau vs Tex Winters.... great defensive coach vs great offensive coach,and not be looking at the head coaches

Yes, that's the real intellectual matchup.  But the other issue is Phil's calmness no matter what happens on the court vs Rivers' tendence to overreact.