Telling Doc Interview

[jdpapa3]

Thanks to thebirdman for finding this on Realgm.

http://www.eagletribune.com/pusports/local_story_158012533.html?keyword=topstory

State of the Celtics: Rivers runs through it Celts coach reviews season, says Rondo not an All-Star yet, laments 'giving away' Game 6
By Bill Burt
bburt@eagletribune.com

EDITOR'S NOTE: Eagle-Tribune columnist Bill Burt and Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers recently had a 30-minute discussion about the state of the Celtics.

Q: So how are your days different now that your season is over?

DOC: "Well, I'm playing golf about four days a week. That's a good thing. I enjoy that. It's also nice to be with the family a lot (at their Orlando, Fla., home). Every time I go to the office I bring out a pad of paper and I put down names and write about how we can get better. ... We have to improve our team if are going to win."

Q: So what are you writing down on that pad?

DOC: "For one, we have to take better care of the basketball. If you looked at our numbers we were third or fourth in the league in field goal percentage (actually second at 48.6 percent) yet we were 28th in turnovers. Two, our transition defense has to get better. Off the edge, in transition, we gave away too many easy baskets. Three, our bench has to get better as a group, positions we have to improve. We need a backup big (man). We need a backup for Paul Pierce. And we need a backup for Rajon Rondo."

Q: The one thing the Celtics hit on last year was bench guys you brought in, including James Posey, P.J. Brown and Sam Cassell. Is it safe to assume that the Celtics have to do a better job at filling those roles in 2009-10?

DOC: "Absolutely. We have to hit on backup positions. That's the key to our season, the subtle moves we make. One mistake we made was our locker room and our bench got too young too quickly. I think it made Rondo and Perkins younger. When guys had questions in the locker room, you had Sam, P.J. and Posey, plus the Big Three.

"It's more difficult when nobody is there in the second group. And when Kevin (Garnett) went down it really came down to the Big Two and now those are the two old guys, minus Scal (Brian Scalabrine). That's way too young."

Q: With the injuries you had, particularly with Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe, is it safe to say that losing James Posey to free agency hurt?

DOC: "That's fair to say, especially in the Orlando series. Orlando plays small with Rashard Lewis at (power forward). Last year we had Posey. But that's no excuse. We knew that when we entered the season. But I think the injuries hurt us more than anything."

Q: Are you proud of the season you had despite the key injury to Kevin Garnett or are you frustrated that it could be the Celtics in the finals?

DOC: "I was saying before our series with Orlando. They are a great team. They are as deep as any team in the league. We had three All-Stars. But they had four with Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson, who was hurt. There isn't another team in the league with four All-Stars. I would like to have played with a healthy Kevin Garnett and a healthy Leon Powe. I would have liked our chances. As for pride or frustration? I don't know. Maybe both."

Q: What was most frustrating about the loss to Orlando?

DOC: "Game 6 was the game we gave away. We had it won. Game 7 Orlando simply played better. You could argue they were the better team and let it go pretty easy. But it was frustrating at the time."

Q: You mention three All-Stars, but wouldn't you consider your point guard Rajon Rondo a fourth All-Star?

DOC: "Rondo still has a lot of growth ahead of him. As great as his numbers were, as great as he played at times, guys still fell off him to double team. Guys don't fall off an All-Star to help with someone else. He has to make them pay for that by hitting his shot. Rondo has a chance to be a great player.

"But you have to do it every day in the playoffs. The first five games of the Chicago series Rondo played at an All-Star level. But the rest of the playoffs you could make the case that he really struggled. He had good rebounding numbers. He also had some good assist numbers at times. But at the point guard level you have to be able to score and get your assists. When teams play the Boston Celtics the one guy they are going to help off of is Rondo."

Q: Does Rondo understand that?

DOC: "Yeah, I think he does. Rondo has a healthy ego. But he understands he has to get better on the scoring end. He has to hit the open shot. But knowing him and how competitive he is, and how tough he is, he will work on that this summer."

Q: What about the progress made by Glen "Big Baby" Davis?

DOC: "Sure, we were happy with his progress. We needed him to work on his jump shot and he was phenomenal in the offseason. But he has to be a better defensive player. He has to get in better shape to move his feet more. He has to be a better rebounder. Baby had games with one or two rebounds. That's not enough. He's also an inconsistent finisher.

"A lot of that has to do with his size. We want him to finish at the basket. He has a tendency of wanting to draw fouls. As good as he was, he took a step back defensively and rebounding. We talked about it. I think Baby fell in love with his offense, which helped us. But I think it comes down to conditioning. That's something he has to do next year. He'll be in better shape next year."

Q: Big Baby is a free agent. Will you re-sign him?

DOC: "He has to do his business, and see what's out there, but hopefully we'll sign him. I think we have a great shot at signing him. He fits in well with our team. I know he loves being here. He's just a young guy who needs to mature. We want him back."

Q: There was talk that Kevin Garnett might have returned to the lineup if the Celtics beat Orlando. Is that true?

DOC: "I said it before and I'll say it again. I don't think there was any chance. He didn't do surgery, so there was always hope. But I moved on. I know Kevin wanted to play and he did everything in his power to return. But I saw him walk. I saw his gait. He wasn't playing. I knew that."

Q: You were asked about having Kevin on the bench and you got a little testy. Why?

DOC: "The reason I said that he wasn't coming back (early in the Chicago series) was because I wanted our players to move on. That became a distraction in the Chicago series and I wanted to end it. Kevin was funny. He was on the bench and we were struggling for one stretch and he thought it was him. I told him, 'It's nothing to do with you. It's our defense.' I love having him on the bench. I love all our players on the bench."

Q: What did the Celtics miss most not having Garnett?

DOC: "You can yell all you want on the bench, but it's not the same. We missed his leadership. We also weren't the same team on defense. Our defense gave up 102 points a game in the playoffs. Last year we gave up 88 points a game. That's a 14-point difference."

Q: What did you think of Ray Allen in the playoffs?

DOC: "It's unfortunate for Ray, not having Kevin. When Ray comes off pin downs with Kevin, nobody is helping. But with Baby, Perk and Scal it was different. What also hurt was Rondo's guy, on every pass, ran to Ray. Think about it, Ray had Rondo's guy running at him. He had Perk's guy running at him. They didn't fear those guys on the offensive end. If you look at a lot of Baby's shots, it was his guy going to Ray. Clearly, not having Kevin, affected Ray the most."

Q: A lot of people brought up the loss of Garnett, but you often corrected the questioner by bringing up the loss of Powe, too. Why?

DOC: "Leon was our low post scorer. Paul was an easy guy to trap. We became an in-out team to an out team. A lot of our points in the paint came off drives rather than feeding the post. Look at Orlando. They are a pick-and-roll team and an in-and-out team. After a timeout is called you know Orlando is going to go down low and then back out. Leon would have allowed us to do that a lot more.

"Leon also would have been a big help on defense because he would have been able to cover Rashard Lewis. He has quick feet. It also would have been tough for Rashard to guard Leon. That was a big loss for us. I don't think people understood how much it would have helped. It would have helped Baby, too. I think that dynamic would have pushed both of them."

Q: You often talk about basketball not being No. 1 in your life. Did Danny Ainge's heart attack affect you?

DOC: "That scared the hell out of me. Danny is still so young and so healthy. I'm about the same age. No doubt about it that it makes you rethink everything. I love coaching. I will coach forever. But I will take time off, but it won't be because of coaching. It will be because of my family. My family needs me more. I have no problem saying that. Every summer I evaluate that. I have a young family. You don't get that time back."

Q: Does that mean you could take a coaching hiatus soon?

DOC: "I don't know how to answer that right now. I will evaluate it every year. I do know that coaching the Celtics is the best job in sports. It's a great team in a city which loves the game and the team that I coach. This is a great franchise. I love working for Danny. He's not only a great judge of talent, but he's a great person. Even when I walk around Orlando I see people walking around in Celtics shirts and hats. You can't get many franchises like that; maybe the Yankees, Red Sox and Cowboys. I love it ... The only thing I would trade it for is my family."

Q: There was a time not long ago that a lot of African Americans looked down on Boston and the Celtics. Has that changed?

DOC: "Danny and I had long conversations about that topic. We said we were going to change that and make this a place that players and people wanted to come to. I do have a sense of pride that race isn't a factor. Players want to come here to play because the Celtics do it right. And the fans have been there, no matter their race, and I love seeing that."

[Chris]

Great find, and very interesting stuff.  I love how honest Doc is.  I don't think too much of this is revolutionary, but its just nice to hear it coming from him.

I think the Big Baby stuff was interesting, particularly about him getting too interested in his offense, and regressing on defense.  That is absolutely true.  He was one of the better defenders earlier in the season, but as his minutes grew, he seemed to start pacing himself.

The Rondo stuff was pretty much what we all have seen.  But I really like the fact that Doc is willing to talk about it.  He doesn't throw anyone under the bus, but doesn't baby them either.  Rondo has a lot of work to do, and everyone knows it.  But its nice to see a coach actually say that to the media.

What I found most interesting though was the comment about having too much youth in the locker room.  It really makes a ton of sense, especially when you consider the fact that when KG and Scal were out, the only veteran players they had were Pierce, Allen, House, and Moore.  That is a big difference from last year when they had Pierce, Allen, House, Garnett, Posey, PJ, and Cassell.  I think this team will be getting a little older this year, and that will be a good thing.

[indeedproceed]

This is just a thought, but could the recent frank, and seemingly honest, no sugar coat assessments of Rajon Rondo and his "maturity" issues, as well as his skills and skill deficencies be kind of a a big PR game from Celtics management to try to A) lower Rajon Rondo's extension price and B) get him more motivated to get better?

They're not saying the same stuff about Big Baby or Kendrick Perkins.

EDIT: maybe they are saying some of the same stuff aobut Baby.

[PosImpos]

Very interesting.

He brings up some great points about how big of a loss Powe was and also how the loss of Garnett affected Ray negatively and in some ways helped BBD's offensive numbers.  I hadn't really thought of it that way.

I'm glad Doc is so serious about improving the team, and I can only hope that Ainge feels the same.

[paintitgreen]

Wow, great article, and I agree very telling. Sounds like Doc wants to just bring the same core back - the starting five, Baby and Leon - and add some veterans for the bench at the 1, 3 and 5. Nothing particular about any of the young guys but it's clear he doesn't just want a bunch of young guys running around. Also interesting how he feels about Ray getting so affected by KG's absence. Good interview.

As for Rondo, I think yeah, it's par for the course on what Doc says about him. I don't think Doc would get involved in the whole affect a guy's extension price discussion, I think he's looking purely on court. He knows how much Rondo being an All Star player would turn this into an unstoppable team, especially since he was a point guard. As for the differences between what he says about Rondo and what he says about Davis and Perk, I think it has more to do with the fact that a point guard HAS to bring offense, and a point guard who allows team to double off him constantly is more of a liability than Rondo backers - myself included - want to admit. I think Doc's looking at the fact that we need a better Rondo next year, forget about his cost down the road. With his talks of taking a hiatus and more time with his family, Doc seems a lot more focused on the present than the future.

[Chris]

This is just a thought, but could the recent frank, and seemingly honest, no sugar coat assessments of Rajon Rondo and his "maturity" issues, as well as his skills and skill deficencies be kind of a a big PR game from Celtics management to try to A) lower Rajon Rondo's extension price and B) get him more motivated to get better?

They're not saying the same stuff about Big Baby or Kendrick Perkins.

EDIT: maybe they are saying some of the same stuff aobut Baby.

It's definitely possible...but I think its just Doc being honest.  He has never been one to hold things like that back, he just knows how to criticize his players in a respectful way.

[snively]

This is just a thought, but could the recent frank, and seemingly honest, no sugar coat assessments of Rajon Rondo and his "maturity" issues, as well as his skills and skill deficencies be kind of a a big PR game from Celtics management to try to A) lower Rajon Rondo's extension price and B) get him more motivated to get better?

They're not saying the same stuff about Big Baby or Kendrick Perkins.

Well, he did tear down Baby more than Rondo, but I guess he's in even greater need of devaluing since he's a FA.


No, I think Doc's being honest.

[MVP]

This is just a thought, but could the recent frank, and seemingly honest, no sugar coat assessments of Rajon Rondo and his "maturity" issues, as well as his skills and skill deficencies be kind of a a big PR game from Celtics management to try to A) lower Rajon Rondo's extension price and B) get him more motivated to get better?

They're not saying the same stuff about Big Baby or Kendrick Perkins.

I think that has part to do with it. Doc is always cautiously critical of Rondo in interviews saying that he still has a lot of work to do whether it be defensively or here with his shooting - which is true. You can see the difference when he talks about Rondo and Allen. For Rondo he points out his defencincies whereas for Allen he kinda makes excuses saying that he missed KG (everyone did including Rondo) and insuniating that Allen was quadruple teamed by Rondo's, Baby's and Perk's defenders which is a huge overstatement and an All Star should expect to be double teamed and still produce.

Allen doesn't need any motivation. He has reached his peak and you know he is doing what he needs to do in the off season. With Rondo, he is still maturing so you need to push him a little.

[indeedproceed]

This is just a thought, but could the recent frank, and seemingly honest, no sugar coat assessments of Rajon Rondo and his "maturity" issues, as well as his skills and skill deficencies be kind of a a big PR game from Celtics management to try to A) lower Rajon Rondo's extension price and B) get him more motivated to get better?

They're not saying the same stuff about Big Baby or Kendrick Perkins.

Well, he did tear down Baby more than Rondo, but I guess he's in even greater need of devaluing since he's a FA.


No, I think Doc's being honest.

I saw the Baby quote after my post but you're right.

And you're probably right, he's likely just being honest.

I dunno I just don't remember these quotes after Rajon's rookie year, or even after the run last season.

[BballTim]

This is just a thought, but could the recent frank, and seemingly honest, no sugar coat assessments of Rajon Rondo and his "maturity" issues, as well as his skills and skill deficencies be kind of a a big PR game from Celtics management to try to A) lower Rajon Rondo's extension price and B) get him more motivated to get better?

They're not saying the same stuff about Big Baby or Kendrick Perkins.

Well, he did tear down Baby more than Rondo, but I guess he's in even greater need of devaluing since he's a FA.


No, I think Doc's being honest.

I saw the Baby quote after my post but you're right.

And you're probably right, he's likely just being honest.

I dunno I just don't remember these quotes after Rajon's rookie year, or even after the run last season.

  All he said about Rondo was that he needs to improve his outside shot. He's said that in the past.

[indeedproceed]

This is just a thought, but could the recent frank, and seemingly honest, no sugar coat assessments of Rajon Rondo and his "maturity" issues, as well as his skills and skill deficencies be kind of a a big PR game from Celtics management to try to A) lower Rajon Rondo's extension price and B) get him more motivated to get better?

They're not saying the same stuff about Big Baby or Kendrick Perkins.

Well, he did tear down Baby more than Rondo, but I guess he's in even greater need of devaluing since he's a FA.


No, I think Doc's being honest.

I saw the Baby quote after my post but you're right.

And you're probably right, he's likely just being honest.

I dunno I just don't remember these quotes after Rajon's rookie year, or even after the run last season.

  All he said about Rondo was that he needs to improve his outside shot. He's said that in the past.

Since the playoffs he's also commented on Rondo's lack of maturity, and the fact that he can be tough to deal with. I'm positive about that. I think I also remember Wyc saying something similar. I can't find either quote though (I did look), so it is possible I'm 'misremembering'

[dark_lord]

that interview was great....thx for posting it!

[CoachBo]

This is just a thought, but could the recent frank, and seemingly honest, no sugar coat assessments of Rajon Rondo and his "maturity" issues, as well as his skills and skill deficencies be kind of a a big PR game from Celtics management to try to A) lower Rajon Rondo's extension price and B) get him more motivated to get better?

They're not saying the same stuff about Big Baby or Kendrick Perkins.

EDIT: maybe they are saying some of the same stuff aobut Baby.

I think that's exactly it - to make sure he and his agent understand there won't be a max deal this summer because of the gaps in his game.

[snively]

This is just a thought, but could the recent frank, and seemingly honest, no sugar coat assessments of Rajon Rondo and his "maturity" issues, as well as his skills and skill deficencies be kind of a a big PR game from Celtics management to try to A) lower Rajon Rondo's extension price and B) get him more motivated to get better?

They're not saying the same stuff about Big Baby or Kendrick Perkins.

I think that has part to do with it. Doc is always cautiously critical of Rondo in interviews saying that he still has a lot of work to do whether it be defensively or here with his shooting - which is true. You can see the difference when he talks about Rondo and Allen. For Rondo he points out his defencincies whereas for Allen he kinda makes excuses saying that he missed KG (everyone did including Rondo) and insuniating that Allen was quadruple teamed by Rondo's, Baby's and Perk's defenders which is a huge overstatement and an All Star should expect to be double teamed and still produce.

Allen doesn't need any motivation. He has reached his peak and you know he is doing what he needs to do in the off season. With Rondo, he is still maturing so you need to push him a little.

TP for the insightful observation.  While some of Ray's struggles can be tied to the absence of KG, he was just completely off from long-range for the entire Orlando series despite some quality looks (for Ray, at least).

I just don't like the stilted perspective this gives of the game.  By isolating Rondo for criticism and putting him below the level of the Big 3, Doc devalues his contributions.  While Rondo came up short in some big moments and big ways, overall he brought more to the table than just about anybody else on the team.  

Rondo with a J is a superstar.  As is he's just an all-star.  A very unorthodox one, but still a star.

[BballTim]

This is just a thought, but could the recent frank, and seemingly honest, no sugar coat assessments of Rajon Rondo and his "maturity" issues, as well as his skills and skill deficencies be kind of a a big PR game from Celtics management to try to A) lower Rajon Rondo's extension price and B) get him more motivated to get better?

They're not saying the same stuff about Big Baby or Kendrick Perkins.

Well, he did tear down Baby more than Rondo, but I guess he's in even greater need of devaluing since he's a FA.


No, I think Doc's being honest.

I saw the Baby quote after my post but you're right.

And you're probably right, he's likely just being honest.

I dunno I just don't remember these quotes after Rajon's rookie year, or even after the run last season.

  All he said about Rondo was that he needs to improve his outside shot. He's said that in the past.

Since the playoffs he's also commented on Rondo's lack of maturity, and the fact that he can be tough to deal with. I'm positive about that. I think I also remember Wyc saying something similar. I can't find either quote though (I did look), so it is possible I'm 'misremembering'

  Maybe. All I've seen this summer are re-prints of earlier quotes, mainly about Rondo in his rookie year. Even if it were true it's not that unusual for a 23 year old nba player to have maturity issues. Pierce was in his late 20a when he got past his.