Bulls-Heat game 1 really shows Doc's bad coaching

[Donoghus]

The Celtics did not have the personnel to do what Chicago are doing.

Not an issue with coaching.

Totally agree.

[MBz]

I've never been a huge fan of Doc, but I don't think he did a poor job in the Miami series.  I don't think he did a good job either.  It's tough to tell what was his fault and what was the player's fault.  Whose fault was it that KG was only able to go into the post and score for 1 game?  Was it a game plan thing or was it a physical thing?  In games 1 and 2 he didn't even bother trying to get down there.  Game 3 he had his way in the post, the first quarter of game 5 he did the same thing then he stopped getting the ball.  I think Krstic could have been effective in the Miami series.  Say what you want about his defense but he was the best offensive rebounder on the team during the regular season.  If you want to beat the Heat you need offensive rebounding.  Look at what Chicago did last night.  19 offensive rebounds, outrebounded Miami 45-33.  Their scoring numbers weren't any different than what we did against Miami, but they killed them on the glass and protected the basketball.  We don't even have anyone on our team who fights for offensive rebounds most of the time.  Most of the time a shot goes up and they just turn around and get back.  I understand that philosophy, but if you don't get the boards against Miami you have no chance of stopping their fast break.  

[Tai]

My beef is that Bulls did what Celtics didn't do
Make the Heat play half-court basketball

Sorry, that falls on the coach

I agree with slamtheking that most of the Celtics' turnovers allowed the Heat to get into their transition offense with very ridiculous turnovers, such as dribbling off the foot, or a flat out horrid pass. Doc can only tell them at that point to "be smart with the ball", something he shouldn't have to tell a veteran team.

And ben, Shelden Williams? REALLY?

[LilRip]

hmm... i think the true comparison comes if we break Rose's arm. Then let's see how the Bulls do against the Heat

[MBunge]

You can't blame Doc for the fact that KG only had one great game and Ray one good game against Miami, playing average to below average the rest of the series.  You can't blame Doc for Rondo getting hurt or for the O'Neals being physically limited.

You can blame Doc for playing Big Baby over Krstic, especially after Baby stunk it up against New York.  There's really no excuse for it because Baby has gone through stretches before where he's absolutely killed the team and a coach has to recognize that and NOT let it happen in the playoffs, especially when you're talking about a bench player.  You can't really blame Doc for not playing Green more because Green clearly didn't have either the offensive or defensive schemes down.  You can blame Doc, however, for not playing Von Wafer more in the regular season, especially toward the end when it was clear Boston was not going to be the #1 seed.  I don't know how much of a difference it would have made, but it wouldn't have hurt if 35 year old Ray Allen had played less than 36 minutes a game this year or it the team had had an athletic, aggresive player to throw at Wade on the perimeter.

I'm not sure you can blame Doc for the team's offensive woes, since it became clear this team would go into brainlock and only look at the first option on a play.  How many times did teams cheat around screens to deny Ray the ball?  How many times did we see a player fake like he's setting a screen for Ray and then dive toward the rim for a layup or dunk?

The biggest thing you can blame Doc for is probably the horrific turnover problem this team has had from the very beginning.  You can live with the turnovers from over passing, but there have been far too many mind-numbingly dumb passes and lackadaisical ball handling over the past 4 years.  It was there in the first season of the new Big 3 and it never got any better.

Mike

[OsirusCeltics]

My beef is that Bulls did what Celtics didn't do
Make the Heat play half-court basketball

Sorry, that falls on the coach

How does that fall on the coach?  It was exactly what the C's were trying to do as well.  The problem is, the C's didn't execute it, which allowed the Heat to get out in the open court.  Doc did not make them constantly throw the ball away, fumble it, or shoot a long contested shot after the defense took away what they were trying to do, which led to a long rebound.

The Bulls executed, the C's didn't.  It's on the players.

Yeah totally, turnovers contributed to the loss also
But its Doc propensity to play offense on the perimeter. He doesn't exploit size, makes the Celtics a jump-shooting team.
And playing that way against the Heat (the most dominant perimeter team) you will always lose

Also correlates to why the Lakers were 0-2 against the Heat. Lakers decided to play perimeter basketball with Kobe vs Wade and Lebron, and got destroyed. A coach can always correct that

Chicago played through their bigs and pounded the ball inside against Miami's undersized frontline

[ACF]

...or maybe we were just injured all year and couldn't find the switch. It happens. I already moved on.

[housecall]

I agree Doc couldve done a better job but you also have to take advantages of matchups you are better at.One thru five the Bulls won 4 of the 5 matchups.As much as i hate to say it, the C.Bosh vs Boozer was the only matchup the Heat won in game 1.The Bulls shut the paint down to Lebron and Wade something our guys weren't able to do.Bulls bench was huge in game 1.

[BASS_THUMPER]

The Celtics did not have the personnel to do what Chicago are doing.

Not an issue with coaching.

Totally agree.

we had the personnel..

they jus showed up to work late all the time

[ben]

Rivers choice to play Glen Davis so many minutes, and in front of guys like Kristic, Murphy, Powe in the past, Williams, Sheed,  is very suspect.  I don't like that choice at all. 

I just don't understand this at all.  Until the past 2-3 months, Baby Davis was a better player than all of these guys.  Baby "won" playing time over Powe because even before his most recent injuries, Powe was a terrible defensive player.  He could rebound, he could score, but Baby Davis was far better on the defensive side.

'Sheed was TERRIBLE until the playoffs began last year.  Talk about revisionist thinking - people couldn't ride him out of town fast enough.  He played a fair amount anyway - 22+ minutes/game versus Baby's 17.

Krstic is another terrible defensive center, and was no better a rebounder than Davis this year.  Krstic had a defensive rebounding rate of about 16 this year (averaging his numbers in OKC and Boston), Davis was 16.4.  Both were bad, but Baby has at least shown some ability to defend the interior in the past, something Krstic has never been known for doing.

Troy Murphy has done absolutely nothing all season; the dude ain't right.  He's another atrocious defender, even when healthy.

Landlord Williams...  please.

For the majority of the past three seasons, Baby Davis has been the best player of these guys you listed.  Yes, he absolutely sucked at the end of the season.  Doc was playing him and trying to get his confidence going, because frankly what else was he going to do?  We needed to get solid contributions from the bench, which meant that we needed guys like Delonte and Green and - yes, Baby Davis - to step up.  Davis wasn't going to get his confidence back by benching him.

I'm happy to see Baby move on next season, but to blame Doc for playing him too many minutes and then listing THOSE guys as being better options...  I'm sorry, but no.

If you compare Glen Davis and Sheldon Williams in the Knicks series this year, Sheldon actually has a better +/- , scored more points, and got more rebounds during the series.  He also shot a better percentage...   

I wasn't even trying to compare players, I don't enjoy doing that.  But Doc's decision to play baby as many minutes as he has this year and also in the past is VERY suspect and I don't like it at all. 

[jgod213]

I guess i'm not "shocked" to see so many people blaming Doc for the Miami series, but to me this is easy stuff.

Glen Davis finished 4th in sixth man of the year voting. 4th!!! right behind Thad Young and IN FRONT OF guys like jamal crawford/james harden/Ty Lawson/Tony Allen.  He averaged 12/5 in the regular season and is clearly one of, if not THE best charge-taker in the NBA...

My point here is: Doc HAD to play Glen the amount he did.  You can't toss away a guy who was considered one of the best bench players in the NBA after 82 games. Can't change your entire rotation after a couple of tough games.

Glen had a history of successfully closing out games with the starters and being the x-factor in the playoffs.  Doc had no choice but to ride him out and see if he could figure it out. 

Doc played the guys who earned their minutes.  It's the players who couldn't get the job done when it counted.

[ben]

I guess i'm not "shocked" to see so many people blaming Doc for the Miami series, but to me this is easy stuff.

Glen Davis finished 4th in sixth man of the year voting. 4th!!! right behind Thad Young and IN FRONT OF guys like jamal crawford/james harden/Ty Lawson/Tony Allen.  He averaged 12/5 in the regular season and is clearly one of, if not THE best charge-taker in the NBA...

My point here is: Doc HAD to play Glen the amount he did.  You can't toss away a guy who was considered one of the best bench players in the NBA after 82 games. Can't change your entire rotation after a couple of tough games.

Glen had a history of successfully closing out games with the starters and being the x-factor in the playoffs.  Doc had no choice but to ride him out and see if he could figure it out. 

Doc played the guys who earned their minutes.  It's the players who couldn't get the job done when it counted.

To me, the easy part is benching Glen Davis, especially when he has 4 bad games in a row (knicks series). 

[RJ87]

The Bulls are younger, more athletic, and keep up their pace for 48mins. Their bench is also healthier and deeper (can you imagine if we had Taj Gibson in place of Glen Davis?). In short, it was more about personnel than it was coaching.

[MBz]

The Celtics did not have the personnel to do what Chicago are doing.

Not an issue with coaching.

Totally agree.

we had the personnel..

they jus showed up to work late all the time

Who though? Chicago won by beating them up on the offensive glass to prevent their fast break.  Who on the Celtics was going to do that?

[OsirusCeltics]

The Celtics did not have the personnel to do what Chicago are doing.

Not an issue with coaching.

Totally agree.

we had the personnel..

they jus showed up to work late all the time

Who though? Chicago won by beating them up on the offensive glass to prevent their fast break.  Who on the Celtics was going to do that?

They may not have been athletic, but there was no reason to bench Kristic and Murphy
And when Kristic actually played in game 5, he played really well