don't be amazed if this guy exits earlier than the big 3...

[greenlion]

with the pressure mounting, expectations being raised and the team terribly underperforming, it is possible that doc might be giving up on the team earlier than the big 3 or rondo..he has been under pressure to come up with results at least satisfactorily, but the rate things are, he's nowhere near in imparting the concept of ubuntu to the guys..could it be that they are not buying to his system anymore? probably?his reluctance of infusing new blood in the rotation is also under scrutiny, we are overflowing with untapped potential, and calibre bench but his trust on them are highly questionnable and unable to prep them up for his system..it is easy to pin the blame on the lockout, limited time for preparations, but how do you explain that when we are almost halfway into the shortened season? i love doc and what he has done for us, i'm praying that he could still pep them up with his wisdom and salvage whatever's left of our shaky season, but if he can't, i still don't blame him..there is a limit to what one man can do, the guys have to do their part too..

[ozman]

He just signed a 5 year extension. His not leaving anytime soon.

[LarBrd33]

None of this is Doc's fault.  Our 7th string big man is currently starting at center.  No Perk, no Shaq, no Krstik, no David West... nobody expected JO to start.  Danny Ainge and management is well aware of this team's lack of talent beyond the capable 3 and Rondo... you'd have to be an idiot to pin this on Doc.  Doc told Danny during the offseason, "Get me talent... I don't care who it is... just get me talent and we will make it work" and unfortunately we whiffed badly.  Jeff Green got hurt, the David West thing fell through, Krstik got stuck overseas, not to mention the countless hours Ainge must have spent desperately trying to get Chris Paul... the whole offseason was a massive bust.  I blame nobody.  Ainge did everything he could... it just didn't work out.  What you're seeing is the worst case scenario.  If you were tapped into this team you'd probably see the writing on the wall before the season even started.  Apparently it took us falling below .500 and Ainge flat out saying "We aren't a contender" for some people to get it.  Take a look at the roster... what exactly do you expect?  If these strangers on our bench were wearing Kings jerseys you'd think nothing of them.

There's no easy play here.  We could just ride out the season, take our playoff beating, get stuck with a middle 1st rounder and watch KG and Ray walk... we could trade Pierce and Ray now to try to get some draft pick assets and cap space... we could desperately try to land a legitimate starting center (Chris Kaman buyout) and get a glimmer of hope...  and somewhere on that list there's the "trade Rondo for an upgrade" option.  But none of this has to do with Doc Rivers.  

We are a sitting duck team.  Doc Rivers is arguably more important to our transition into the next generation than any player on this squad.  Players love him... he's unquestionably a capable coach... he's a great guy to have here during our 5+ year rebuild.

[chambers]

we are overflowing with untapped potential, and calibre bench but his trust on them are highly questionnable and unable to prep them up for his system

Don't get too carried away, we have Bradley, Johnson and Steimsma.

Doc isn't going anywhere lol.
He's here for the long haul and will probably be here longer than anyone on our team playing right now.

[OhioGreen]

You're right on the money! Doc is CAPABLE coach. Not great, not real good, just capable!  Give him several HOF'ers and a couple more all stars, he'll let you compete for a title. All of our guys that fit that bill fit it years ago! Now he's left with decent player, second line vets, and rookies! Doc is a great motivator, but all the motivation in the world can't turn turds into gold!

On another note, for those saying you can't get anything for the big 3, so just wait til summer----here's a thought!  Let's just release KG, RA, JON, and any of the vets who are not long term solutions, and sign the best the D league (or overseas) has to offer. A whole stack of 'em won't cost probably a million bucks combined. I'd rather watch our young guys, and possibly find a hidden D league gem, that watch the absolute garbage we are putting on the floor every nite!

And, Doc is not the guy I want coaching young players, so pack him up too! If you're going young next year, you don't want the   combination of the old big 3 and Doc, cause he'd still play them 35 minutes a game, and leave rooks on the bench!

End of rant!

[guava_wrench]

his reluctance of infusing new blood in the rotation is also under scrutiny, we are overflowing with untapped potential, and calibre bench but his trust on them are highly questionnable and unable to prep them up for his system.

Are you talking about the Celtics from a parallel universe? In the one I am in, Doc is playing the young guys and the team is losing badly with them.

Overflowing with untapped potential? Based on what? Wishful thinking? JJJ will take time to develop, as will Bradley. They are early on in their careers. What you see right now is what they are. Stiemsma seems to have been tapped so much that he has tapped out.

Seems you have an old anti-Doc script that you are using in a season where it is incredibly inappropriate.

[greenlion]

i love doc rivers, his demeanor, someone who is cognizant of what a team needs and what it stands for, he's a perfect fit in the whole scheme of celtics ideology, but the circumstances are failing his system, if so, there must be something wrong..people on the sidelines see it, why some won't, they just probably refuse..i'd love to see him for the long haul, if he really is up for it, these are the youth that he should be banking on right now,there's no parallel universe here, its all here under our noses..or else they shouldn't be here in the first place..and by the way,however strong his personality is right now, with all the pressures on his shoulder given by disenchanted fans right now who doesn't want to tread that path no more, losing that is, not even his multimillion dollar contract could save his stay, cause he just might..call it quits, sooner than everybody thinks...

[nickagneta]

Doc just signed a 5 year $35 million deal.

Which means if he quits he is giving up on $28 million because he will breach his contract and not get the remaining money. That's not happening when his son is one year away from entering the league and Doc has the opportunity to coach him or against him.


The Celtics are not going to fire a guy and pay him $28 million to bad mouth them on TNT for the next 4 years. That isn't happening. Not given Doc's record on developing talent.

This thread is just not based in any type of business reality and, sorry to say, the NBA is a business.

[SHAQATTACK]

Naw ...Doc an't going anywhere .  Probally got tuffer with aging players /injuries than he figured.

It seems bad now , but the longer we drag out this big three era , the longer we suffer watching poor baskektball.

I think Doc will do fine, once the opportunity to inject new talent in the team can happen.

There is just not much Doc can do with all the issues facing the Celtics.

I think he will make the most of it and wait it out like all of us for Danny to get new players.

[SHAQATTACK]

Doc is very good coach...his strenght is his abilitiy to work with the big egos and personalitites and get everybody on the same page. ...other words people TRUST and BELIEVE in him....probally the too most important aspects.

He misses Tibbs , Tibbs was the X and 0's basketball geek part of that tandem.  Maybe he can land a couple new assitants to help.

Doc is in the top five coachs still active .

[celticinorlando]

Doc stays...but it is time to blow this team up. they are finished.

[Q_FBE]

I think Danny Ainge would leave 1st with Doc soon to follow. It would have to be ownerships call and as far as I know, the ownership is fiercely loyal to Doc and Danny. This is obviously not a fine time to be a player, coach, GM, owner, and especially a fan of the Celtics. We were screwed by the timing of the lockout's end and having only 6 or 7 players under contract and then having to deal with the Chris Paul and David West rumors. Plus we had to service KGs 21 million dollar contract and he is giving us 2.1 million service. The players were not prepared. And now, predictably, the injuries are making an all out assault on our team and this season is threatened if not completely lost. I guess under the latest forum topics, not surprisingly are the trade ideas I am reading over as I type away. 

[Eddie20]

He misses Tibbs , Tibbs was the X and 0's basketball geek part of that tandem.  Maybe he can land a couple new assitants to help.

There were Larry Brown rumors before.

If Lawrence Frank leaves the Boston Celtics to coach the Detroit Pistons, Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown would like to be his replacement, Yahoo! Sports reports.

Brown's interest in the Celtics is not new; he and head coach Doc Rivers discussed Brown becoming an assistant in 2007, according to Yahoo!, but Brown decided to remain with the Philadelphia 76ers as consultant. Brown later was hired as the Charlotte Bobcats' head coach. The Bobcats fired Brown last December.

Brown has been trying to get back into coaching since his dismissal by the Bobcats, expressing interest in recent NBA and college openings. Boston is not eager to pay top dollar for an assistant, Yahoo! reports, but an NBA source close to Brown is quoted as saying the 70-year-old coaching vet “would do this for less than the going rate.”

Frank is working on a deal to become the Pistons' new coach, replacing the fired John Kuester.

Read more: http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2011-07-24/larry-brown-boston-celtics-doc-rivers-nba-coaching-assistant#ixzz1n1q1EvvL

[MBunge]

Are you talking about the Celtics from a parallel universe? In the one I am in, Doc is playing the young guys and the team is losing badly with them.

Against Dallas.

Ray Allen - 37 minutes
Keyon Dooling - 17 minutes
E'Twaun Moore - 7 minutes

Jermaine O'Neal - 19 minutes
Chris Wilcox - 13 minutes (left with 8:45 to go in the 3rd with an injury)
Greg Stiemsma - 17 minutes
JJJ - 16 minutes

So, in a road game, on the 2nd night of a back to back, two starters out and a blowout for almost the entire second half...Allen plays 37 frickin' minutes, Dooling plays over twice as much as Moore, JO still plays more than either Stiemsma or JJJ and Wilcox would have certainly done the same if he didn't get hurt early in the 3rd quarter.

No, Doc is not "playing the young guys and the team is losing badly with them".

Mike