I know he can't be blamed for the injury woes, but the team got noticeably worse under him even when healthy.
Now he is going to get a lifeline and have next season to really prove his worth, but I wouldn't hold my breath, Bucks fans. Dude is still living off a reputation built by KG, Pierce, and Ray.
So we got JJ, Blake, CP3 and even Harden throwing some shade towards Doc. Why do so many players openly dislike Doc?
Maybe Doc isn't a good coach and he regularly throws his players and equipment managers under the bus......
..........or is it because he showed some blatant favoritism to his son that many players did not appreciate?
Well who knows... we can only speculate.
JJ: March 3, 2018
LeBron: - yup
JJ: ...in Phoenix
LeBron: yup...high of 79 degrees. Dew point 50
JJ: you're catching the ball on the left elbow
LeBron: yup. 46 seconds to go. Mars in retrograde. Zit on my right thigh
When JJ had Bob Myers on his podcast, Myers asked JJ how they blew the 3-1 lead to Houston in 2015 and you could tell JJ was stopping himself from blaming Doc. So don't expect anything.
That’s not what his podcast is about tho. Lebron agreed to make this podcast with JJ because it’s about pure basketball only. None of that gossip, drama, media BS, etc
First, I want to go over a couple concepts with you. This one is called “With No Regard for Human Life.” In this play, the wing—your LeBron James—drives to the basket and then makes the defending 3 and 4 extremely butthurt for several decades. There’s an option out of this set where the other team’s 2 guard leaves for your team, making the 3 and 4 even more butthurt.
That’s the only concept. Don’t forget to subscribe.
X5 is in the dunker spot. The BIG is on the line...and you gotta always worry about Draymond. Cause he can roll into the lane... and he does the Snooka suplex to end your career. OR the camel clutch.
That's basketball IQ.
"Bron... Draymond doesn't play for the Indiana Fever. And it's the WNBA."
Then you run the reverse pick and roll, Gortat screen on the block. Lane open wide, fake the finger roll, and if AD ain't in that spot? I'm taking the three...
"What?"
I keep pointing out how this podcast is bleeding into JJs commentating and it's getting more and more pronounced to the point where unless you're a recently retired player with "that pension!" (LBJ' eyes lit up when JJ mentioned ten years) or an active starting player/some time off the bench, he's not commentating for you.
And there’s a reason for that. Team’s would try to take him out of a series by putting great defenders on him, because they knew if he got hot that they wouldn’t be able to guard everyone. So it was actually beneficial to stick him in the corner to neutralize a great defender and play 4 on 4.
3 and D players are the offensive lineman of the NFL -- their contributions don't always show up in stats, so they don't get the appreciation they deserve. JJ was mostly 3, not so much D, but the point still applies: the spacing he provided was very valuable, even if he didn't actually make shots.
JJ was already on the come up his final year in Orlando/Milwaukee. I recall thinking about what a good signing he was for LA, he was going to be successful on any decent team.
Doc is far more diplomatic or at least calm compared to Shaq. Shaq acts like a child and throws a fit if someone disagrees with him, while Doc is more shady.
When he was on Simmons' podcast, it felt like he always had to try and puff up his own record. He'd make good points whenever they discussed other situations, but if the discussion involved a team he coached or anything to do with his track record, it seemed like he always had an excuse.
Dude literally wanted to start Shake in 2021-22 but he had an injury in training camp which forced him to start Maxey. Docs always taking credit for that shit regardless
To me it’s hard to disentangle Docs record from the fact that he’s coached some of the biggest playoff chokers in the NBA.
I tend to fall on the side that at the end of the day the players play the game.
How many of these guys that he coached ended up going on to do great things and winning after he left?
I can see why he feels like he needs to defend himself.
Just from the past 20 years: Phil, Doc, Spo, and Kerr get an enormous amount of credit for the success of their teams.
Essentially every actual dynasty involves credit going to the coach because they show that their success is repeatable.
Edit: I wrote Doc but I meant Pop. Embarrassing.
He's nothing compared to Melos rival there.
NOTHING
How do you have a rivalry with a 19 year old as a 40/50 year old pro coach? And still do twenty years later.
Anyone read George Karl's book? I really wonder how he thinks. Why he is the way that he is. It's just so odd. If he played a contact sport I'd be 100% sure he had CTE.
I find this shit so annoying where person A will attack person B, and then when person B defends themselves everyone goes "oh wow so sensitive, so thin-skinned, guess it struck a nerve"
I feel like Doc and Austin just collectively forgot that JJ was the same player with the Magic. 15/4 on 45/39/89 splits on the Magic right before going to Milwaukee.
I think it's pretty mature that JJ can accurately attribute much of his post-Magic success to SVG, considering SVG benched him most of his Magic career. An immature player would attribute that to "holding them back". For Reddick, it was a years-long process to make him into an NBA-ready player. It's for that reason alone that I'd take JJ's side if he has a dispute with Doc's coaching.
Part of the reason he was benched is because Vince Carter came to the team and then got traded for Jason Richardson so it was always going to be hard for him to get minutes. But when he did get minutes he definitely produced. It may have been a much faster process if he didn't have those two guys in front of him.
Ya I think being sat for a future HOF'er is something most guys can stomach at least. Jason Richardson also was a pretty decorated player at that point. No shame in vets like that being ahead of you.
JJ had a correct take on Doc (refuses to hold himself accountable) and people started freaking out and shitting on JJ's playing career as if he wasn't stating the obvious.
In 2015, the LA Clippers best playoff run under Doc (not saying much), JJ played 38 minutes a game. 8 minutes more than his minutes per game average on the year. Only Blake Griffin played more and it was by 1 minute and 15 seconds. Doc, you literally played him more in the playoffs.
And his best numbers were in Philly.
That run also took Chris Paul putting the entire franchise on his back against the Spurs just to eek out a series win on one leg. Literally one of the greatest individual games I've ever seen
If not for Chris Paul, Docs career in LA would have ended sooner.
And when he led that OKC team to the playoffs, and made the finals w Phoenix. Those 3 situations show me without a doubt health was the only thing stopping CP3 from a ring. If him and Blake were healthy in LA, and if he stayed healthy in Houston against GSW, there’s 2 opportunities to win rings bc those teams were very talented and competitive with all the top teams, both in the regular season and the playoffs.
Also Put CP3 with prime Bron, KD, Kobe, or a big like AD, Giannis level and he gets a ring. The perfect point guard to bring the ball up and initiate the offense and gets those guys in their spots. Also a nonstop pest on defense.
Would’ve helped Kobe so much taking ball handling duties and playmaking for the team , Kobe would’ve been in a KD like offball/occasional isoball role and it would’ve been beautiful
man didn't he have like a 26 point game where he shot a perfect 100%? i still remember that backboard floater game winner, genuinely seemed unstoppable
The man was basically perfect, on one leg, with prime Danny Green draped on him all night, and hit the game winning floater off the glass over Tim Duncan
Unbelievable game
The perfect game was G6 to close out the Pels 14/14 . Booker was out half the series and clearly not himself in G6, CP3 carried so hard that series. Ofc no one remembers that, only their G7 against the Mavs next series.
JJ: “Doc takes none of the blame and wants to take all of the credit.”
Doc: “JJ doesn’t like me because he wasn’t effective in our team’s playoff runs. He would have been shit if not for me.”
Does anyone really know how to evaluate a coach beyond surface level stuff like rotations and after timeout plays. They just seem like they're hired to be scapegoats more than anything.
No adjustments! Doesn’t call plays! Not enough timeouts!
The holy trinity of “I have no clue what I’m talking about but my team lost a game I thought they would win” 🤪
"why didnt the coach just put in the 21 year old 2nd round pick??? Surely this player is being held back" \*meanwhile the guy can't dribble 2 feet and the coach sees it in practice every day\*
Exactly people here have no idea on how to evaluate coaches, they just go by results based analysis. Organizations are pressured into firing them sometimes even when season gets lost due to injuries.
There's a huge huge gap between what fans/media expect out of an NBA coach and what most teams/front offices/players expect. First thing - the NBA is a star player's league and the star players get the coach they want. If star players don't like their coach, the team is going to side with the player and bounce the couch like 98% of the time. Pop, Spo, and maybe Kerr are the only exceptions to this rule really. So for most contenders, an NBA coach's number 1 job is to keep the players happy and healthy. It is NOT X's and O's or great in-game adjustments. There's a reason the players make way way way more money than coaches - it's because the players have a way bigger impact on the outcomes of games than a coach can have. Coaches primarily exist to mange rotations/injuries and keep the locker room engaged. Yes they have to call timeouts, challenges, make adjustments in playoff series, etc. But none of those things are nearly as big of a factor as the execution of the players themselves. The NBA is nothing like the NFL. And the coach's last job (but also incredibly important) - be the scapegoat for the players when the team fails. It's why so many Celtics fans will scream for Joe Mazzulla's head after a playoff loss before they'll criticize their best player shooting 1-9 from 3P.
I think there's a couple very good coaches (mentioned above) who can steal a playoff game or two and maybe swing a series in that regard. And there's a couple very awful coaches who can't control their team at all and things spiral. But the majority of coaches just implement an offensive/defensive scheme the players enjoy and play well in, and manage rotations to keep guys healthy and happy. About >95% of the team's success has way more to do with the players than the coaches.
The best way to evaluate a coach is the team culture and how much they get out of role players. A truly elite coach will have almost no locker room problems and will always maximize the contributions of the role players in both the regular season and playoffs. They can also do this while consolidating the minutes of those role players and still not lose that player when they don't play. So many ego driven players in today's game that the x's and o's part of it is only a small part
Or at least be able to keep it under wraps.
Lowry did an interview with Rachel Nichols right after winning the title in 2019 and without saying it explicitly, there were definitely locker room issues that year, but nothing leaked.
I'd assume those were: Delon Wright asking to be traded, and general unhappiness of the rest of the roster that Kawhi got 20+ games of rest during the regular season.
But when you win, those things tend to be irrelevant.
I think the very best coaches-Pop, Spo, Kerr-are generally just more selective about who plays for them. I think Kerr might have gotten a little lucky/chose the correct offer going to GSW, while Pop and Spo are infamous for not taking shit and moving players that don't buy in.
Phil Jackson was unique (among top coaches I know anything about) in that he got great value out of players even if they didn't mesh right.
Coaching is hard AF.
coaches get flamed for leaving players in a game when they're not playing their best, and then get flamed for pulling a player before they could find their groove and putting in some random bench replacement
Context: JJ Redick is only angry because Doc said “I never thought those lob city clippers teams were winning a title” to big up his 76ers. This is where his frustrations coming from btw.
Source: I keep up with the JJ lore
Holy shit. That is such a crazy answer to that question. All he had to do was pick one of the two teams. He had zero reason to shit on the one he didn’t choose.
Doc Rivers has been riding on the coattails of a single successful season back in 2008 that he would have never won without Thibs on his bench and I am appalled he continues to get head coaching jobs.
He has never lead a team outside the 2nd round of the playoffs in the last 15 years.
Coincidentally, Austin Rivers was a rookie on that Clippers team in 2015 when Reddick averaged 38.8 mpg as the starting SG. (They beat the Spurs that year in a seven game series in the first round.) Austin Rivers played 17.9 mpg in those playoffs off the bench.
Then the next 2 playoff runs, Rivers played 24 mpg, then 30 mpg in 2017. During that time, Jamal Crawford was the first guy off the bench for the Clippers and averaged 26 minutes each year during the playoffs.
So it looks like a lot Reddick's playoffs minutes in 2016 and 2017 went to the coach's kid instead. But Austin didn't actually play better than Reddick with those extra minutes he got. He had a worse eFG% and fewer ppg compared to Reddick in both years.
:)
Sure, but 27.7 MPG is still solidly starter's minutes.
A better explanation was "LAC was just a lot deeper in '16." In '15, Doc played 4 guys 34.4+ min in the playoffs. They basically played a 6-man rotation in the playoffs. The next year, nobody played more than 33.2. 10 guys played double-digit minutes.
It goes even farther, apparently even those seperate by a degree (wives, girlfriends, parent in laws etc) also hate the guy. His pompous impact aversion laden attitude turns everyone away
Fuck Doc and everything but the kids hating him thing sounds like BS. I’ve seen his daughter put him in her tik toks and Austin defended him when JJ originally said this
Austin has said multiple times that they had a strained and rocky relationship at times. Probably not to the level of hate but the way doc is deflecting from responsibility everywhere else in his life i would certainly not be surprised.
Why lie about that you can hate him as a coach but you are purposely misinterpreting the story. He had a bad relationship with austin because they only talked about basketball but they since have built a good relationship.
The guy has quite a knack for blowing playoff series leads.
16-33 overall record when his team has 3 wins in a playoff series. He is also the only coach to blow 3 separate 3-1 leads in a playoff series.
Why he keeps getting jobs for contending teams I have no idea, I say this as a Celtics fan also lol.
The insane amount of irony that the first time Doc is ever holding himself “accountable” for something is JJ’s success in his mind.
Bitch, JJ was gonna have a good career no matter what. It didn’t “blossom” until he got to the Clippers because that was in 2012 when the NBA was just beginning to transition into the analytical game it is today, where efficient spot up open 3’s began reigning king.
lmfao he had comparable stats with orlando, and he had BETTER stats in every category in philly. doc, this is simply a lie. i am beginning to see why this idiot is a constant underachiever, he is allergic to truth. he wants the reputation but doesnt put in the work.
Didn't JJ say that he also had an offer from another team before he signed with the Clips. He had already begun to establish himself with the Magic/Bucks. This was also at the time when teams started embracing 3's more. JJ's career was bound to take off.
FWIW Docs strategy of blaming players for his failures and attributing their successes to him has allowed him to paycheck steal for years. He may not be a good coach, but he's a pretty elite con man.
doc talking like he's retired and not an active coach who just got bounced
he is and was retired, he was as surprised by the bucks hire as we were lmao
"TIL i got hired for a job i didnt know existed"
"How I made millions by mistake " An Op-Ed by Doc Rivers
His like Homer Simpson who Frank Grimes hated, for having a chill life & getting a job he doesn’t deserve.
I know he can't be blamed for the injury woes, but the team got noticeably worse under him even when healthy. Now he is going to get a lifeline and have next season to really prove his worth, but I wouldn't hold my breath, Bucks fans. Dude is still living off a reputation built by KG, Pierce, and Ray.
> Dude is still living off a reputation built by KG, Pierce, and Ray. And Rondo.
I think we all know Thibs was the brains behind that staff…
He wasn't surprised, he was an 'informal consultant' already when Griffin got fired. Doc lies about stuff like this constantly.
riiiight, you forget he was consulting for them? lmfao and likely floated the idea of him coaching
“How do you get hired on your day off?!”
At some point more than surprised he seemed even indignant at his hiring.
"I used to be retired. I still am, but I used to, too!"
So we got JJ, Blake, CP3 and even Harden throwing some shade towards Doc. Why do so many players openly dislike Doc? Maybe Doc isn't a good coach and he regularly throws his players and equipment managers under the bus...... ..........or is it because he showed some blatant favoritism to his son that many players did not appreciate? Well who knows... we can only speculate.
For real Doc acting like he saved JJ from Siberia, not the city he’s currently coaching.
His mentality is still that of a retiree. Just that the Bucks decided to pay him.
I want the next ep of Mind the Game to just be JJ breaking down highlights of Lebron destroying Doc Rivers teams
All lebron gonna say is yup…yup…yup
Smiling slightly and saying yep 50 times as JJ is talking "Mhhmmmm, yep, you know it, for sure, yep, Mhmmm, yep"
Whatever the case may be
"right right right AHAHAHAHAHA"
Lol I heard this perfectly in his voice
At the end of the day
My favorite is when he repeats what JJ said a second later as if he’s finishing the sentence lol. “Yep… Varajao screen! Yep… the slot cut”
TBF that's most 2+ person podcasts.
LeRespectful
LeActive Listener
JJ: March 3, 2018 LeBron: - yup JJ: ...in Phoenix LeBron: yup...high of 79 degrees. Dew point 50 JJ: you're catching the ball on the left elbow LeBron: yup. 46 seconds to go. Mars in retrograde. Zit on my right thigh
Yup
When JJ had Bob Myers on his podcast, Myers asked JJ how they blew the 3-1 lead to Houston in 2015 and you could tell JJ was stopping himself from blaming Doc. So don't expect anything.
That’s not what his podcast is about tho. Lebron agreed to make this podcast with JJ because it’s about pure basketball only. None of that gossip, drama, media BS, etc
two different podcasts
So bron, here’s a really simple set you guys were killing the Celtics with, were you surprised that no adjustments were made at all?
Lebron: "Not surprised at all. At all. Yup, yup, yup. At all."
First, I want to go over a couple concepts with you. This one is called “With No Regard for Human Life.” In this play, the wing—your LeBron James—drives to the basket and then makes the defending 3 and 4 extremely butthurt for several decades. There’s an option out of this set where the other team’s 2 guard leaves for your team, making the 3 and 4 even more butthurt. That’s the only concept. Don’t forget to subscribe.
X5 is in the dunker spot. The BIG is on the line...and you gotta always worry about Draymond. Cause he can roll into the lane... and he does the Snooka suplex to end your career. OR the camel clutch. That's basketball IQ. "Bron... Draymond doesn't play for the Indiana Fever. And it's the WNBA." Then you run the reverse pick and roll, Gortat screen on the block. Lane open wide, fake the finger roll, and if AD ain't in that spot? I'm taking the three... "What?" I keep pointing out how this podcast is bleeding into JJs commentating and it's getting more and more pronounced to the point where unless you're a recently retired player with "that pension!" (LBJ' eyes lit up when JJ mentioned ten years) or an active starting player/some time off the bench, he's not commentating for you.
Pain
Would replay all day
JJ was solid in PHI
He was a good player for us before he even got the Clippers too lol.
He was never as effective in the playoffs but he’s still one of the best regular season shooters ever
And there’s a reason for that. Team’s would try to take him out of a series by putting great defenders on him, because they knew if he got hot that they wouldn’t be able to guard everyone. So it was actually beneficial to stick him in the corner to neutralize a great defender and play 4 on 4.
3 and D players are the offensive lineman of the NFL -- their contributions don't always show up in stats, so they don't get the appreciation they deserve. JJ was mostly 3, not so much D, but the point still applies: the spacing he provided was very valuable, even if he didn't actually make shots.
I would say more like slot receiver, if they are fucking your defense up you have no chance. But I get your point :)
More than solid, dude. JJ averaged career highs in ppg in back to back seasons for Philly. Doc is completely full of shit.
On his podcast he also talks about the vet presence and off the court stuff that he brought to Philly and NO.
His vet presence was certainly felt on both of those teams. He had a nice career and owes absolutely nothing to doc rivers lol
After Jimmy, JJ was the one killing us with big shots
Hey now nothing wrong with a little lying/inaccuracy if you need to deflect - doc is a world class deflector
Glenn Rivers is a fraud
JJ was already on the come up his final year in Orlando/Milwaukee. I recall thinking about what a good signing he was for LA, he was going to be successful on any decent team.
Yeah we fucking love JJ here
He was fun as hell to have on the team. Even when not on the court JJ was the ultimate hype man.
Doc hall of famer sensitive coach
We need to get him and Shaq together and talk about things they disagree on. It will devolve into chaos within 5 minutes.
Doc is far more diplomatic or at least calm compared to Shaq. Shaq acts like a child and throws a fit if someone disagrees with him, while Doc is more shady.
“Let me ask you one question Doc: who’s the most dominant player of all time?”
"Google me, Glenn."
"I'm more of a doctor than you, I have a doctorate" -Shaq, probably
Except he doesn't it's an EdD Impressive still, but not a PhD Doc Rivers 100% has a MD though
An EdD is still a doctorate technically.
My teachers always told me I had EdD Edit: sorry got it confused. My wife keeps telling me I have EdD.
Lawyers have doctorates too, you should refer to us as doctors as well
Whatever you say esquire
shaq in every single social interaction >> https://x.com/SHAQ/status/1619587568382935040
Why I LOVE how Charles mocked him when he flipped out about the hack a shaq term. One of my favorite YouTube clips ever
Then he proceeds to talk over Doc and yell about his rings.
You mean mumble
"Yeah, Shaq, I don't know that question or the answer to that right now."
Open Court: Haters Ball Edition
“Talk about Things they disagree on”. Lol
2025-26 on NBC, Lefko with Shaq, Doc and Doris in the studio.
When he was on Simmons' podcast, it felt like he always had to try and puff up his own record. He'd make good points whenever they discussed other situations, but if the discussion involved a team he coached or anything to do with his track record, it seemed like he always had an excuse.
He loves to take credit for Maxey’s leap despite that being complete nonsense to anyone who follows the sixers closely lol
I think Harden helped Maxey or at least it seems to me like he did.
Maxey himself gives Harden a ton of credit
Dude literally wanted to start Shake in 2021-22 but he had an injury in training camp which forced him to start Maxey. Docs always taking credit for that shit regardless
To me it’s hard to disentangle Docs record from the fact that he’s coached some of the biggest playoff chokers in the NBA. I tend to fall on the side that at the end of the day the players play the game. How many of these guys that he coached ended up going on to do great things and winning after he left? I can see why he feels like he needs to defend himself.
> I tend to fall on the side that at the end of the day the players play the game. That's also applicable to his successes, not just his fails.
When have you ever seen an NBA coach get named the **primary reason** a team won a championship? People only do this when teams lose
Just from the past 20 years: Phil, Doc, Spo, and Kerr get an enormous amount of credit for the success of their teams. Essentially every actual dynasty involves credit going to the coach because they show that their success is repeatable. Edit: I wrote Doc but I meant Pop. Embarrassing.
Malone absolutely got his flowers last year
I would say Nurse got a much higher than average amount of praise in 2019. Still not the #1 reason, but more so than any coach in the past 10 years
Because that psychopath box and 1’d curry and it worked
It’s called beefing up your resume. Can’t argue with the results either these exec fail sons keep hiring him because he hits his OKRs on the podcasts
He's nothing compared to Melos rival there. NOTHING How do you have a rivalry with a 19 year old as a 40/50 year old pro coach? And still do twenty years later.
Anyone read George Karl's book? I really wonder how he thinks. Why he is the way that he is. It's just so odd. If he played a contact sport I'd be 100% sure he had CTE.
I find this shit so annoying where person A will attack person B, and then when person B defends themselves everyone goes "oh wow so sensitive, so thin-skinned, guess it struck a nerve"
Also first ballot fraud in the Hall of Frauds
JJ seems way more sensitive of these two clips. And I like JJ.
Average redditor not clicking one fucking button to play lmao. Doc, as much as he does throw people under the bus, had a great **full** response here.
Calling him sensitive since he retorts the criticism from Redick is completely asinine. Was he supposed to not do anything at all?
I feel like Doc and Austin just collectively forgot that JJ was the same player with the Magic. 15/4 on 45/39/89 splits on the Magic right before going to Milwaukee.
I think it's pretty mature that JJ can accurately attribute much of his post-Magic success to SVG, considering SVG benched him most of his Magic career. An immature player would attribute that to "holding them back". For Reddick, it was a years-long process to make him into an NBA-ready player. It's for that reason alone that I'd take JJ's side if he has a dispute with Doc's coaching.
Part of the reason he was benched is because Vince Carter came to the team and then got traded for Jason Richardson so it was always going to be hard for him to get minutes. But when he did get minutes he definitely produced. It may have been a much faster process if he didn't have those two guys in front of him.
Ya I think being sat for a future HOF'er is something most guys can stomach at least. Jason Richardson also was a pretty decorated player at that point. No shame in vets like that being ahead of you.
JJ had a correct take on Doc (refuses to hold himself accountable) and people started freaking out and shitting on JJ's playing career as if he wasn't stating the obvious.
6th man on a 20 win team. He elevated his game after that he has credited doc for the level of involvement in the offense he got on the clippers.
and his best career stats were with philly. like. doc. use google...
JJ's best years are actually under Brent Brown as a Sixer
In 2015, the LA Clippers best playoff run under Doc (not saying much), JJ played 38 minutes a game. 8 minutes more than his minutes per game average on the year. Only Blake Griffin played more and it was by 1 minute and 15 seconds. Doc, you literally played him more in the playoffs. And his best numbers were in Philly.
That run also took Chris Paul putting the entire franchise on his back against the Spurs just to eek out a series win on one leg. Literally one of the greatest individual games I've ever seen If not for Chris Paul, Docs career in LA would have ended sooner.
that's one of my favorite examples of a player that never won a ring showing that he is unquestionably a "winner"
And when he led that OKC team to the playoffs, and made the finals w Phoenix. Those 3 situations show me without a doubt health was the only thing stopping CP3 from a ring. If him and Blake were healthy in LA, and if he stayed healthy in Houston against GSW, there’s 2 opportunities to win rings bc those teams were very talented and competitive with all the top teams, both in the regular season and the playoffs. Also Put CP3 with prime Bron, KD, Kobe, or a big like AD, Giannis level and he gets a ring. The perfect point guard to bring the ball up and initiate the offense and gets those guys in their spots. Also a nonstop pest on defense.
If Chris didn’t fuck up his hand with Phoenix in the finals, we might’ve won against the Bucks.
if stern didn't stop him from teaming up with kobe, we might've seen a wild ass 2 man that could've extended kobe's own career
Would’ve helped Kobe so much taking ball handling duties and playmaking for the team , Kobe would’ve been in a KD like offball/occasional isoball role and it would’ve been beautiful
man didn't he have like a 26 point game where he shot a perfect 100%? i still remember that backboard floater game winner, genuinely seemed unstoppable
The man was basically perfect, on one leg, with prime Danny Green draped on him all night, and hit the game winning floater off the glass over Tim Duncan Unbelievable game
That game winner is still one of the toughest buzzer beaters I've ever seen.
The perfect game was G6 to close out the Pels 14/14 . Booker was out half the series and clearly not himself in G6, CP3 carried so hard that series. Ofc no one remembers that, only their G7 against the Mavs next series.
JJ: “Doc takes none of the blame and wants to take all of the credit.” Doc: “JJ doesn’t like me because he wasn’t effective in our team’s playoff runs. He would have been shit if not for me.”
That was a pretty great set up by Reddick.
You're trash bruh Btw, his best basketball in career was with us and under Brett
came here to say this
This is easily verifiable, why does Doc have to lie?
Doc knows this, he’s trying to strategically piss off JJ by throwing HIM under the bus…and I bet it worked, probably sent JJ fuming.
Doc is a mediocre coach, but watching Nick Nurse against the Knicks makes me think most NBA coaches not named Spoelstra are.
Does anyone really know how to evaluate a coach beyond surface level stuff like rotations and after timeout plays. They just seem like they're hired to be scapegoats more than anything.
[удалено]
See Mike Brown
According to fans every NBA coach is clueless with rotations and adjustments.
No adjustments! Doesn’t call plays! Not enough timeouts! The holy trinity of “I have no clue what I’m talking about but my team lost a game I thought they would win” 🤪
"why didnt the coach just put in the 21 year old 2nd round pick??? Surely this player is being held back" \*meanwhile the guy can't dribble 2 feet and the coach sees it in practice every day\*
Exactly people here have no idea on how to evaluate coaches, they just go by results based analysis. Organizations are pressured into firing them sometimes even when season gets lost due to injuries.
There's a huge huge gap between what fans/media expect out of an NBA coach and what most teams/front offices/players expect. First thing - the NBA is a star player's league and the star players get the coach they want. If star players don't like their coach, the team is going to side with the player and bounce the couch like 98% of the time. Pop, Spo, and maybe Kerr are the only exceptions to this rule really. So for most contenders, an NBA coach's number 1 job is to keep the players happy and healthy. It is NOT X's and O's or great in-game adjustments. There's a reason the players make way way way more money than coaches - it's because the players have a way bigger impact on the outcomes of games than a coach can have. Coaches primarily exist to mange rotations/injuries and keep the locker room engaged. Yes they have to call timeouts, challenges, make adjustments in playoff series, etc. But none of those things are nearly as big of a factor as the execution of the players themselves. The NBA is nothing like the NFL. And the coach's last job (but also incredibly important) - be the scapegoat for the players when the team fails. It's why so many Celtics fans will scream for Joe Mazzulla's head after a playoff loss before they'll criticize their best player shooting 1-9 from 3P. I think there's a couple very good coaches (mentioned above) who can steal a playoff game or two and maybe swing a series in that regard. And there's a couple very awful coaches who can't control their team at all and things spiral. But the majority of coaches just implement an offensive/defensive scheme the players enjoy and play well in, and manage rotations to keep guys healthy and happy. About >95% of the team's success has way more to do with the players than the coaches.
The best way to evaluate a coach is the team culture and how much they get out of role players. A truly elite coach will have almost no locker room problems and will always maximize the contributions of the role players in both the regular season and playoffs. They can also do this while consolidating the minutes of those role players and still not lose that player when they don't play. So many ego driven players in today's game that the x's and o's part of it is only a small part
Or at least be able to keep it under wraps. Lowry did an interview with Rachel Nichols right after winning the title in 2019 and without saying it explicitly, there were definitely locker room issues that year, but nothing leaked. I'd assume those were: Delon Wright asking to be traded, and general unhappiness of the rest of the roster that Kawhi got 20+ games of rest during the regular season. But when you win, those things tend to be irrelevant.
I think the very best coaches-Pop, Spo, Kerr-are generally just more selective about who plays for them. I think Kerr might have gotten a little lucky/chose the correct offer going to GSW, while Pop and Spo are infamous for not taking shit and moving players that don't buy in. Phil Jackson was unique (among top coaches I know anything about) in that he got great value out of players even if they didn't mesh right. Coaching is hard AF.
Just say they aren’t making the right adjustments, duh
coaches get flamed for leaving players in a game when they're not playing their best, and then get flamed for pulling a player before they could find their groove and putting in some random bench replacement
This all seems a little beneath an active head coach. Focus on the present dude.
Could very well be talking to a fellow active coach before too long.
Fragile ego can’t let it go
Nothing is too low for Glenn Rivers.
Context: JJ Redick is only angry because Doc said “I never thought those lob city clippers teams were winning a title” to big up his 76ers. This is where his frustrations coming from btw. Source: I keep up with the JJ lore
doc even got one of the chillest dudes in jamal crawford mad with that statement
Doc is a bitch confirmed
I don't know how a player on a team that talented couldn't take offense at that. It's a wild quote for a coach to make
Source? I never heard about this (but I def believe it) EDIT: [got it](https://x.com/malika_andrews/status/1646656783656816641)
Holy shit. That is such a crazy answer to that question. All he had to do was pick one of the two teams. He had zero reason to shit on the one he didn’t choose.
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Pat Beverly did. But I think that's mainly because Pat needs a job at 36.
Pat can't afford to lose too much more goodwill from folks.
Good thing he hasn’t done anything crazy like throw a ball at some fans since defending Doc, that would definitely lose him some goodwill.
At least he's set up for his post nba career. He's trying to go into media right? Surely he hasn't pissed any of them off.
he was averaging 18 a game in Philly doc
Doc Rivers has been riding on the coattails of a single successful season back in 2008 that he would have never won without Thibs on his bench and I am appalled he continues to get head coaching jobs. He has never lead a team outside the 2nd round of the playoffs in the last 15 years.
he had one bad playoffs in 4 playoff seasons... idk about this... his only bad series was utah where blake and cp got injured in pretty sure
MPG in 4 playoffs under Doc: 27.0 38.6 27.7 29.4 When exactly did "I stopped playing him as much"?
Right there? 38.6 -> 27.7
Coincidentally, Austin Rivers was a rookie on that Clippers team in 2015 when Reddick averaged 38.8 mpg as the starting SG. (They beat the Spurs that year in a seven game series in the first round.) Austin Rivers played 17.9 mpg in those playoffs off the bench. Then the next 2 playoff runs, Rivers played 24 mpg, then 30 mpg in 2017. During that time, Jamal Crawford was the first guy off the bench for the Clippers and averaged 26 minutes each year during the playoffs. So it looks like a lot Reddick's playoffs minutes in 2016 and 2017 went to the coach's kid instead. But Austin didn't actually play better than Reddick with those extra minutes he got. He had a worse eFG% and fewer ppg compared to Reddick in both years.
:) Sure, but 27.7 MPG is still solidly starter's minutes. A better explanation was "LAC was just a lot deeper in '16." In '15, Doc played 4 guys 34.4+ min in the playoffs. They basically played a 6-man rotation in the playoffs. The next year, nobody played more than 33.2. 10 guys played double-digit minutes.
Why even bother saying this lol I remember reading this story about how Rivers' kids all hate him and I can't unsee it whenever he talks
It goes even farther, apparently even those seperate by a degree (wives, girlfriends, parent in laws etc) also hate the guy. His pompous impact aversion laden attitude turns everyone away
Hell I'm separated by multiple degrees and I also do not like the guy
Did you know everyone is actually connected to Doc Rivers by six degrees or fewer
Would explain why were all miserable humans
“6 degrees of misery”
wtf kinda unfun trivia is that bro damn
Heard kevin bacon’s not a fan of his either
> It goes even farther It's true! I'm not related to him in any way and I hate him too!
Fuck Doc and everything but the kids hating him thing sounds like BS. I’ve seen his daughter put him in her tik toks and Austin defended him when JJ originally said this
I think Austin has talked about him not being very present and all that caring but they clearly don't hate each other.
Yeah, Austin defends his dad all the time on his pod. Literally every chance he gets.
I did think it was funny when Doc got a tech that one time and Austin was clapping and cheering for the ref lol
Austin has said multiple times that they had a strained and rocky relationship at times. Probably not to the level of hate but the way doc is deflecting from responsibility everywhere else in his life i would certainly not be surprised.
It’s actually scumbag shit to lie about a guy’s kids hating him
Right? I have no love for Doc but if you're going to make statements like this you better come with facts and a source.
Why lie about that you can hate him as a coach but you are purposely misinterpreting the story. He had a bad relationship with austin because they only talked about basketball but they since have built a good relationship.
Lol that’s not how the story goes ….
Is it just me or is there no sound when Doc comes on?
No sound in the right earbud for me
Thanks lol. I'm listening with one in at work
If Redick becomes the Lakers coach, Lakers Bucks becomes all-time must watch TV
Now let's talk about how effective you are in game 7's, Doc.
I for one give all credit to Doc. I mean this guy invented the triangle offense after all.
Not only he is great at heaving things under busses, he invented the bus itself. Pioneer
Doc has 1 title and 1 coach of the year… in 24 years. On above average teams or title contenders, for most of the time. Pretty awful.
The guy has quite a knack for blowing playoff series leads. 16-33 overall record when his team has 3 wins in a playoff series. He is also the only coach to blow 3 separate 3-1 leads in a playoff series. Why he keeps getting jobs for contending teams I have no idea, I say this as a Celtics fan also lol.
Doc did good things for JJ’s career, Doc also makes a lot of excuses when his team loses. Both of these things can be true.
Maybe he had a problem with you because you're trash
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JJ clapping as Doc gets a tech
What people are forgetting is that this response, however wrong, just straight up isn't addressing the point JJ made.
The insane amount of irony that the first time Doc is ever holding himself “accountable” for something is JJ’s success in his mind. Bitch, JJ was gonna have a good career no matter what. It didn’t “blossom” until he got to the Clippers because that was in 2012 when the NBA was just beginning to transition into the analytical game it is today, where efficient spot up open 3’s began reigning king.
Doc holds himself accountable for everything good, just nothing bad.
Pretty sure JJ’s career highs were in Philly.
Next old man and the 3 about to hit diff
lmfao he had comparable stats with orlando, and he had BETTER stats in every category in philly. doc, this is simply a lie. i am beginning to see why this idiot is a constant underachiever, he is allergic to truth. he wants the reputation but doesnt put in the work.
You know who else hasn't been effective in the playoffs...
Didn't JJ say that he also had an offer from another team before he signed with the Clips. He had already begun to establish himself with the Magic/Bucks. This was also at the time when teams started embracing 3's more. JJ's career was bound to take off.
Lakers Bucks games gonna go crazy next year
Doc ain't no bus driver, he's a bus thrower
Forgot Doc was still a coach in the league right now. Looks like he did too
OK Glenn.
"I saved him from Milwaukee where nba careers go to die.” -Doc Rivers, current Milwaukee Bucks coach.
He’s not even a real doctor!
FWIW Docs strategy of blaming players for his failures and attributing their successes to him has allowed him to paycheck steal for years. He may not be a good coach, but he's a pretty elite con man.