I not sure if people are going to appreciate, right away, the job Doc Rivers is doing. The ‘08 Celtics, while entertaining to watch and easy to root for in the Finals, seemed more like mercenaries than a team. Pierce was the only Celtic with history, the only one who suffered on a crappy ‘07 Celtic team that couldn’t even succeed at tanking for the lottery. KG and Ray had playoff futility as baggage but after gelling for 82 games, for all intents and purposes, Boston bought that championship.
Say what you will about gimmicks, but to get a bunch of dudes that make more money than you to buy into a selfless system that goes against all conventional thought of most NBA players is unheard of. Even Phil Jackson cannot say he did that with Kobe or Jordan. Phil had everyone meet Jordan/Kobe 90% of the way, whereas Doc keeps everyone on the team closer to the middle of the road. Last year, when KG got hurt, they Celts had no business beating the Bulls or taking the Magic to seven games. Doc’s “positive, so intense, so simple, so trusting in his team (quote from my friend JT)” coaching style was forged in those two series. All that theory was ...
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Article written by Josh Hunsucker
Lakers vs. Celtics Game 4: Doc Rivers’ Coaching Is Reviving the Word T.E.A.M.
June 11th, 2010 by Josh Hunsucker Leave a reply »
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