Post by FLCeltsFan on Apr 20, 2008 8:24:24 GMT -5
www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080420/SPORTS/804200380
Doc's doubters little quieter now
April 20, 2008 6:00 AM
What a difference a year — and the best single-season turnaround in NBA history — can make.
Following last season's 24-win campaign, Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers hoped the team would consider extending his contract, which would have been up at the end of this season. They obliged.
Now, according to a report in the Boston Herald, it's the Celtics who are approaching Rivers about extending it again. (It runs through next season. He said he wants to wait until after the season to discuss it.)
So exactly what has Doc Rivers meant to the Celtics' already historic 2007-08 season?
"Everything," Kevin Garnett said.
One thing that has never been in question is Rivers' role as a teacher and as a motivator. The team believed he was the right coach to develop young players Delonte West, Tony Allen, Kendrick Perkins, and most importantly, Al Jefferson. They even would have trusted him with a top pick, like Kevin Durant or Greg Oden.
But Rivers' coaching skill set once again came into question when the Celts failed to get that pick and reversed direction, building a team of talented veterans with a core of three All-Star players looking to win a championship in the present rather than the future.
Detractors pointed to Rivers' failure to set rotations, his inability to balance playing time and his occasionally harsh treatment of point guards Marcus Banks or Sebastian Telfair. They wondered if his coaching style would befit a team many felt could just as soon coach themselves to an NBA title.
As it turned out, the team had no problem with what Doc was prescribing.
"Doc's pretty straight up. You know where he's coming from," Garnett said. "He doesn't care who you are, what you've done in this league ... there's not one person on this team he caters to, and we love it like that."
Rivers began the quest to unite his new team right from the beginning, when the chance to play preseason games in Europe meant training camp would be held in Rome, away from the mass media of Boston and the distractions that come with staying home. Just those circumstances alone brought the team together, and Rivers solidified the bond by preaching the concept of "ubuntu," an African word that translate to putting the collective above the individual.
The Celtics latched on to the word, and used it to break huddles throughout the 66-win regular season.
Rivers did a masterful job of doling out the minutes, keeping his stars fresh while developing younger players like Leon Powe and rookie Glen "Big Baby" Davis, and continuing to win. Another of his shortcomings — he's simply not a great defensive coach — was remedied by the hiring of assistant coach Tom Thibodeau, who made the Celtics the No. 2 defensive team in the league.
"I watch ESPN, read all the articles where they talk about Doc, and he's not really mentioned for Coach of the Year," Pierce said, "but people don't understand what's involved with putting together a brand new team, meshing the egos. That's work."
"People just assume that you've got Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, and that's going to be a great team. But the coaches have to do a job of maintaining the attitudes, the egos on a day-in and day-out basis."
Throughout the season, there were no fires to be put out, no egos to be massaged. Pierce said while it's common for a club to call a number of team meetings to address such problems, he could remember only one the Celtics had to call all year.
"That credit goes to Doc, how he's kept the guys focused," Pierce said.
Part of that focus was always maintaining that the Celtics were looking for more than just the multitude of accomplishments that came their way all season, everything from tying the best 30-game start in NBA history at 27-3 to finishing the year as the league's No. 1 team. They were looking for Banner No. 17, and nothing less would do.
Now, with the regular season out of the way, more questions arise. When it comes to postseason basketball, the knock on Rivers is that he's never taken a team out of the first round. His only previous postseason with the Celtics came in 2004-05, when a team led by Pierce, Antoine Walker and Gary Payton took the Indiana Pacers to seven games.
With Orlando, Rivers took three teams to the playoffs, in 2000, 2001 and 2003. In the first two attempts, they lost 3-1 each time out (this was before the first round was expanded to seven games), and in 2002-03 took the Pistons to seven games.
But none of those teams had the talent level that the Celtics possess. Never before has Rivers gone to battle with so many weapons in his arsenal.
And his troops firmly believe Doc Rivers is the general that can lead them to the ultimate victory.
"He's got us believing in what he's saying to us, and sometimes that's not an easy task," Garnett said. "But he's done a great job, and I think he's going to get us to where we need to be."
