Doc Rivers report card...!

[Spfldkid]

So, if we suspend the possibility of a miracle trade or free agent signing....what is docs performance evaluation to date...?  My assesment is as follows;

 He does allow his players to exercise free will and play to their strengths...He did choose the best point guard of the past lot, and did allow him to play and develop.....and his team won a championship! There are more good points also, which I expect others to illustrate, but lets keep this professional, no disrespect, direct or indirect please. (I'm the sensitive type...!) :-)

 I for one feel that he plays too safe. That he overplayed his starters, which resulted in injuries. If you watch other teams, they rotate in subs when a decent lead is going, and to try new combinations, "real time"...Remember last year, Detriot put a flat out ROOKIE into the playoffs at guard and he did very well...word was he didn't show much before that....!

  And yes, one final thing from my POB opinion...some people compare him to Blount, some to old Acie Earl, well, those two guys had their chance in their own hands.....You see, they PLAYED, they started, finished, crunch time, all the time, and who was the coach then....Acia had O'Brien I think, Doc may have had Blount. But they played all the time in the world...you see the diff...? BUT, after saying that, I will be happy to let it pass now..we'll see what he does in Canada, and when he comes back to play us again....if they play him at all..?

   I really don't see much from Doc.....I think KG, PP, and Ray run the show...Doc would be a better manager or something....I mean why did he sign Sam....was it a bailout for his friend, pay him a mill or so to hang out with on the bench...? He didn't even play once this year...! And another one, why does Doc have his big guys set the high pick...? If he wants them to do it all the time, then why not teach them how to do it without getting stupid fouls (Perk) we do not have big men to lose here. Which comes to another point...Did he think The Chief was going to walk thru that door? Did he think he was going to make PJ come back (well yes...) No re-tooling at all..they could have had Posey easily....sign him for what he wanted, they were only a bit off...Could have traded him after 2 years....better than SOME other guys we got stuck with in the past...! Before Doc got the big 3, he only played 5 guys all the time, and no one ever got the ball except PP......coaching..?

[Roy Hobbs]

I think Doc has been okay this year.  Other than his obsession with Tony Allen, his playing rotation has been pretty solid.  He's started to mix his bench in with his starters more, which is a necessity.

I'd like to see Bill Walker get some more run.  We're going to need somebody who can covers 2s and 3s in the playoffs in place of Pierce and Ray, and Walker seems to physically be the best option. 

So, the weaknesses are lack of development of the young guys, too much Tony Allen, and not maximizing his bench's performance.  The pluses have been keeping the team motivated and focused (other than through the 2-7 stretch, when they were dead), and developing Rondo into a near co-equal with the "big three".

I'd give Doc a B this season, I guess.  The mistakes he is making don't appear fatal, but he's not necessarily getting the absolute maximum out of his team (or setting them up as well as possible for the playoffs).

[Spfldkid]

I agree, with you on a lot of that....the Walker thing is a big one! He is a big, strong agile player. Dunks strong, moves well without the ball...maybe develop into a great player and defender, IF he gets to play.....He is big enough to take on Kobe and Lebron, I mean has the Posey body type anyway....in time maybe..!

[CoachBo]

I think Doc has been okay this year.  Other than his obsession with Tony Allen, his playing rotation has been pretty solid.  He's started to mix his bench in with his starters more, which is a necessity.

I'd like to see Bill Walker get some more run.  We're going to need somebody who can covers 2s and 3s in the playoffs in place of Pierce and Ray, and Walker seems to physically be the best option. 

So, the weaknesses are lack of development of the young guys, too much Tony Allen, and not maximizing his bench's performance.  The pluses have been keeping the team motivated and focused (other than through the 2-7 stretch, when they were dead), and developing Rondo into a near co-equal with the "big three".

I'd give Doc a B this season, I guess.  The mistakes he is making don't appear fatal, but he's not necessarily getting the absolute maximum out of his team (or setting them up as well as possible for the playoffs).

TP for an excellent analysis.

I do fault Doc a little for his persistence playing ineptitude, such as Tony Allen - whether you're watching the minutes of the Big 3 or not. Also, he's been slow to recognize the fairly obvious - House needs to run the 2 to be effective.

I'd dock him a letter grade for playing POB more - that one was a disgraceful signing. Anyone who'd done any due diligence knew POB isn't an NBA player.

But other than that, I'd go B, B+. Not his fault he doesn't have a bench.

[dark_lord]

doc gets a B+/A- from me.

[billysan]

I think Doc has been okay this year.  Other than his obsession with Tony Allen, his playing rotation has been pretty solid.  He's started to mix his bench in with his starters more, which is a necessity.

I'd like to see Bill Walker get some more run.  We're going to need somebody who can covers 2s and 3s in the playoffs in place of Pierce and Ray, and Walker seems to physically be the best option. 

So, the weaknesses are lack of development of the young guys, too much Tony Allen, and not maximizing his bench's performance.  The pluses have been keeping the team motivated and focused (other than through the 2-7 stretch, when they were dead), and developing Rondo into a near co-equal with the "big three".

I'd give Doc a B this season, I guess.  The mistakes he is making don't appear fatal, but he's not necessarily getting the absolute maximum out of his team (or setting them up as well as possible for the playoffs).

TP for an excellent analysis.

I do fault Doc a little for his persistence playing ineptitude, such as Tony Allen - whether you're watching the minutes of the Big 3 or not. Also, he's been slow to recognize the fairly obvious - House needs to run the 2 to be effective.

I'd dock him a letter grade for playing POB more - that one was a disgraceful signing. Anyone who'd done any due diligence knew POB isn't an NBA player.

But other than that, I'd go B, B+. Not his fault he doesn't have a bench.

This is the real crux for me. I agree with the overall grade in the B range. I just think he needs to play some of the guys on the bench a little more. An example is, today we were up by 20 several times on Phoenix and he kept Paul and Ray in the game. I see no resaon not to play Walker for a couple of minutes in these situations. If he gets burned a few times and they cut the lead to 12 because of him, then he goes out for Paul or Ray. Use this as a learning tool with constructive criticism and more importantly shave 5 or more minutes per game off your 'stars' playing time.

How else does he expect to build any kind of a bench? I understand not playing a guy that is lazy or doesnt get it like with POB, but when the effort is there and there are signs of life then why not? When the playoffs come and Paul sprains an ankle, wouldnt we much rather have a somewhat confident Bill Walker to come in for a few minutes than a scared guy who is clueless?

The second part of this is simple, it exposes the guys who cant play and then Danny can get rid of them sooner. We claim not to be in the player development business on a large scale, yet we have had POB, Pruitt, Walker and Giddens on the roster this year with only Pruitt seeing any minimal run. If a player doesnt deserve to play in a blowout then cut them loose. Why pay a salary if they are proven worthless? We had plenty of blowouts early to play POB and expose him, then he could have been cut before his contract was guaranteed.

Those 4 roster spots and Sam's are valuable. There are other FA players that would have been more valuable to us and cheap if we werent going to play them. Maybe it is just me, but after a while it feels like we were wasting our time on some of these guys.

[KungPoweChicken]

I agree, with you on a lot of that....the Walker thing is a big one! He is a big, strong agile player. Dunks strong, moves well without the ball...maybe develop into a great player and defender, IF he gets to play.....He is big enough to take on Kobe and Lebron, I mean has the Posey body type anyway....in time maybe..!

Walker is actually only 6'5".

[KungPoweChicken]

I think Doc has been okay this year.  Other than his obsession with Tony Allen, his playing rotation has been pretty solid.  He's started to mix his bench in with his starters more, which is a necessity.

I'd like to see Bill Walker get some more run.  We're going to need somebody who can covers 2s and 3s in the playoffs in place of Pierce and Ray, and Walker seems to physically be the best option. 

So, the weaknesses are lack of development of the young guys, too much Tony Allen, and not maximizing his bench's performance.  The pluses have been keeping the team motivated and focused (other than through the 2-7 stretch, when they were dead), and developing Rondo into a near co-equal with the "big three".

I'd give Doc a B this season, I guess.  The mistakes he is making don't appear fatal, but he's not necessarily getting the absolute maximum out of his team (or setting them up as well as possible for the playoffs).

TP for an excellent analysis.

I do fault Doc a little for his persistence playing ineptitude, such as Tony Allen - whether you're watching the minutes of the Big 3 or not. Also, he's been slow to recognize the fairly obvious - House needs to run the 2 to be effective.

I'd dock him a letter grade for playing POB more - that one was a disgraceful signing. Anyone who'd done any due diligence knew POB isn't an NBA player.

But other than that, I'd go B, B+. Not his fault he doesn't have a bench.

Tony Allen has been the best wing option off the bench. Thus, I'm not sure what you mean by Doc's persistence on playing ineptitude. Tony is the best wing option off the bench, and it's as simple as that.

[MBz]

I'd say a B-/B.  He's done an overall good job with the team.  I too disagree on how he handles Bill Walker.  I'd like to see him getting a little run to give Allen and Pierce a break.  Like it was mentioned, he can't be any worse than Tony Allen.  I'd like to see him play Pruitt a little more to see Eddie House playing the 2.  On defense if they need to swap that's fine, I think Pruitt has better ability in defending the two then House, but I want House as the 2 off the bench.

[bopna]

Doc's minute management is borderline atrocious....so overall. id say he is a C plus.

the reason we are winning is the Big 4with Rondo and we have the best starting five in the league, thats why.

[CoachBo]

I think Doc has been okay this year.  Other than his obsession with Tony Allen, his playing rotation has been pretty solid.  He's started to mix his bench in with his starters more, which is a necessity.

I'd like to see Bill Walker get some more run.  We're going to need somebody who can covers 2s and 3s in the playoffs in place of Pierce and Ray, and Walker seems to physically be the best option. 

So, the weaknesses are lack of development of the young guys, too much Tony Allen, and not maximizing his bench's performance.  The pluses have been keeping the team motivated and focused (other than through the 2-7 stretch, when they were dead), and developing Rondo into a near co-equal with the "big three".

I'd give Doc a B this season, I guess.  The mistakes he is making don't appear fatal, but he's not necessarily getting the absolute maximum out of his team (or setting them up as well as possible for the playoffs).

TP for an excellent analysis.

I do fault Doc a little for his persistence playing ineptitude, such as Tony Allen - whether you're watching the minutes of the Big 3 or not. Also, he's been slow to recognize the fairly obvious - House needs to run the 2 to be effective.

I'd dock him a letter grade for playing POB more - that one was a disgraceful signing. Anyone who'd done any due diligence knew POB isn't an NBA player.

But other than that, I'd go B, B+. Not his fault he doesn't have a bench.

Tony Allen has been the best wing option off the bench. Thus, I'm not sure what you mean by Doc's persistence on playing ineptitude. Tony is the best wing option off the bench, and it's as simple as that.

Tony Allen is Doc's only real wing option off the bench, and he's a below-average NBA player. Not Doc's fault he doesn't have any real options at the wing, or that we've again whiffed on a very real chance to bring in a quality wing. He could sue the front office for non-support.

The positive is that Allen's injury may force Doc to give Walker - the best bet of the young bunch - more minutes. It's an absolute certainty that Walker will play more intelligently than Tony. He can't avoid it.

[Scalablob990]

Doc needs to learn he's got 3 unknown weapons in Giddens, Walker, and Gabe. Gabe has not broken out yet, but I think he's close. We can't keep playing Pierce 40 minutes every game, if Pierce goes down it's like decapitating our team, along with ripping out the heart. Besides subbing methods at times, refusing to use new blood is the second thing from Doc which bothers me. I'd drop a solid B or high C+ for Doc.

[kozlodoev]

Doc needs to learn he's got 3 unknown weapons in Giddens, Walker, and Gabe. Gabe has not broken out yet, but I think he's close. We can't keep playing Pierce 40 minutes every game, if Pierce goes down it's like decapitating our team, along with ripping out the heart. Besides subbing methods at times, refusing to use new blood is the second thing from Doc which bothers me. I'd drop a solid B or high C+ for Doc.

Why exactly would you want to use someone who's clearly not able to contribute right now?

[KungPoweChicken]

Doc needs to learn he's got 3 unknown weapons in Giddens, Walker, and Gabe. Gabe has not broken out yet, but I think he's close. We can't keep playing Pierce 40 minutes every game, if Pierce goes down it's like decapitating our team, along with ripping out the heart. Besides subbing methods at times, refusing to use new blood is the second thing from Doc which bothers me. I'd drop a solid B or high C+ for Doc.

Congratulations sir! I believe you are the first one to describe Giddens, Walker, and Pruitt as three weapons.

[Scalablob990]

Doc needs to learn he's got 3 unknown weapons in Giddens, Walker, and Gabe. Gabe has not broken out yet, but I think he's close. We can't keep playing Pierce 40 minutes every game, if Pierce goes down it's like decapitating our team, along with ripping out the heart. Besides subbing methods at times, refusing to use new blood is the second thing from Doc which bothers me. I'd drop a solid B or high C+ for Doc.

Why exactly would you want to use someone who's clearly not able to contribute right now?

Doc won't know WHEN they will be able to contribute since he rarely uses them. You can't get a full summary of their skills in the D-league or at practice. Gabe is scared ****less when he's playing since he never wants to make a mistake, or he gets pulled. A lot of the teams in the NBA use their rookies in their rotations, but Doc dislikes doing that unless it's forced on him, because god forbid they screw up it will cost us the game. We have no SF at all right now behind Pierce so Doc needs to figure out what to do soon.