Has Doc Rivers disproven the claims his detractors made about him this year?

[nickagneta]

For a long period of time this blog was as divided about Doc Rivers being the coach of the Boston Celtics as tanking has divided the blog this year. The claims regarding Doc's coaching abilities that many detractors used against him were:

His offensive system was bad.
His defensive system was due only to Tom Thibodeau and Doc couldn't coach a good defensive team without Tibs.
He couldn't develop talent.
He wanted Rondo to hold the ball too often.

But Doc is now coaching the Clippers who have the highest offensive efficiency in the league and score the most points per game in the league.

The Clippers have the 9th highest defensive efficiency in the league.

Arguably Doc has developed the overall games of Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Darren Collison and moved them to be much better players than before being coached by Doc.

Doc has coached and stressed to Chris Paul all year that he needs to trust his team mates, advance the ball without dribbling, and allow them to make plays and play off the ball more.

These developments this year in LA tend to belie the claims many have made against Doc. So I wonder, has Doc's coaching performance this year in LA changed your opinion of him any if you were in fact a detractor of Doc's while he was here?

[D.o.s.]

Excellent topic, Nick.

I think that a lot of CB'ers who are down on Doc will compare him to Phil Jackson -- in that he's a very winning coach when he's coaching a talented team.  They'll point to his record before the Big 3 and so on.

But, just like when Thibs took over in Chicago, I think it's very telling how much of an impact a good coach can make.

of course, that'll be moot if the Clips don't make it to the WCF.

[Roy H.]

Well, this season has proven a few things:

1.  CP3 >> Rondo
2.  Doc >>>> Vinny Del Negro
3.  Doc really does believe in the "get back on defense in lieu of offensive rebounds" philosophy; despite having Griffin and Jordan, the Clips were only 18th in ORB%.

[manl_lui]

great article, I never doubted Doc. I had this talk with my director the other day and I think he can take them to the WCF, but iffy about making it to the finals. I have them vs the Spurs and I seriously don't know who to pick.

My director thinks they'll take the crown

[nickagneta]

Well, this season has proven a few things:

1.  CP3 >> Rondo
2.  Doc >>>> Vinny Del Negro
3.  Doc really does believe in the "get back on defense in lieu of offensive rebounds" philosophy; despite having Griffin and Jordan, the Clips were only 18th in ORB%.

All very true. But I think most knew those things.

I,  for one, never had a problem with #3. If you have a highly efficient shooting team and want to defend against transition baskets, the "get back on defense and don't crash the offensive boards" is a great way to make your team better defensively. Doc has proven that to me. But if your team isn't an efficient shooting team, then I wouldn't stick with that philosophy.

[slamtheking]

Well, this season has proven a few things:

1.  CP3 >> Rondo
2.  Doc >>>> Vinny Del Negro
3.  Doc really does believe in the "get back on defense in lieu of offensive rebounds" philosophy; despite having Griffin and Jordan, the Clips were only 18th in ORB%.

agree, that's about all this season has shown about Doc in addition to he can win with top talent. 

never been a fan of Doc and still think he's vastly overrated.  To be fair, I thought the Clips would not do as well as they have this season but from my perspective, there's a lot of teams in the league that didn't live up to expectations so I think the top teams' records are a little better than expected.

[Chief]

My biggest complaints were small ball and developing rookies. I have not watched the Clippers close enough to know if he has improved on any of these.

I do know this: He can recruit talent, especially in that market.
                         
                         He works very well with veteran players.

                          He is good at working with pgs.


Having said that, I am glad Stevens is the coach of this team. Also, lots of coaches can win in the regular season, let's see how the Clippers do in the playoffs.

[D.o.s.]

My biggest complaints were small ball and developing rookies. I have not watched the Clippers close enough to know if he has improved on any of these.

I do know this: He can recruit talent, especially in that market.
                         
                         He works very well with veteran players.

                          He is good at working with pgs.


Having said that, I am glad Stevens is the coach of this team. Also, lots of coaches can win in the regular season, let's see how the Clippers do in the playoffs.

Clippers are almost an entirely veteran team -- which is no coincidence, since Doc's also in control of the roster

[Fafnir]

I do think Doc wanted Rondo to have the ball a lot for the C's, he knew KG/PP couldn't handle the load anymore that they had been shouldering.

With Blake he has another offensive force in his prime to handle, not surprised he pushed CP3 to relinquish control.

Chief: The Clippers still go small a lot, they only have 2 reliable big men (Jordan/Griffin)

[Ogaju]

Doc not only relies on veteran players he also relies on veteran coaches. Look at his bench and you will see that he hired a very good HC  material assistant coach who is probably responsible for the real coaching just like Thib was responsible for the 88 chip.

Clippers are not winning anything.

[D.o.s.]

Doc not only relies on veteran players he also relies on veteran coaches. Look at his bench and you will see that he hired a very good HC  material assistant coach who is probably responsible for the real coaching just like Thib was responsible for the 88 chip.

Clippers are not winning anything.

You really think Alvin Gentry is the key to the Clippers puzzle?

I knew you were going to hate on Doc, but seriously?

[fairweatherfan]

^^^^^^^^^
Ha, I asked the question because I looked at the roster and thought, "no way he's seriously talking about Gentry".

Doc not only relies on veteran players he also relies on veteran coaches. Look at his bench and you will see that he hired a very good HC  material assistant coach who is probably responsible for the real coaching just like Thib was responsible for the 88 chip.

Clippers are not winning anything.

Is there a specific assistant you're thinking of or are you just saying this must be the case since Doc couldn't possibly be coaching them well himself?

[Ogaju]

Alvin Gentry... yes

Doc cannot do anything without running to get HC caliber talent on his bench.

[LooseCannon]

Why would a good coach want to surround himself with idiots?

[Fafnir]

Why would a good coach want to surround himself with idiots?

To prove how amazing he is.

Mark Jackson school of thought!