| Give Doc His Due Authored by Will McClaran - April 9, 2007 - 4:11 pm
| Current Featured Columns | | Merry Christmas, Raptors Fans The Raptors might not be playing good basketball right now, but there are plenty of things for Toronto fans to be thankful for this holiday season.
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Since arriving in Boston, Rivers has compiled a record of 100-135, with an Atlantic Division title in 2005, which ended in a first round loss the Pacers in seven games. Since that season the Celtics have enjoyed extended summer vacations, and disappointed fans. Who would have thought that to get people to come to a Celtics game they would have to hold post game concerts. The Celtics of the 1980's didn't need the help of Hall and Oates or The Boss to get people in the Garden.
Rivers was recently quoted as saying that he wants a contract extension before the start of next season to stay in Boston, and if I'm in the front office, I'm making sure Doc is sticking around. You can't say that Rivers has coached a lot of talent since being in Boston. In his first year (his most successful) he coached Paul Pierce, veteran Gary Payton, and Antoine Walker for half the year, and Ricky Davis for three quarters. If the Celtics had been able to hold onto all those players and let them play together for longer and stayed healthy, Rivers could have made that group a success.
After that season Walker and Payton both ended up in South Beach, and Ricky Davis was the sacrificial lamb in the trade that sent himself, Mark Blount, and an underachieving Marcus Banks to Minnesota for the Kandy Man and Wally World. This whole issue could have been avoided if Boston hadn't decided to give Blount a $40 million contract because he led league the in field goal percentage. Not a hard thing to do when all your shots are coming from inside fifteen feet.
Since all the talent left, Rivers has been fortunate to coach Pierce, but you have to think about what else he has had to work with. This season has undoubtedly been the worst record wise during River's tenure in Boston, but he has also had to deal with a lot of injuries. Al Jefferson has been fighting the injury bug his entire professional career, Wally Szczerbiak has been out a majority of the year, along with Theo Ratliff, Tony “I will Never Dunk During a Dead Ball Ever Again” Allen, and most importantly, Pierce missed a large chunk of the season as well. Who is left for Rivers to put on the floor?
There are 11 players on Boston's roster with five years of professional experience or less. I will say that this time was a good learning experience for the young guys on the team because instead of taking a back seat to players like Jefferson, Pierce, or Szczerbiak, they were able to become impact players. No one expected them to win games, but they learned what it was going to take. While Paul Pierce was injured the Celtics were the hardest working team in the league, they just couldn't win a game.
With the “learning” season soon coming to a close, I have a proposition for Mr. Ainge. I believe that the Celtics should go into the war room and see what they come out with on draft night; hopefully it will be Oden or Durant. Once the rooks are signed to their deals give Rivers a three year extension, and see what he can do. It's clear that the young guys have learned a ton from this season, and they know what it takes to win a ball game. With a healthy Pierce and Jefferson, a star rookie, and an always improving Gerald Green, I believe that the Celtics can get back to winning games, division titles, and going back to the playoffs. From a basketball standpoint, I'm a big Rivers supporter. He was able to keep guys like Rondo, Telfair, Perkins, Gomes, Green, and West in close games with playoff bound teams like San Antonio, Washington, Toronto, and Detroit. Think about what he could do with a healthy staff, and a rookie phenomenon? Things would be looking much greener on the other side of this rebuilding pasture. |
