Beginning to Question Doc...

[celticsnut]

For what its worth, blaming a coach seems to be the easiest thing to do in sports these days when your team is playing bad. I love Doc and I think he is actually one of the rare coaching in the league that actually coaches throughout games. But how in the world does he take Pruitt out of the game in the 4th. Talk about shattering a young guys confidence. Not to mention he leaves Eddie in the game who hasn't made a shot that means anything since the Clinton Administration. I am honestly so upset with Rondo it isn't even funny. He let Aaron Brooks kill him almost all night. He doesnt fight over screens nor does he provide anything to this team when he isnt pushing the ball up the floor. 11 points in the 4th quarter is unreal. If doc told Gabe to shoot everytime down the floor we score more than 11 points in the quarter. My biggest issue isnt that we are losing its that we are losing close games. I have no confidence in us closing out or even winning a tight game.

Also, if our defense isnt playing well, which it hasnt been during this stretch we have no chance to win because we dont get up enought shots throughout the course of a game. We took 70 shots last night in the entire game. Our shooting percentages throughout games is the most flawed stat there is. At one point towards the end of the 1st quarter we were shooting 70% from the field and only up 3 or 4. That happens everygame. Doc always says look at percentages, but when your only getting up 70-75 shots a game and shooting a high percentage you still arent putting up points. At the end of the day you have to outscore people and i dont think we can do that. Someone please help me be sane because if we dont start winning again soon I dont know what I am going to do with myself.

Add Aaron Brooks to my list of bums that we let beat us night in and night out.

[Tricky Ricky]

Aaron Brooks isnt a bum, hes been doing this to teams all season.

[celticsnut]

He is similar to the guys we let beat up on us that should have no business being on the same court, ala Adam Morrison, Bellinelli, Turiaf.....These arent guys that are suppose to win your team games, yet they are the primary reasons we have lost during this stretch.

[BillessuR6]

Doc is just stubborn. When he establishes a rotation, it is almost impossible for players to break it. Davis and Tony Allen have been horrible this season but still nothing has changed.

I just think Doc should play players more based on daily form and production and not so much on a default rotation.

For example, Rondo was terrible yesterday but he still played in the last 5 minutes. Whereas Pruitt had a very good game but wasn`t rewarded for it...Also Gabe played great defense on Brooks and Doc went with House, who isn`t half the defender GP is and wasn`t even making shots on offense...

[MyInsatiableOne]

^^I agree, Tony and Davis have no business playing serious minutes...I'd rather see POB, Gabe, and Scal over them at this point...

[cisco]

Not sure what you guys are watching, but Davis has played well the last few games, especially last night. He's been better than Powe, imo, especially since sticking his jumper with regularity. He's a better defender of bigs than Powe too. I said before, if Doc puts 2 starters on the floor, watch Davis play better and that's exactly what has happened. Totally agree about Tony though.

[JR Hawks]

We won last year despite Doc Rivers not because of Doc Rivers.

Doc coaches the O. Tom T. coaches the D. Our D has been stellar for a year and a half. Our O, well, we have trouble scoring despite having 3 Hall of Fame offensive players on our roster.

[cloverleaf]

Doc is stubborn, and I'd like to have seen Gabe playing more sooner, for sure. But given that stubbornness, it's at least good to see Gabe getting increased minutes (thanks, Tony!) before the All-Star break.

That Gabe's building up some good showings and more minutes without being out there yet for a high-stakes game ending is okay with me. Once he's built his confidence as a rotation player, his value as a late-game defense-and-shooting combo will become clear.

[return2glory]

You have every right to question Doc. At this point he has no idea what he is doing.

Rondo struggles, and he still gives him heavy minutes.
House struggles and is still in the rotation.
He says he wants to cut KG's minutes one day and plays him more minutes after that statement.
Ray is tired, got look at this shooting in the 2nd half off the games recently. Most off his shots are short.

Doc basicially gives struggling players time on the floor and can't give players like POB and Pruitt any minutes. The only reason Pruitt is playing now is cause TA is hurt.

[JellyBean]

S.T.U.B.B.O.R.N................Last game.......Perkins & Rondo = useless......Pruitt & Baby = effective

So what did Doc do? He stuck with his rotation (clueless? dumb?.....STUBBORN?)

Great coaches know when to adjust for match ups and who to play.....nope not Doc.

Maybe Doc's screw needs to be tighten up?

[ryaningf]

You have every right to question Doc. At this point he has no idea what he is doing.

Doc has struggled with his rotations, that's for sure, especially since the Laker game.

The lack of real point guard on the 2nd unit is apparent to everyone, yet Doc's still conservative about playing Pruitt, who's a better point than everyone except Rondo and a better perimeter defender than everyone except TA (yes, that includes Rondo, who still gambles too much)

Rondo struggles, and he still gives him heavy minutes.

Actually, that's not the case. Rondo struggles and Doc overplays House, which only contributes to our problems. Doc SHOULD be giving Rondo heavy minutes, even when he's struggling, because he's our best PG and he needs to learn to play through bad stretches.

House struggles and is still in the rotation.

Yeah, he's due to be benched again. When your only skill is hitting baskets, and you're not hitting baskets, you shouldn't be playing. House has and always will be a 10 minute a game player. If he's hitting early, you play him until he isn't hitting. If he's not hitting, you don't play him anymore. Doc likes to play him because the other team is forced to guard him on the perimeter, which in theory would open up things for other players. The problem is, House will chuck 3 pointers anyway, even if he's guarded. The guy is a GREAT wide open, swing-it-to-him kind of shooter, but with contested or off-the-dribble jumpers, he's not that good.

He says he wants to cut KG's minutes one day and plays him more minutes after that statement.

Yeah, Doc just needs to shut his mouth about KG's minutes. Just play him less, don't announce to the world that he doesn't have any more energy if he plays more than 8 minutes in a row. Why do we need to know that? Just don't play him 8 minutes in a row, don't tell us about it.

Ray is tired, got look at this shooting in the 2nd half off the games recently. Most off his shots are short.

Yeah, Ray and Rondo's struggles go hand in hand. I've also noticed that lately Ray has been looking off Rondo on the break and instead has been bringing the ball up himself, usually to less than great results. The timing on the Rondo-to-Ray kickouts for 3 has also been off lately. The passes just aren't on target, or Ray just isn't in the right spot.

Doc basicially gives struggling players time on the floor and can't give players like POB and Pruitt any minutes. The only reason Pruitt is playing now is cause TA is hurt.

Yeah, and Pruitt should have been playing at House's expense long ago. The 2nd unit's problem is a lack of veteran leadership and the lack of a point guard. Pruitt can solve the point guard problems; he does everything House can do, and he does a lot of other things that House could never do (like dribble, create his own shot, defend, etc...)

POB, on the other hand, hasn't been around long enough to make much of a difference. Pruitt has a year and a half under his belt, knows the schemes, plays hard, etc....POB, I think, can't make the same claim. He's not ready, yet...

[Jesus Juice]

doc should have been fired before you guys got the big three

[MyInsatiableOne]

doc should have been fired before you guys got the big three

Umm, no. The guys like playing for him and do you know at 6 seasons he's something like the 4th longest tenured coach with one team in the NBA? Winning teams have CONSISTENCY at head coach (LAL, Spurs) and that's what we have...

[Jesus Juice]

um no, this is his fifth season, and the latter 2 of the first 3 the team sucked, and he should of lost his job.... before his championship he didn't get out the first round. Isiah thomas could coach that team last year and you would have one the Chip, your team was self motivated. Give any decent coach that type of talent you have and you will stumble into a fifty win season. You do realize that the last game of the 2007-2008 season TD Bank North Garden crowd ended the game chanting fire Doc.

I agree with consitancy in the coaching spot but Doc is no Phil or Pop or Sloan, Doc is a coach in the right place at the right time.

[MyInsatiableOne]

^^Because

um no, this is his fifth season, and the latter 2 of the first 3 the team sucked, and he should of lost his job.... before his championship he didn't get out the first round. Isiah thomas could coach that team last year and you would have one the Chip, your team was self motivated. Give any decent coach that type of talent you have and you will stumble into a fifty win season. You do realize that the last game of the 2007-2008 season TD Bank North Garden crowd ended the game chanting fire Doc.

I agree with consitancy in the coaching spot but Doc is no Phil or Pop or Sloan, Doc is a coach in the right place at the right time.

Because totally every coach parachutes into an instant contedner ala Phil Jackson, right? I mean, NO ONE has to take their lumps and endure bad before getting to the good. Not Red, not Belichick, not Tito, not Poppovich, no one...right?

[UGA Hayes]

Eh Doc is doing fine. The players are playing very porrly right now. Doc has tried to fiddle with the lineup but there is really only so much one can do. This slump is on the players. They are not playing well on offense or defense.

[BillessuR6]

I give Doc credit for hack-a-Ben strategy last night. Try something new if nothing is working.

But what bothers me the most about Doc is that he doesn`t like to take chances with different lineups...

Why was Rondo in in the last quarter when we were down 10+ points was a mystery to me. We will never catch anybody with Rondo at PG. He should have gone with Pruitt...would we win, probably not but just try mixing it up because if the "known" isn`t working maybe the "unknown" will.

[UGA Hayes]

^ I don't agree with this at all. Firstly we struggle to create shots at all without rondo in the game. More often than not we see things like ray allen dribbling the ball off his foot. Additionally Rondo is perfectly capable of scoring, he just needs to get his head out of his ***.