Around the League: 2023-24 Season

[Murray_17]

The thing I’ll never forget about Doc in that Hawks series was that he essentially forfeited game 1 because he decided Danny Green would guard Trae Young.

I mean, this is a classic Doc thing.

He gave up game 1 of the heat series because of his insistence on Jordan playing ahead of Reed and then blamed the team for it because "they asked him to start Jordan", and then he doubled down on game 2 just to prove a point.

[Stanford]

Doc Rivers **** sucks. He's the #1 enemy.

[76ciology]

From what I've read in the Bucks forum, there are more complaints about their players lacking effort or passion to play, especially Lillard, who they now doubt is interested in playing for them.

The Bucks are a peculiar team. Their GM has to balance building a winning team and satisfying Giannis, which often seems to hold the team hostage to his desires. If Giannis wants Thanasis to start, Thanasis will start as early as the next game.

Doc is known as a player’s coach, and the Bucks seem to want him to cater to their players. They've also brought in Pat Bev to fire them up. In their last game against the Grizzlies, Doc said, “Two guys forgot the play we were running. Some guys were here, we had some guys in Cabo.” Just a weird team all around.

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=2358529

[bball4life]

For as talented as Giannis is, he's proven to be just as big a diva as Lebron if not more.

And Lillard given his age and consistent health issues is on the brink of becoming a mediocre basketball player. Literally any month now it could be it for dominance from him.

And with Doc as their coach, I honestly fear the Bucks less than the Celtics, Knicks and Heat in the playoffs.

There could be a massive reorg over there if they fall on their face this playoffs because I am betting Giannis asks out.

[mjkvol]

Doc 3-7 with the Bucks. Color me surprised.

Didn't take him long to start throwing them under the bus.

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/doc-rivers-questions-bucks-effort-after-falling-to-3-7-with-him-as-coach-we-had-some-guys-in-cabo/

[bball4life]

Doc 3-7 with the Bucks. Color me surprised.

Didn't take him long to start throwing them under the bus.

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/doc-rivers-questions-bucks-effort-after-falling-to-3-7-with-him-as-coach-we-had-some-guys-in-cabo/

After another early playoff exit, that has to be it for Doc, right? I mean how many idiots are there left in the league that think he can coach?

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

Milwaukee hiring Doc mid season seems to be on par with what desperate teams at the end of their rope attempt to do to save the ship from sinking. The truth is Lillard is getting old, Middleton is washed but NOBODY says it out loud, Lopez is in his late 30s, and they have zero depth on that roster to speak of. Malik Beasley is their starting guard. He couldn't even get off the Lakers bench last season in the postseason.

[Jailblazers7]

For me, this experience has cemented the fact that Dame is not a serious, championship caliber player. Supreme talent with some iconic moments but his effort level is just not up to par. Look at the difference between the effort he gives on defense versus Steph & the difference between the two players couldn’t be clearer.

[mjkvol]

For me, this experience has cemented the fact that Dame is not a serious, championship caliber player. Supreme talent with some iconic moments but his effort level is just not up to par. Look at the difference between the effort he gives on defense versus Steph & the difference between the two players couldn’t be clearer.

Very true, and yet there were many here wanting to throw Maxey and the kitchen sink at Portland to bring him to Philly.

[M2J]

I predict he will bounce back after the ASB and the team will be looking good, his buddies in the media will be praising him, but then he will flame out in the playoffs. This is the typical Doc's coaching arc. Then it will be at least another season of the exact same thing until they fire him.

As Doc said after losing to San Antonio last year, they're not ready to win yet...

[76ciology]

Celtics On/Off Court Net Ratings (garbage-time filtered out)

Jayson Tatum
On +10.6
Off +8.5

Jaylen Brown
On: +6.6
Off: +16.9 (!)

Kristaps Porzingis
On: +11.6
Off: +8.4

Derrick White
On: +12.2
Off: +5.4

Jrue Holiday
On: +7.9
Off: +13.8

[bball4life]

Celtics On/Off Court Net Ratings (garbage-time filtered out)

Jayson Tatum
On +10.6
Off +8.5

Jaylen Brown
On: +6.6
Off: +16.9 (!)

Kristaps Porzingis
On: +11.6
Off: +8.4

Derrick White
On: +12.2
Off: +5.4

Jrue Holiday
On: +7.9
Off: +13.8

I'm on record saying Jaylen's contract will be the worst in the NBA once that SUPER MAX kicks in. He's not a top 25 player in the league. At 50M per year I wouldn't trade a bag of chips for him. His contract will hamstring the Celtics for the next half a decade. If they don't win this year, it ain't happening for them.

[76ciology]

Mikal Bridges was “pretty vocal behind the scenes” about Jacque Vaughn’s offensive scheme, per shams.

Vaughn’s offense heading into the season was planned to be primarily built around Ben Simmons, who has only played in 12 games this season.

[76ciology]

Celtics On/Off Court Net Ratings (garbage-time filtered out)

Jayson Tatum
On +10.6
Off +8.5

Jaylen Brown
On: +6.6
Off: +16.9 (!)

Kristaps Porzingis
On: +11.6
Off: +8.4

Derrick White
On: +12.2
Off: +5.4

Jrue Holiday
On: +7.9
Off: +13.8

I'm on record saying Jaylen's contract will be the worst in the NBA once that SUPER MAX kicks in. He's not a top 25 player in the league. At 50M per year I wouldn't trade a bag of chips for him. His contract will hamstring the Celtics for the next half a decade. If they don't win this year, it ain't happening for them.

We’d be the clear #1 team in the east if Celts didnt make that Porzingis trade.

[Decipher]

Mikal Bridges was “pretty vocal behind the scenes” about Jacque Vaughn’s offensive scheme, per shams.

Vaughn’s offense heading into the season was planned to be primarily built around Ben Simmons, who has only played in 12 games this season.

Part left out is that they don’t have a scheme when he’s not on the floor

And that’s before we discuss the lack of a defensive system

Nice guy but terrible coach

[76ciology]

Mikal Bridges was “pretty vocal behind the scenes” about Jacque Vaughn’s offensive scheme, per shams.

Vaughn’s offense heading into the season was planned to be primarily built around Ben Simmons, who has only played in 12 games this season.

Part left out is that they don’t have a scheme when he’s not on the floor

And that’s before we discuss the lack of a defensive system

Nice guy but terrible coach

Amor fati.

[ProcessDoctor]

There are some insanely talented players in the league, but I feel like Adam Silver continues to make decisions that completely run this league into the ground. It feels like such a cheap product even though the game and players are spectacular.

[mjkvol]

There are some insanely talented players in the league, but I feel like Adam Silver continues to make decisions that completely run this league into the ground. It feels like such a cheap product even though the game and players are spectacular.

To me it's pretty simple. Silver's answer to everything is MORE - more money, more silly gimmicks, more, more, more.

Shortening the regular season, eliminating back to backs, the all-star charade and in season tournament idiocy would be a great start.

But the bottom line is still your stars, and somehow getting them to develop pride in the league product and take accountability for it. Gimmicks, money, and unfettered player movement just further the clown show and entitlement aspects that have dominated the league since Kobe passed the torch to James.

But the sad truth is that changes in big time sports leagues that don't have revenue enhancement as the first and primary factor NEVER happen. Ever. The idea of taking a step backward to move forward is a non-starter right out of the gate. Way too many greedy entities with their hands in the pot and zero interest in the long term welfare of the sports themselves.

[Jailblazers7]

I don’t totally blame the NBA for current trends because we’ve seen the nationalization of sports (and everything really). So many kids grow up now as fans of a certain player rather than a team, which has totally altered the balance of power between team & player.

I really wonder how much of it is from cord cutting as so many families have ditched cable in favor of high speed internet & streaming. Maybe a lot of kids just don’t have regional sports channels available to them at home like we used to.

[Eyeamok]

Mikal Bridges was “pretty vocal behind the scenes” about Jacque Vaughn’s offensive scheme, per shams.

Vaughn’s offense heading into the season was planned to be primarily built around Ben Simmons, who has only played in 12 games this season.

Part left out is that they don’t have a scheme when he’s not on the floor

And that’s before we discuss the lack of a defensive system

Nice guy but terrible coach

Amor fati.

Seriously if that was the scheme to have Ben Simmons as a focal point then someone needed to send the Net's GM and Coach video of Ben balling it up at his summer sessions and then show what he produced during the regular season. OMG this/that can't be a real professional NBA strategy going into the season!