Let's look at some statistics:
Doc Rivers coaches the Orlando Magic for 4 seasons hovering around a 50% w/l rate. His fifth season he goes 1-11 and then gets fired. He then gets the head coaching gig for Boston.
His first three seasons as a Celtic?
45-37 (.549) 2004
33-49 (.402) 2005
24-58 (2.93) 2006
That's right, the 2006 Celtics only won 30% of their games. At this point, Rivers is an under .500 coach. Quite a bit under .500 actually. His future employment is in question.
They then hire Tom Thibodeau, current head coach of the Chicago Bulls, as assistant coach and rebuild the roster at the start of the 2007-2008 season.
2007 Celtics?
66-16 (.805)
So Thibodeau stays on board and the team goes: .756 / .610 / .683 in the three following seasons as Celtics assistant coach. He then leaves to coach the bulls.
The next season the Celtics then fall to, without Thibodeau:
39-27 (.591) Their worst season since the 2007.
Now the Celtics are off to a 6-5 start, about to go to 6-7 after they lose to the Spurs and OKC. Yet they have an extremely talented squad.
If you believe what Rondo believes:
“I believe this team is more talented than that team,” Rondo said. “But the key to the 2008 team is that everyone bought into the system….
“Guys probably won’t play their normal amount of minutes that they have in the past because we’re such a talented team.”
Then coaching / management is to blame for their lousy performances, at least partially. It becomes even more obvious when you watch the games. Doc Rivers doesn't play his rebounders, resulting in 13 offensive rebounds for the opposing team in ONE quarter. He insists on playing Sullinger and Bass at the same time, over and over and over. He doesn't take advantage of matchups. He has JET running through screens. And in and interview this morning he actually said he wasn't aware of Rondo's assist record because he, "doesn't read."
So Doc Rivers is a roughly .500 coach that people say is one of the elites. It's funny though, Popovich is an elite coach and he has a >.680 record over his career. That's elite.
Let's look at his old assistant coach, Thibs. His head coaching record?
TOM THIBODEAUX -- 112-36 (.757)
A 76% winrate in his first two seasons as Bull's headcoach?
I think Doc is a good, loveable guy, and has some decent huddle plays... but I don't think he's nearly as elite as people make him out to be. His players love him, sure, and he's charismatic, and has leadership abilities...but he's not good at teaching his team how to play. The celtics have had one of the worst offenses in the last couple of years, now their defense is suffering.
It's quite funny that the Celtic's defense went from best in the league to one of the worst, in one season. It doesn't make sense until you read:
Thibodeau (right) as part of the Boston Celtics coaching staff
On August 30, 2007, Thibodeau was named associate head coach of the Boston Celtics,[4][5][6] who hoped to bolster their defense with his hiring.[7] Eventually, he helped the Celtics become the best defensive team in the league with his expertise.[8] On November 4, 2007, Thibodeau took over head coaching duties against the Toronto Raptors in place of Doc Rivers, who was unable to coach due to the death of his father earlier that day.[9]
During the 2008 playoffs, Thibodeau had been rumored as a candidate for the vacant head coaching job with the New York Knicks, whom he worked for as an assistant coach for seven years, as well as the Chicago Bulls.[10][11] However, he wasn't hired as the head coach of either franchise.
Thibodeau led the Celtics to the best rating in several defensive categories in 2007–08,[2] and was a key factor in containing Kobe Bryant during the 2008 Finals.[12]
You can say the BIG 3s decline is to blame for this dropoff, and I'm sure it does have some effect, but you cannot deny that there is a strong correlation with the drop of performance, especially defensive, after Thibodeau departed.
So in short, Doc Rivers is great at leading a team when his assistant coach does most of the X's and O's. He's probably a below average coach in that regard. He needs a good assistant coach to shine, someone to take the burden off his shoulders. He's more of a PR manager than a coach, and probably owes his job and reputation to the head coach of the Bulls.
