What will it take for Ballmer to admit that the GM/Coach Doc experiment has failed?

MartinToVaught · Post #1 » by **MartinToVaught** » Sat Dec 24, 2016 6:23 am

Another atrocious coaching job from Doc tonight really has me pondering this. Four seasons into the Doc regime, it's clear that what we see is what we're going to get.

From a coaching perspective, we're always going to see heroball chucking from the perimeter, dumbass small-ball, young players rotting on the bench in favor of the coach's washed-up favorites, too much switching on defense, Austin Rivers getting forced into minutes no matter what because of his last name, and Jamal Crawford getting free reign to destroy any concept of team basketball.

As a GM, we will watch Doc hand out our draft picks like candy and blow as much of Ballmer's money as he can on keeping a treadmill team together.

Dunleavy's previous failure in the same role didn't convince Ballmer. Blowing a 3-1 lead didn't convince Ballmer. Losing in the first round didn't convince Ballmer. The toxic Austin and Crawford contracts didn't convince Ballmer. As much as I hate to say it, maybe a loss to the pathetic Lakers on Christmas Day would finally embarrass Ballmer into taking action, or at least make him start to ask himself why he's paying Doc so much money for such mediocre results?

This franchise needs a competent head coach and a competent GM who are two separate people. That's how successful franchises operate. Giving Doc the pink slip doesn't solve all our problems overnight, but it's a quantum leap forward nonetheless.

GuyverX · Post #2 » by **GuyverX** » Sat Dec 24, 2016 6:37 am

I don't think Ballmer has ever publicly criticized the team at all. I don't think he's at that point yet, tbh. Losing up 3-1 to Houston and having a public oncourt meltdown would've made any owner frustrated. Maybe after this season, if they get knocked out of the first round again and CP3, Redick, Griffin decide to bolt for greener pastures and we become a rebuilding team again...maybe he'll just say screw it and get rid of Rivers. He should never have been given a dual coach/GM role.

He's a new owner who put a lot of trust in Doc, who was with the Clippers before he was. And I imagine Doc really buttering him up just like he does the refs. "Trust me, if we do this and that we'll win a championship. I've done it all before in Boston. We just gotta play the right way, blah blah blah." Eventually when all your stars are gone and the team sucks again, he'll probably wisen up. But it'll be too late. For now, it's Doc or bust.

mattd13 · Post #3 » by **mattd13** » Sat Dec 24, 2016 1:52 pm

I am afraid ballmer drank the doc cool-aid. I see this team sliding and the window is slowly closing. I hope I am wrong because I truly thought they had a shot but I am now convinced doc is going to ruin it.

Post #4 » by **og15** » Sat Dec 24, 2016 3:23 pm

Who knows. Technically Lawrence Frank is the main person acting as GM right now, not Doc, though Doc still has a say.

mattd13 · Post #5 » by **mattd13** » Sat Dec 24, 2016 11:32 pm

really, I do not buy that. frank was brought in by doc. he will do what he is told. I am sure if frank was given the choice he would never have given Austin nor jamal that money. doc is taking care of his own until ballmer has the balls to move on. end of story.

GlenRiceARoni · Post #6 » by **GlenRiceARoni** » Sun Dec 25, 2016 11:42 am

I still can't believe they made Doc the GM. It's entirely too much work for one person anyway, and Doc is probably less qualified to be a GM than your average Uber driver.

As a coach Doc has always been a bit of a disaster offensively. He had Thibs/KG on defense in Boston and CP3 is basically a player/coach in LAC.

Doc is possibly the most overpaid head coach in any of the major professional sports and he's probably the most overpaid executive. He's a guy you keep around on the staff as a motivator or something but he's not HC material.

I don't get the desire to hire guys who are so far behind the curve just because they played the sport in a completely different era.

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MartinToVaught · Post #7 » by **MartinToVaught** » Mon Dec 26, 2016 5:15 am

- Paul Pierce continuing to get heavy minutes
- Brandon Bass rotting on the bench when we could use him
- Doesn't call a timeout until the Lakers' run hits 11-0
- Absolutely no offensive sets at all

It's not like we've been playing the Warriors or Cavs lately. We still have enough talent to beat the bum-ass Mavericks and Lakers, but this utter moron of a coach is going to get us embarrassed AGAIN on Christmas Day. FIRE DOC RIVERS!

Post #8 » by **og15** » Mon Dec 26, 2016 5:12 pm

Should we be able to beat those teams? Do Jamal Crawford led teams win a lot of games?

MartinToVaught · Post #9 » by **MartinToVaught** » Sun Jan 1, 2017 3:42 pm

Doc has officially dragged us back to the "same old Clippers." This stretch of games reminds me of the bad old days. It's long past time for Doc to leave.

MartinToVaught · Post #10 » by **MartinToVaught** » Fri Jan 20, 2017 9:56 pm

Bump! So apparently Doc wants to trade for PJ Tucker, but the Suns are holding firm at a first-round pick as the price for his services:

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/244653/Suns-Seeking-1st-Round-Pick-For-PJ-Tucker-With-Clippers-Interested

Please, Ballmer - please fire this moron before he throws away yet another first-round pick on a low-ceiling, non-impact player! Think of the future of the franchise you paid $2 billion for! :banghead:

Post #11 » by **thanumba2clippersfan** » Fri Jan 20, 2017 11:34 pm

No reason for us to do that deal. Maybe the Suns think they can get a pick from us since we've traded away other 1st rounders in other trades. (I don't blame them for trying)

LACtdom · Post #12 » by **LACtdom** » Sat Jan 21, 2017 12:04 am

I remember when we used to argue about how Jamal's scoring ability doesn't make up for his non-existent D.... Now that he has stopped scoring, I don't think there are too many Jamal fans.

I prefer PJ Tucker over w3s. Johnson has been terrible and I have given up hope that he will turn into a basketball player. Giving up a first rounder will suck but I'm hoping we could bundle it with Jamal or Wes to at least shed some dead weight.

Post #13 » by **og15** » Sat Jan 21, 2017 12:49 am

2nd round pick is fine. 1st is terrible, even more so because it would be in 2021.

Neddy · Post #14 » by **Neddy** » Sat Jan 21, 2017 4:10 am

as rarely as I agree with the panic machine that is MartintoVaught, if Doc is willing to trade away another first rounder, he outta be shown the door. I don't remember Pop, Brown, Jackson, Riley, or any decent champioship winning head coaches in history of NBA who were trading first rounder one after another to get rid of his own bad signings.

LACtdom · Post #15 » by **LACtdom** » Sun Jan 22, 2017 4:55 am

I may be overreacting but I would give up all the picks in the world for Jamal to retire.

MartinToVaught · Post #16 » by **MartinToVaught** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 2:58 am

Tonight's loss is one of the most embarrassing ones in Clipper history, and that's saying something with how bad our history is. How much more of this garbage do we have to watch before Ballmer wakes up? It's getting ridiculous.

donemilio21 · Post #17 » by **donemilio21** » Fri Feb 3, 2017 6:41 am

Doc now lost 9 straight games to Warriors.

How on earth you lose 9 straight against one of your two biggest rivals and still have a job?

If Dodgers lose 3 straight series to Giants, you can bet Dave Roberts would be out of a job, and he almost made it to the WS.
He is a horrible coach, even worse as a GM.
Does Ballmer actually know anything about basketball? He is the richest owner in NBA, he can swallow $20 million and fire this clown.

mttwlsn16 · Post #18 » by **mttwlsn16** » Fri Feb 3, 2017 7:24 am

If the Giants swept the Dodgers Dave Robert's wouldn't be fired. Let's be real.
GSW is just a better team than us, we need help. Might as well get Melo and hope for the best. We aren't beating them in a 7 game series the way we are now. We'd probably lost 4-1, or 4-2 best case scenario. GSW is crazy talented

donemilio21 · Post #19 » by **donemilio21** » Fri Feb 3, 2017 6:42 pm

mttwlsn16 wrote:If the Giants swept the Dodgers Dave Robert's wouldn't be fired. Let's be real.
GSW is just a better team than us, we need help. Might as well get Melo and hope for the best. We aren't beating them in a 7 game series the way we are now. We'd probably lost 4-1, or 4-2 best case scenario. GSW is crazy talented

perhaps not, but there will be pressure from the media and fans. Doc doesn't have any pressure from LA media. I do not see any fans protesting in the game.
Warriors are of course the better team, because Doc failed to assemble a team like the warriors did.
In 4 years he drafted Reggie Bullock, CJ Wilcox, Brice Johnson, David Michineau and traded 2 first round picks for scraps on expiring contracts.
even Lakers beat them twice. Lottery teams like Miami, Detroit, Dallas, Minnesota and Denver have more wins against them than us in the past 3 seasons.

It is clear to me that we are not going to get anywhere with Doc.

MartinToVaught · Post #20 » by **MartinToVaught** » Fri Feb 3, 2017 7:11 pm

mttwlsn16 wrote:If the Giants swept the Dodgers Dave Robert's wouldn't be fired. Let's be real.
GSW is just a better team than us, we need help. Might as well get Melo and hope for the best. We aren't beating them in a 7 game series the way we are now. We'd probably lost 4-1, or 4-2 best case scenario. GSW is crazy talented

I know it's crazy to look back on now, but it wasn't that long ago that we were better than the Warriors. What changed is that they replaced Mark Jackson with a real coach and their front office kept improving their team. Meanwhile, we let Coach Doc continue to underachieve and GM Doc continue to gut our roster, flexibility and future without actually making the team better.

Yes, there's a huge gap between the Warriors and the Clippers now. But Doc isn't off the hook because of it. He is one of the biggest reasons why the gap exists. Maybe the gap would be closer today if we had fired Doc after the Houston series and brought in a competent front office and coaching staff.

Here's the biggest mark against Doc: in terms of talent, we're still much closer to the Warriors than the Lakers or the Heat are, both of whom have beaten them this year. We were closer to last year's Warriors talent-wise than the Bucks, Mavericks, Lakers and Timberwolves teams that beat them were. Nobody's expecting to sweep the Kerr-era Warriors every year or anything, but they've struggled more against lottery teams sometimes than they ever do against us. 1-10 against them in the last three years is pathetic.