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July 18, 2008
Doc Rivers' Family Values Approach to Coaching
This is a tribute to Glenn Rivers, the new World Champion Coach of the Celtics.
There are always good guys and bad guys.
In the NBA Finals it was no different. There was a good guy to root for and a bad guy to root against. This time the good guy won.
Coaching in the NBA is a very difficult job. Whenever half of your players and most of the important ones make much more money than you do, managing them becomes that much more difficult. If you have ever been a sales manager who has managed superstar salespeople, the rainmakers, you probably understanding what I'm talking about.
The NBA is all that and more so. It is a players league.
Dictator type coaches usually have a short though sometimes prosperous reign. Ask Scott Skiles, Paul Silas, Larry Brown, John Calipari, Quinn Buckner, and yes, Rick Pitino. Some were successful to a degree.... for a while.....some were not. Many fans love the dictators, the drill sargeants, the "boot-you-in-the-butt" type of leaders. I'm not one of those fans. I'm big on respect, dignity, and words like those. I think it is a much harder way to coach. But it is worth it.
Of course, some dictators last much longer. Pat Riley, Gregg Popovich and Jerry Sloan come to mind. You do it their way or there's the highway. You can add Phil Jackson to that group, I guess. He thinks Tex Winter's triangle offense is something special. If you play for Phil, you better think so, too.
When the triangle stops working, it becomes the Kobe offense as it became the Michael Jordan offense before him. It's nice to have a super-superstar to bail you out when the plan stops working.
Phil Jackson and Pat Riley actually supercede most of their players in notoriety. Coaching superstars, if you will. They come complete with media groupies. I learned that when their teams came to Boston and there was a media horde around them in the hall as they made sage and regal pre-game pronouncements that us media troglodytes carved into stone as wisdom from above. Manna from heaven. Oh manna....I kid you not.
There are a few different coaching 'types' that we label coaches with. Nate McMillan, Maurice Cheeks and Glenn Rivers fall under the 'players' coach' label. That is often a euphemism for
'weak'. Yes, many players coaches don't last long either. You can operate from fear or you can operate from respect. I have seen both work. I have seen both fail. Give me the respectful approach. Not that respectful coaches don't yell a bit and get angry. They do.
Some are just not equipped to manage NBA players. Mike Montgomery came from the college ranks to run the Golden State Warriors for 2 lackluster years that got worse and worse before Chris Mullin said he had seen enough. Chris needed a coach with a strong personality and the gravitas to manage difficult stars. In the end, it was said that Montgomery couldn't control the team and Baron Davis in particular did whatever he wanted.
Enter Don Nelson. Rules and attitudes changes immediately. The first player Don confronted and challenged was Baron Davis. Don knew where the team's axis was. Going against Don Nelson would have been quite a different thing. Baron accepted the challenge and bought in. The change was immediate and substantial. As solid of a coach as Don Nelson is, I thought it might be smoke and mirrors at first. It wasn't.
During the post game celebration of winning the world championship Doc Rivers said he was worried about managing his three stars...until his first meeting with all three stars. After that very first meeting, he knew they would do what was necessary, Doc's idea of what was necessary, to make a solid run at a championship.
They would buy in and he would captain the ship through the long and winding 82 game season, replete with still untold stories of ego management, refocus, and reminders of what the plan was and what the goal was.
On top of that, Doc brought an ebullient, unflappable rookie 2nd rounder named Glen Davis into the mix earlier than many thought he would. Like many rookies, Big Baby had hopes of making an immediate impact and displaying his talents. Doc wanted him to set picks, learn where to go on defense and rebound. It was a learning experience for LSU's former star.
To the surprise of some (read that: me), Glen actually played before Leon Powe did this season. In the end, they both became solid contributors, but not usually in the same game. Mike Gorman came to call the two of them 'Leon Davis'. Doc Rivers called it 'power forward by committee'. I call it a great one-two combo.
Doc worked in and around a raw young talent at point guard named Rajon Rondo. They had their moments. Rajon is strong headed and sometimes thought he knew better than the coach and even had his moments with some of the anointed three. From where I sat, this was one of the greatest successes of Doc's coaching this season.
Rajon is Celtic Nation's darling. You can criticize anyone, but don't criticize Johnny Rondo. Even when he does wrong, he does no wrong. Rondo is as close to teflon coated among the Celtic faithful as you can get. Youth will be served. His talent is obvious. But so were his shortcomings. Doc's insinuation of Rondo into a structured offense with three of the league's best players was a gradual one and not without planning. By the end of the year, he ran the offense well, and at times, was brilliant. But to be truthful, Rondo still played with highs and lows. To Rondo's credit, he learned to play a paced half court game when the open court is his natural strength.
Leon's Powe's vertical game added some horizontal development. The wildly versatile use of Posey, the well defined role of Kendrick Perkins, the ability to get Ray Allen to increase his effectiveness defensively as the year wore on, the balanced minutes and shot attempts of the stars were planned by the maestro Doc Rivers. His high maintenance stars gave him the respect necessary to make it all work.
Sam Cassell said one of Rivers strengths is - managing NBA sized egos. James Posey loved playing for a coach who recognized that family issues were important in a high pressure, business oriented league. Every Celtic player who had a family event like a new baby was given the time they wanted to be there for the birth or to take time for personal matters. Players appreciated the humanity of the man. It makes a long grinding season just a little better.
In a year where a team wins the championship, the coach gets a little teflon coating. Not all things were beyond second guessing, such as using Posey as a power forward far too much for most of the year. But like the key players of a title winning team, the coach gets a pass for those things that didn't appear to always work out. They worked out enough to be the best team in the NBA, when all was said and done. And there maybe other reasons why he played Posey at the 4 a lot.
I believe it was no accident that Tony Allen was given one big moment of playing time as was Glen Davis in the Finals series. Neither were really part of the game plan against the Lakers. Yet, both played a solid set of minutes - once. I believe that Doc wanted to give every player a chance to play substantial minutes in at least one game in the championship series. He had that kind of respect and consideration for those who helped the team get there. Tony and Glen will always have those minutes as memories, no matter what else happens in their careers.
It's been said ad infinitum that Doc gets his family values from his mom and dad. Mom and dad raised him well. It is a bit ironic that Doc's dad died at the beginning of the season. In a league of testosterone laced toughness, constant teasing, occasional typical male confrontations, verbal and otherwise, James Posey would hug his mates before each game and Doc Rivers would get emotional when talking about his dad.
Even 2 seasons ago, Doc's young, inept Celtic team did not meltdown. They played hard, if not well, though they knew the outcome of most games ahead of time. This season his team appreciated his, at times strict, but fatherly approach so much they went out and won the championship. Sometimes the good guys do win.
The three stars didn't do it without Doc. They did it through Doc. Here is to Doc Rivers, dignity, respect, and 'family' values.
I better go find my wife. I feel a hug coming on. Then again, she might just look at me and start worrying what is wrong with me. I was just thinking about the Celtics, honey, that's all.
Posted by Tom on July 18, 2008 7:53 PM
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Comments
That was an excellent tribute and breakdown of what Doc did and alot of cases did not get credit for this season, and in seasons past.
You get the "seal" of approval for that one . . .
Posted by: ManchvegasBob at July 20, 2008 1:04 PM
Thanks Bob.
There are always things that go on beyond the radar of the press.
James Posey said that a good way to judge how everyone felt about playing for Doc was on 'off days' when work outs were strictly voluntary. He said on most other teams the players would simply take the day off.
On the Celtics, most if not all of the players would come in on off days and be working on something. That rarely happens and speaks loads of their respect for Doc.
Doc did many things well this year.
Another thing to think about is how well he did in trying to develop Gerald Green, Orien Green, Marcus Banks and Justin Reed. None of them did as well elsewhere as they did with the Celtics. All of them had multiple other chances to do well. Doc simply got more out of them.
Thanks for commenting, Bob.
T
Posted by: Tom Halzack at July 20, 2008 9:44 PM
Tom,
Well-written piece. I couldn't agree more, and this is one of the reasons I was always by Doc's side during most arguments.
Also, good point about what he's done with the young players that have since gone elsewhere. He was the perfect coach for those less-than-successful developing teams, and it was great that he got to prove that he was the right coach for a veteran title-contending team, too.
Posted by: ZekeMowattFan at July 21, 2008 10:55 AM
Zeke, you have been a Doc supporter pretty much since the beginning. I remember our own discussions about Doc and coaching generally in years past.
When you think about the greatly different make-up and goals of the team each year that Danny has given Doc to work with, Doc has had quite a work-out as a coach, hasn't he?
Finally he gets rewarded with talent to achieve every coach's dreams...and he makes the most of it.
Hoo-rah!
Posted by: Tom Halzack at July 21, 2008 1:21 PM
