Four Wins from Redemption

This week Doc asked the question why on earth would anyone pay heed to a basketball blogger who has never played professional basketball or coached professional basketball? It is a valid question. Everyone over at Celtics blog got worked up over the comment, arguing that bloggers have a right to comment, whether they played or coached professional basketball.

True enough.

But that wasn't Doc's point.

Doc's point was that until you've played professional baksetball, until you've coached professional basketball, you might not have the necessary exposure to provide a balanced evaluation.

Danny Ainge, the guy who hired Doc, has repeatedly said that coaching in the NBA isn't about Xs and Os. It is about dealing with people, dealing with players' emotions and egos and personalities. In this regard, Doc Rivers is the captain of the ship. He's not operations manager. There is big difference.

We can discuss the difference later. But for now let's just say that Bill Simmons (most likely the object of Doc's comment) was off-base when he called out Doc for not saying much during timeouts other than cheer leading type-stuff. "Play tough defense" "Rebound." "Move the ball." The Celtics have now played more than 100 games this season. They don't need to be reminded of the details. The need to be reminded of the big picture. Everything else flows from defense, rebounding, and moving the ball.

If you've watched Phil Jackson's pre-game talks, you know what I'm talking about. His speech is limited to one or two word directives. "Patience." "Help out." "Focus."

Again, NBA coaches aren't operations managers who carry around Excel spreadsheets. The good ones coach at a high level, like captains steering a ship.

Doc is four wins away from earning a place in history as one of the few black head coaches to win an NBA title, and four wins away from silencing all of his critics, at least for the summer.