Doc Rivers In The Hall Of Fame

[MarquetteMike1977]

Doc Rivers In The Hall Of Fame

[wadesworld]

https://www.facebook.com/dindu.nuffin.3154/posts/im-telling-yall-the-08-celtics-was-the-greatest-team-ever-they-won-with-doc-rive/1233408275035805/

[The Sultan]

Doc Rivers In The Hall Of Fame

You're a day early. It's only March 31.

[tower912]

Congratulations to Doc.

[Uncle Rico]

Doc Rivers In The Hall Of Fame

Congrats, Doc.  Assume it's for announcing.

[MU82]

Kudos to Glenn. Good player ...  championship-winning coach ... fine announcer ... and an outstanding ambassador for Marquette, the NBA, and the game of basketball.

[MU82]

Zach Harper, editor of The Athletic's "The Bounce" e-newsletter, had this to say about Rivers reportedly getting voted into the Hall of Fame:

The internet is full of jokes belittling Doc Rivers' coaching ability. I should know, because I've participated in plenty of them. It's funny that Doc has the most 3-1 playoff series leads blown. It's funny when Doc is looking for excuses about why anybody but his own team or himself as a coach is at fault. And nobody is better at getting a forced laugh from the media in a news conference room than Doc.

He's also one of the most accomplished coaches we've ever seen. Doc is an incredible voice for the less fortunate and speaks for his community regardless of backlash or scrutiny thrown his way. You know what else Doc is? He's reportedly a Hall of Famer. ESPN reported on Tuesday that Rivers will be inducted into the Dr. James Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The announcement is coming on Saturday with the full list, but Rivers is expected to join Gonzaga coach Mark Few and former WNBA star Elena Delle Donne.

Doc was asked about it before Tuesday's game and had this to say:

"I can't (comment) right now, but it would be great if it's true," Rivers said in a news conference before the Bucks' game against the Dallas Mavericks. "It would mean the world to me. I've done a lot. The numbers are the numbers, but it's not — I swear — it's not why I got into this, honestly, man. It's the relationships. It's the people."

The resume for the 64-year-old Rivers is indeed impressive. Check out his coaching accomplishments:

++He has 1,192 victories. That puts him sixth all-time, 18 wins away from Pat Riley at No. 5.
 
++He was the only coach in the top 10 in victories who hadn't been inducted yet.

++He has 114 playoff victories, fourth all-time behind Phil Jackson (229), Riley (171) and Gregg Popovich (170).

++His 2,053 games coached are the fourth-most ever.

++He won the NBA title in 2008 and made the NBA Finals in 2010.

++He won Coach of the Year in 1999.

++He was named one of the 15 greatest coaches ever during the NBA 75 celebration.

Some may point to his lack of conference titles or having just the one championship ring as not being up there with the greatest of all-time. However, he has as many conference titles as Lenny Wilkens and Jerry Sloan. He has the same number of championships as Wilkens. Both of those coaching legends made it into the hall. Don Nelson has more wins than everybody not named Popovich, and he never won the championship or his conference.

With how volatile the coaching circus is — some guys get fired right after they win Coach of the Year — longevity matters. Rivers has probably done his best coaching when his teams weren't stacked. Like guiding the Orlando Magic to a 41-41 record in the 1999-2000 season. That won him Coach of the Year. A .500 record may not seem like an accomplishment, but Doc's five leading scorers that season were Monty Williams, Pat Garrity, Chucky Atkins, John Amaechi and Darrell Armstrong.

He was in Orlando for four-plus years. He was in Boston for nine years and helped bring together a great team of players to find the common goal in the 2007-08 season. They dominated almost the entire year and won the championship. And his seven years as coach of the Clippers both led them to new heights and withstood the Donald Sterling debacle.

I'm all for the Rivers jokes when they apply, but the internet's perception of Doc is not the same as the reality. If you're very online, you may scoff at his induction, or you may understand what I'm saying about the way he's discussed. If you're not that online, you're probably confused why people are so down on him. Regardless, he deserves to be a Hall of Famer, and it looks like he's headed there later this year.

[The Sultan]

It has nothing to do with being "online." You just have to be a regular follower of the NBA. He has regularly coached loaded teams and has done very little to make those teams better. His teams have been regularly upset in the playoffs, and I believe only upset another team once during his tenure.

Accumulation counts for something, so I understand why he is being inducted. But he's not a very good coach.

[MU82]

It has nothing to do with being "online." You just have to be a regular follower of the NBA. He has regularly coached loaded teams and has done very little to make those teams better. His teams have been regularly upset in the playoffs, and I believe only upset another team once during his tenure.

Accumulation counts for something, so I understand why he is being inducted. But he's not a very good coach.

That's reasonable. I was just providing another opinion.

I did not watch enough of Rivers' best teams with an eye on how well he was or wasn't coaching. Is it possible that he used to be good but that, for whatever reason (age, lack of accountability, inability to adapt, etc), he became a worse coach?

[The Sultan]

That's reasonable. I was just providing another opinion.

I did not watch enough of Rivers' best teams with an eye on how well he was or wasn't coaching. Is it possible that he used to be good but that, for whatever reason (age, lack of accountability, inability to adapt, etc), he became a worse coach?

I don't know if he's gotten worse. He has won when he's had loaded teams, and looks pedestrian when he doesn't. I know that covers a lot of coaches, but we are talking about the Hall of Fame here.

And maybe I was being harsh saying he's "not a very good coach." He's perfectly average, if not slightly above. But I would never consider him one of the best coaches in NBA history.

[JWags85]

That's reasonable. I was just providing another opinion.

I did not watch enough of Rivers' best teams with an eye on how well he was or wasn't coaching. Is it possible that he used to be good but that, for whatever reason (age, lack of accountability, inability to adapt, etc), he became a worse coach?

Is it possible? Honestly no. Listen, I love Doc as a human and role model/guiding voice/mentor for NBA players, and obviously his ambassador/advisor presence for MU.  But I can't think of a coach in any other sport who has gotten more excessive outsized reputational boost out of a single championship than Doc.  Maybe Valvano but that was as much from his cancer struggle and work after than the title.

In the 8 seasons before the Big 3, Doc didn't win a single playoff series and missed he playoffs 4 of the 8 years, including when he got fired.  He won COY his first season in Orlando, for a good coaching job, but a team that still missed the playoffs. 

Yes, that 2008 title team was special. First Celtics title in 22 years, first ring for Garnett and Ray Allen after a decade plus of being stars, etc... but that was way more Danny Ainge swinging big in roster creation bringing in 2 HOF players to pair with Pierce than a sublime coaching job.

After that he's been pedestrian to outright bad.  The next 5 years in Boston he lost in the finals once more and only made one more ECF despite having a top 2 roster in the East every year.  Then he went to the Clippers and despite having another STACKED team with a HOF PG and multiple stars, he never made it past the second round in 7 seasons and lost in the first round 3 times, plus missed the playoffs. Exact same underperformance in Philly.

Winning titles is hard, nobody is denying that.  But he hasn't made a conference  finals in 15 years and until these Bucks teams, he's never had a team that wasn't top 3 in the conference in terms of roster talent.  Hes lost in the first round or missed the playoffs 50% of the seasons since his last finals appearance 17 years ago.

Hes a good man manager (to borrow a soccer term) but has never shown an ability to get more out of a team or elevate them to a higher level.  HOF based on longevity and counting stats as a coach probably makes sense.  But being labeled a top 15 coach of all time, when he was never a top 3 (really probably never a top 5) coach in the NBA at easy given time, was insane

[BM1090]

Is it possible? Honestly no. Listen, I love Doc as a human and role model/guiding voice/mentor for NBA players, and obviously his ambassador/advisor presence for MU.  But I can't think of a coach in any other sport who has gotten more excessive outsized reputational boost out of a single championship than Doc.  Maybe Valvano but that was as much from his cancer struggle and work after than the title.

In the 8 seasons before the Big 3, Doc didn't win a single playoff series and missed he playoffs 4 of the 8 years, including when he got fired.  He won COY his first season in Orlando, for a good coaching job, but a team that still missed the playoffs. 

Yes, that 2008 title team was special. First Celtics title in 22 years, first ring for Garnett and Ray Allen after a decade plus of being stars, etc... but that was way more Danny Ainge swinging big in roster creation bringing in 2 HOF players to pair with Pierce than a sublime coaching job.

After that he's been pedestrian to outright bad.  The next 5 years in Boston he lost in the finals once more and only made one more ECF despite having a top 2 roster in the East every year.  Then he went to the Clippers and despite having another STACKED team with a HOF PG and multiple stars, he never made it past the second round in 7 seasons and lost in the first round 3 times, plus missed the playoffs. Exact same underperformance in Philly.

Winning titles is hard, nobody is denying that.  But he hasn't made a conference  finals in 15 years and until these Bucks teams, he's never had a team that wasn't top 3 in the conference in terms of roster talent.  Hes lost in the first round or missed the playoffs 50% of the seasons since his last finals appearance 17 years ago.

Hes a good man manager (to borrow a soccer term) but has never shown an ability to get more out of a team or elevate them to a higher level.  HOF based on longevity and counting stats as a coach probably makes sense.  But being labeled a top 15 coach of all time, when he was never a top 3 (really probably never a top 5) coach in the NBA at easy given time, was insane

It was before the Warriors became the Warriors, but that Clippers team was the only one I watched in 2015 that consistent gave GS trouble. Couldn't believe they choked that WCSF series to the Rockets. Beat a pretty good, tested Spurs team in 7 in round 1. Getting outscored 40-15 in the 4th quarter of game 6 at home to lose by 12 with a chance to advance was my first "Oh, Doc isn't very good" moment. That roster was good. CP3 and Blake at their peak and some solid vets. Not very deep but the top 7 was good. Had no business losing that series.

[MU82]

Is it possible? Honestly no. Listen, I love Doc as a human and role model/guiding voice/mentor for NBA players, and obviously his ambassador/advisor presence for MU.  But I can't think of a coach in any other sport who has gotten more excessive outsized reputational boost out of a single championship than Doc.  Maybe Valvano but that was as much from his cancer struggle and work after than the title.

In the 8 seasons before the Big 3, Doc didn't win a single playoff series and missed he playoffs 4 of the 8 years, including when he got fired.  He won COY his first season in Orlando, for a good coaching job, but a team that still missed the playoffs. 

Yes, that 2008 title team was special. First Celtics title in 22 years, first ring for Garnett and Ray Allen after a decade plus of being stars, etc... but that was way more Danny Ainge swinging big in roster creation bringing in 2 HOF players to pair with Pierce than a sublime coaching job.

After that he's been pedestrian to outright bad.  The next 5 years in Boston he lost in the finals once more and only made one more ECF despite having a top 2 roster in the East every year.  Then he went to the Clippers and despite having another STACKED team with a HOF PG and multiple stars, he never made it past the second round in 7 seasons and lost in the first round 3 times, plus missed the playoffs. Exact same underperformance in Philly.

Winning titles is hard, nobody is denying that.  But he hasn't made a conference  finals in 15 years and until these Bucks teams, he's never had a team that wasn't top 3 in the conference in terms of roster talent.  Hes lost in the first round or missed the playoffs 50% of the seasons since his last finals appearance 17 years ago.

Hes a good man manager (to borrow a soccer term) but has never shown an ability to get more out of a team or elevate them to a higher level.  HOF based on longevity and counting stats as a coach probably makes sense.  But being labeled a top 15 coach of all time, when he was never a top 3 (really probably never a top 5) coach in the NBA at easy given time, was insane

Thanks for the response, Wags.