The Philadelphia 76ers are moving into a new era with Doc Rivers now taking over the coaching job from Brett Brown after his seven seasons on the job. Rivers brings instant credibility to the position as he had a lot of success in the NBA.
However, he does have his fair share of criticism as a guy who has blown a couple of 3-1 leads in his career. Most recently, he blew a 3-1 lead in the Western semifinals with the Los Angeles Clippers to the Denver Nuggets. The Clippers were a team that was expected to contend for a title led by serious talents such as Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Lou Williams so it was a massive disappointment, to say the least.
In a survey done by The Athletic, they spoke to anonymous NBA agents and they were not happy with the job Rivers did while in the bubble in Orlando.
The agents said:
“Doc Rivers kind of disappointed me. I don’t think he should have been fired but he didn’t make adjustments.”
“The Clippers were favorite to win the title with the team they had and the latest addition they made before the lockdown. The team is very deep. Put aside Kawhi and PG. Last year they had a good playoff run without any stars. You add Kawhi and PG to a team that was running well, playing good defense. … But ultimately they blow a 3-1 lead. I’m not saying they really lost it because I have to give mad props to the Nuggets, but still you’re up 3-1, you have some of the top players in the league, that’s something with a team’s chemistry. That’s part of the coach’s job.”
It is fair to be critical of Rivers as he also blew a 3-1 lead with the Clippers in 2015 as well as with the Orlando Magic in 2003, but it does not change the fact that he has been a successful coach in this league. He has a career 943-681 record and he has a title on his resume with the 2008 Boston Celtics.
His challenge with the Sixers will be tough as he will try to get an awkward roster to be successful in this era of basketball, but Tobias Harris has had success under Rivers before and Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid are as talented as anybody in this league. It will be interesting to see how Philadelphia responds to his coaching style after all of the years under Brown. [lawrence-related id=38538,38518,38534]