Back in 2020, when the Philadelphia 76ers announced the firing of former head coach Brett Brown, there were many doubts about their decision, but given that the team was ready to choose a new head coach between Mike D'Antoni and Tyren Lue, two excellent candidates, many felt that there was nothing wrong with change. But then the decision of Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer disrupted the 76ers' plan, he fired Doug Rivers without warning, unfortunately the management of the 76ers at the time was also in chaos, the core decision-making circle consisting of Josh Harris, David Blitzer and Elton Brand had been frequently wronged before, and it was this management that prioritized retaining Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris in the previous offseason and gave veteran Al Horford a big contract. but let go of the team's number one star, Jimmy Butler, who couldn't wait to offer Rivers a huge contract worth $40 million a year for 5 years after Rivers was fired, and Rivers certainly laughed at the pie falling from the sky.
It was the last major move before the 76ers changed management a few weeks later, and after that, management was able to trade Horford and Simmons but still took multiple draft picks to make the move. And the 76ers must have tried to trade Harris since then, but it didn't work. We can only measure how the new 76ers head of the 76ers really feels about Rivers through a few sporadic reports, but so far their basketball careers don't seem to have had much symbiosis.
Back in 2020, Clippers owner Ballmer didn't think Rivers was the best coach for the Clippers, so he handed the Clippers' coach seal to Tyronn Lue. Lue's coaching resume is arguably glamorous, having coached LeBron James with the Cleveland Cavaliers and leading the team to the Division Finals in his first season as head coach, something Rivers has been unable to do since coaching the Boston Celtics in 2012.
What the 76ers wanted at the time was a head coach who could help build chemistry, fans wanted Joel Embiid to be in better shape, and they wanted a coach to push Simmons to improve his shooting confidence, and they wanted the coach to take full responsibility for things and build real leadership. In addition to these, there is also a very important aspect of the game's transfer command, and former head coach Brown will be fired because he is too rigid in some defensive principles and rotation models to be on the spot. There are also some problems in the 76ers' locker room, and fans will worry that Embiid and Simmons will not get along well, so they want someone to solve them.
The strange thing is that if the 76ers made up their mind from the beginning to find a head coach who could solve these problems, then why did they go to Rivers? Because Rivers was fired by the Clippers, basically because of the problems mentioned above, is their management blind?
Looking back at Rivers' coaching with the Los Angeles Clippers, we'll see that he made all the mistakes mentioned above over the years. First of all, he didn't make good adjustments at all, especially in the series against the Denver Nuggets, when he let Monterez Harrell, who was already not good at defense and suffered a serious loss in height and weight, face Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic's blocking offense, which directly led to the team's turnover.
Second, Rivers is not the type of person who will take the responsibility, and he has not admitted to the mistakes he made in that series, and although the Clippers have two superstars, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, he blamed the series for the turnaround in an interview on the team's need for a lack of traditional point guards. Third, even if Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and J.J. Reddick are at their best, he will never be able to lead the team to the second round. Finally, Rivers' leadership is also worrying, the Clippers' internal conflicts have completely exploded in 2020, and he simply does not have enough ability to suppress the locker room, and when he was fired, no Clippers player blessed and retained him, isn't that enough to say the problem?
His coaching experience with the Clippers highlighted Rivers' flaws, but the 76ers ignored them and chose him. And his arrival has also exacerbated the already serious rotation problem of the 76ers' center position, and we should remember that he chose to have Dwight Howard and Ben Simmons on the field at the same time; It should also be remembered that he blindly trusted veterans, always giving players like Jordan Jr. and Paul Millsap plenty of playing time, while Paul Reedgan, who really played well, sat on the bench.
Simmons ignored the open dunk opportunity at a critical moment in the 2021 playoffs, and the scene of choosing to pass pushed all the problems of the 76ers to a climax, Simmons at the time attracted all the judgmental voices inside and outside, and the editor has always felt that this is a little unfair, shouldn't Rivers be as bad as Simmons? Isn't it the regular practice of Rivers' coaching career that they have a solid record in the regular season and occupy the first place in the East, but have poor results in the playoffs? But the 76ers still chose to ignore Rivers' actions, making Simmons the team's scapegoat and trading him away to continue to use Rivers as head coach, arguably Embiid's most important season.
Rivers recreated his routine in 2021-22, like his 2018 season with the Los Angeles Clippers, leading an understaffed team further than one might think, and they were the fifth-ranked team in the East before the James Harden trade arrived. But his reliance on Jordan Jr. at the end of the season and in the playoffs was pathological, and he still often looks at today's game through the eyes of 2008, never thinking that a team could play without a center, better than a power forward like Kevin Garnett, who didn't even play center under him then, let alone now.
Former NBA player Matt Barnes later said something very iconic when the 76ers management announced that Rivers would be back, Barnes heard the news and said: "Rivers is a great, motivated, empowering coach, and one thing I still remember is that when he said, 'Play a star in your role,' it was really inspiring, and Rivers is good at these voices that keep you going." But the problem is that it seems that every situation he has been through for a few years has started to have a similar narrative, so the players started to distance themselves from him and had no interest in listening to it anymore, and then soon it always seemed to be the same, so that's the end of my words. ”
Everyone knows that Rivers is not very good at being on the spot, and he sometimes even makes some hilarious adjustments, but he is not willing to be held accountable, and only says "I messed up" in interviews, which will disappoint fans. He did play an active role in recruiting players such as Dwight Howard, Andre Drummond, George Niang, DeAndre Jordan and Monterez Harrell, but he should bear some responsibility for his role in Simmons' departure, and if Rivers hadn't been so busy bashing Simmons in the media, the 76ers would definitely have gotten more trade returns, or spent fewer draft picks to send him away.
While team management was still haggling for draft picks and role players, Rivers couldn't help but shoot Simmons, and during his coaching time, these things would slowly trickle down to his players. Embiid was also deeply affected, he once accused Simmons and Harden after being eliminated in the playoffs, maybe Embiid was right, maybe even without a head coach like Rivers, he would have said these words, but such a thing should not have happened to a good team. The editor believes that the Spurs under Greg Popovich will not have these problems, and the players taught by Popovich will look into the eyes of the head coach and take the initiative to take responsibility, which is the biggest difference.
I've always believed Rivers wasn't and still isn't the best coach to coach the 76ers, but he's always been on this team. When the 76ers were eliminated by the Miami Heat in this year's Eastern Conference semifinals, well-known commentator Jack Fisher talked about the issue at length on the show: "As far as I know, I don't think the 76ers owner will rush to change coaching positions, and while people inside and outside the league have been talking about the 76ers' current management not taking Rivers very seriously, they owe Rivers a lot of money over the next three seasons, and his average annual salary is as high as $8 million, which is $24 million in three years, They don't want the money to go to waste. ”
And this may be the main reason why the 76ers have kept Rivers until now, because in addition to the commentator above, when talking about the 76ers' decision to retain Rivers in the 2022-23 season, well-known journalists such as Adrian Warnarowski and Ramona Shelburn also said the same point.
But time is really running out for the 76ers, and if they really want to win a championship, they will have to make key changes and quickly find a new head coach, and given the contractual hurdles, I don't know if they can convince Mike D'Antoni or Quinn Snyder to join. I am skeptical of Rivers' current team, as they reportedly like everything Rivers does every step of the way, while assistant coach Sam Cassel is less likely to turn positive because he doesn't like the data analysis of Magic Ball Theory, which doesn't fit the current management of the 76ers. So in addition to D'Antoni, I really don't know who is the best head coach for the 76ers, because Embiid had previously lobbied for the then 76ers management, and players such as Harden, P.J. Tucker, Daniel House and Harrell have also played well under D'Antoni.
D'Antoni came to Houston with his 7-second or less run-and-bomb tactic for the Phoenix Suns, and then completely reinvented it into the Rockets' infinitely pull-off singles tactic, showing that he is willing to adapt and use any way to win, and that he has been eager to incorporate the data theory of the current 76ers management into the game plan. D'Antoni has been a great coach for the past five years, not to mention his important relationships with 76ers management, Embiid, Harden and Tucker, but it will take time for him to help the 76ers turn the tide, so obviously the sooner the better if it comes to changing coaches.
There's nothing more important than a coach, and while a coach can't heal Harden's foot, can't make Embiid a better passer, can't make Maxi a better defensive player, can't trade Fulkan Korkmaz for Mikal Bridges to magically solve everything, but a good coach can definitely solve some of the lowest problems.
Rivers is definitely one of the most successful coaches the NBA has ever had, he deserves to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, Embiid has been runner-up in consecutive regular season MVP votes under him, and Rivers doesn't have a healthy roster for either the regular season or the playoffs, he does have his successes and a lot of misfortunes, but now is not the time to protect him.
The 76ers can easily be promoted by changing coaches, and if they don't, they may regret it for a long time. Rivers is still blaming others for his current mistakes; When he needed a crucial timeout, he still chose to keep Sheik Milton, Harden, Harrell and Niang on the floor to continue playing, such a lineup lacks change on the offensive end; They are currently only 5-7 and still haven't found the feeling of defense after 12 games; Embiid's tactic of catching the ball first in the low post can still lead to too many mistakes or forced shots in the case of a bag; The team still looks like it's in trouble, and Rivers will likely continue to fall into his usual fixed rotation pattern and then tell the media they just screwed up. The change should have been made a long time ago, and 76ers fans would never want to know who Rivers and Embiid would blame after another second round. #头条创作挑战赛 #