"Well Actually, All My 3-1 Blown Series Leads Were Good" - Doc Rivers, Essentially
There are two things that everybody needs to know about Doc Rivers. The first is that he's not an actual doctor, so he's just a massive liar. The second is that all those 3-1 series blown leads? Those 31 losses he's racked up while his team has an opportunity to close out a series? It's easy for you morons out there on Twitter to immediately rush to blame Doc for those losses. It's easy to dunk on the guy and say he's beyond clueless when it comes to making adjustments, and the least clutch NBA playoff head coach in the history of the game.
But actually none of those 3-1 series blown leads would have ever happened in the first place had it not been for the result of fantastic coaching. Some of the best coaching ever, in fact. At least according to Doc Rivers.
I mean how is nobody going to give him credit for building up a 3-1 series lead against Detroit in 2003 with a dog shit Orlando roster? The league should have given him a ring just for that accomplishment alone. I'm astonished that Orlando doesn't have a banner hanging up in their arena for it. If Michael Jordan got off to a 3-1 series lead against Detroit you'd all be S'ing his D and calling him the GOAT. But because it's Doc Rivers he just gets zero credit?
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Or how about the time the Clippers got off to a 3-1 series lead against Houston in 2015 without Chris Paul playing the first 2 games? The issue there is the team had to rely on Doc's coaching for those first few games. Clearly it was working out for them. Give the man his credit. It was only after the Clippers had all their players back that they blew that one. Seems to me like maybe the Clippers just had too many good players and they stopped listening to Doc's coaching.
You guys ever read the story about that little girl named Goldie Locks? Porridge too hot, porridge too cold, that whole thing? Well that's Doc Rivers. Some of his teams didn't have enough good players. Some of his teams had too many good players. Only one of them was ever just right, and I guess that was the Celtics. But at the end of the day, he deserves the credit. Because if it weren't for his unbelievable coaching in the first place, none of his teams would have ever had the opportunity to blow a 3-1 series lead. That's what makes him so great.
Anyway, game 6 tonight should be great.