New Orleans Pelicans: Pros and cons of Doc Rivers as head coach
New Orleans Pelicans: Doc Rivers’ player development
Player Development
Player “development” is another favorite buzzword cliche of NBA fans. According to most, NBA players need a coach to “develop” their talents.
This is somewhat misleading, as coaches don’t develop players, players develop themselves. The best the coach can do is put players in the best possible position to succeed, but he’s not the one working on their jumpers or standing next to them in the weight room.
Player development is another overused term, but it is one measure to evaluate coaches.
Pro: Some of Doc Rivers’ best coaching came when his team lacked a superstar. Last year’s Clippers’ team won 48 games without a superstar and Rivers was given a ton of credit for his coaching and his development of guys like Montrezl Harrell, Landry Shamet and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
One of the knocks against Rivers is that he can only win with veteran teams, which he disproved last season by winning with a load of castoffs and young guys. Last year’s Clippers were the darlings of the league, made the playoffs and everyone thought they would build that into a title once Kawhi Leonard and Paul George arrived.
It didn’t happen, but Doc Rivers has a history of helping role players get the most of their talents. He did it in Orlando with guys like Mike Miller and Troy Hudson (SIU represent!!), in Boston with guys like Tony Allen and Kendrick Perkins and in Los Angeles with Harrell, Lou Williams and others.
Doc Rivers doesn’t develop players, but he puts them in a position to succeed.
Con: Doc Rivers doesn’t have a long history of coaching young teams and the New Orleans Pelicans are a young team. He had seasoned veterans everywhere he coached from Grant Hill and Horace Grant to Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen to Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
His teams have not been young, so it would be a new challenge for Doc Rivers to instill a culture of winning in a team that has never really won. It’s much easier when the team is full of guys like Kevin Garnett.
Would Doc’s style work well with a younger team? He’s mostly been brought in to get veteran teams to the next level, but can he do that with a team full of 20-year-olds?