“You kind of learn your team each year, and early on, I don’t think this is a great drill team,” Rivers said with a chuckle. “You’ve gotta put a score on the board to get their juices going, and that’s something we learned early on in camp this year, and that’s a good sign.”
Doc Rivers
I give Doc Rivers a lot of credit as a head coach. Doc coached a team in 08 that had never played together before and managed three large stars and their egos to an NBA title. In 09 he took a team minus Kevin Garnett to 62 wins and a near upset over the eventual Eastern Conference Champion Orlando Magic. The man in 2010 had a very flawed team last year and coached them to the NBA Finals and nearly stole one from Phil, Kobe and the rest of the Fakers…oops Lakers. So far this season Doc is again making all the right moves.
Despite having a ton of new players and missing coaches, he has not turned this training camp into a boring drill fest to make the new players and coaches acclimated to the Celtics’ system. Doc recognized the players may be new, but they are veterans. They have done drills for over 20 plus years of their lives. To get the most out of these guys, he needed to cut down on the drills and teach through competitive scrimmages.
The result is we got to truly see what certain guys are made of. Kevin Garnett showed he is back with his explosiveness as he ate Glen Davis and Jermaine O’Neal alive at times. Shaq showed his competitive fire is burning like a raging inferno as he beat out Jermaine O’Neal for the starting center spot. We found out Delonte West is going to be a man possessed as he tracked Ray Allen everywhere he went on the defensive end. The team found out Nate Robinson can run the second team offense and still provide his offense. We found out how effective marquis Daniels can be backing up Paul Pierce.
These tidbits might not have been discovered if the players were bored to death doing drills. Doc created a competitive environment and the players are better for it. Training camp was a great five days for the Boston Celtics. One must credit Doc Rivers for setting the proper tone this early in the season.
