Philadelphia 76ers: Doc Rivers deserves Coach of the Year consideration

The Philadelphia 76ers’ new head coach has made an immediate impact.

It’s no secret that the Philadelphia 76ers are playing some excellent basketball. After all just a few weeks ago they got their first win of the season without Joel Embiid, and they did it after being down by 20 points. All this fight out of the entire team points to one man: Head Coach Doc Rivers. He deserves to be the Coach of the Year, and here is why.

Joel Embiid is playing like the MVP frontrunner

Whether the team struggles or succeeds, you can pretty much guarantee a good effort from big man Embiid, but this year seems different.  According to player stats on ESPN, he is averaging 29.3 points per game which is good for fourth in the league, to go along with 10.7 rebounds per game, good for 11th in the league.

But the 29.3 points is just part of how out of his mind he’s been playing. On more than one occasion he could’ve easily gone for 50 points, not to mention the fact that he is averaging 35.3 points per game in his last 10 games. Embiid raising his level of play can certainly be attributed to Doc Rivers and the way he motivates his players to be at their best.

Tobias Harris has been what the Sixers expected him to be

One of the most frustrating Sixers, prior to them hiring Rivers, has been Tobias Harris. But this year Harris, who played under Rivers with the Los Angeles Clippers, has once again shown what he is capable of. He is averaging 20.2 points per game, which is good for second on the team. At one the signing of Harris looked like a complete bust, and now he has the potential to be an All-Star.

The Sixers are currently the number one seed in the East

We’ve gone over some key players, and talked about how they’ve stepped up their game under Doc, but how about the entire team? They are ranked 10th in scoring with 114.1 points per game, first in blocked shots with 6.4 per game, and oh yeah! They’re currently the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. There is still a long way to go, and they’ll have to prove themselves in the postseason, but if the team continues to play like this, with Rivers’ guidance, they will be tough to beat, and Doc will be Coach of the Year!