The Sixers should have known. Doc Rivers’ tenure with the Los Angeles Clippers was defined by talented teams who couldn’t quite get over the hump. Now, in just his second season with Philadelphia, the fanbase is largely ready to move on from Rivers — and justifiably so.
Brett Brown was a controversial figure in Philly. By the end, with both the fans and the team ready to move on, the common lines of criticism were simple: Brown could not command the locker room and Brown was too stubborn to change his ways. Fast forward to Doc Rivers, and the Sixers have the exact same problem. He is absurdly and detrimentally stubborn, and there are already rumblings about whether he is favored in the locker room.
Rivers simply lacks the coaching chops to lead Philadelphia to the mountaintop. The Sixers are on the fast track to another troubling early exit in the playoffs, with no Ben Simmons meltdown left to take the fall. Individual players will get barbs thrown their way — James Harden, Tobias Harris, even Joel Embiid — but when push comes to shove, it couldn’t be plainer to see. Doc is holding the team back.
The Sixers have to consider moving on from Doc Rivers in the offseason
It’s never fun to call for someone’s job. Doc Rivers is a good person and his resumé outstrips most coaches around the league. Unfortunately, that resumé is why Rivers got the job to begin with, and he likes to use it as a shield. We have seen Rivers’ arrogance on display multiple times over the course of his Sixers tenure. He tends to deflect blame — often tossing players under the bus instead of looking in the mirror himself. Never, in Doc’s eyes, does he deserve blame. Never does he show any inclination to change, or at least reconsider his actions. There’s always an excuse. “Would you ask Pop that question” is the now iconic line that proves the point. Rivers thinks he is above reproach. He has no capacity for introspection or self-criticism in the realm of coaching.
Rivers is content with his own mediocrity. The Sixers get fewer easy buckets than every contender in the East, despite having two superstars who draw significant defensive attention in Joel Embiid and James Harden. To paraphrase Jackson Frank in a recent episode of the Sixers Daily Podcast, the Bucks, Celtics, and Heat all get “system buckets.” The Sixers don’t get system buckets like other Eastern Conference contenders. Not often enough, at least. Instead, Rivers relies on his superstars to shoulder the offense without exploring new wrinkles in play-calling. He can blame Harden’s pace, or blame Harden’s ball-dominance, but the offense is built to encourage that. The Sixers don’t score easy buckets born from the coach’s ingenuity. If Harden isn’t attacking, if Harden doesn’t have his legs, then the offense is pretty much doomed.
Then, one must point to Rivers’ complete lack of experimentation on the rotations front. He has, to his credit, staggered the team’s four stars but beyond that, Rivers has shown no desire to even consider exploring different options in the second unit. He has unwaveringly stuck with DeAndre Jordan for no definable reason, statistical or otherwise. He has tethered Furkan Korkmaz to the bench despite recent signs of life. Isaiah Joe’s opportunities have been few and far between. Paul Reed and Charles Bassey are eviscerating G-League opponents, but nope, it’s Paul Millsap who gets the second look behind Jordan. Even if the young guys aren’t ready to play real minutes, we wouldn’t know. We haven’t seen them.
It’s impossible to lay 100 percent of the blame on Doc Rivers’ doorstep. Beyond the “big four,” Philadelphia’s roster is a mess. Daryl Morey has not fleshed out the margins of the roster, and even giving Rivers the option to play Jordan at backup center was a mistake we all saw coming from miles away. Harden’s recent struggles are of course Harden’s fault, Tobias Harris has been mostly below-average this season, and the Sixers’ lack of a fifth starting-caliber player is no easy hurdle. A lot of these issues go back to past managerial regimes, and even if the Sixers move on from Doc in the offseason, there is more work to be done.
We have arrived at the point where most of the fanbase is predisposed to advocate against Doc. If the Sixers flop out of the playoffs, which feels extremely possible — maybe even likely — then the pitchforks will be plentiful. Doc is also next up behind Ben Simmons in the line of fall guys. The Sixers presumably want to keep Harden around, and it’s oh so easy to let blame fall on the coach. Especially when the blame is warranted. Rivers has no shortage of postseason flameouts on his resumé, and his overt lack of creativity stands in stark contrast to Erik Spoelstra, Mike Budenholzer, Nick Nurse, and the coaches Philadelphia will have to beat in order to win a championship.
Doc Rivers is digging his own grave. He could choose to get more creative with his X’s and O’s. He could choose to try different players in the rotation. He could choose to look inward and evaluate his own shortcomings as a coach, and perhaps inspire more confidence in his players as a result. Unfortunately, time and time again, he has chosen otherwise, and done so with no hint of remorse or hesitation. To borrow Ben Simmons’ line, Doc is who he is, and the Sixers will ultimately need to move on because of that.