CSNNE’s Sherrod Blakely is the latest to report on the thoughts in Doc Rivers’ head:
A league source told CSNNE.com on Monday that Rivers’ decision on whether he will return will not be based solely on whether Paul Pierce and/or Kevin Garnett are back in next season. Rivers’ hesitation to verbally commit to next season has more to do with his uncertainty as to what type of team Danny Ainge, Boston’s president of basketball operations, will give him to coach.
“No coach wants to go through a full-blown rebuilding process,” said the source. “Doc’s already done that, so he knows how tough that is for all involved. But to be asked to go through it twice? Any coach would pause for a minute before signing on to that.”
Let’s start by defining “full-blown rebuild.” Moving out Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett still leaves a young nucleus of Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley, Jeff Green and Jared Sullinger.
If Doc is scared of that team then he had no business signing the 5-year extension a few years ago. Let’s jump into the way-back machine and find out exactly what Doc Rivers thought about rebuilding back in May 2011:
“Well, I don’t think anyone’s looking forward to that, but I’m willing to do that,” said Rivers. “I’ve had a group that has been very loyal to me, and I think it would have been very easy for me to just run, and go somewhere else and chase something else. Who says that we still can’t do that, with free agency and adding the right pieces while our Big Three are getting older? We have to add the right supporting cast to them, and in that transition, hopefully we can still chase what we want. But it would have been easier to do it the other way. I just don’t think it’s the right thing to do. Coaches talk about loyalty and team all the time and I just thought it was time to show it, and that’s what I did.”
I’m starting to get a bit frustrated with Doc. Stop acting like Phil Jackson and coach.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
