The plight of the Celtics

This archived article was written by: Nate Davis

ESPN staff writer Bill Simmons said about Doc Rivers, head coach of the Boston Celtics that, On the surface, Doc seems fine. He always dresses nicely, his interviews are good, and his come on, guys, lets go clap ranks among the best in the league. When his team blows a winnable game “which happens often, by the way” you can always count on him to look sufficiently disappointed.
I agree completely with Simmons. Rivers has taken one of the greatest basketball franchises in the history of the NBA and effectively run them into the ground.
The Celtics have won a total of 16 NBA titles, none since 1986, and dwindled in mediocrity since Larry Bird retired. I am a Celtics fan, and one of the worst things for a fan is to see their team consistently lose winnable games.
There are rumors that Celtics star Paul Pierce may be traded before the end of the season. Pierce rarely forces any poor shots, or makes bad decisions while on the court. He is a team leader who leads by example. Pierce is a star player on a substandard team. The Celtics need Pierce like Garfunkel needed Simon.
Once again I turn to the words of Simmons. He says that if there was a Doc Rivers Special at a lunch diner, it would be an egg-white omelette with bacon and cheese because, the egg-white request says, Im trying to eat healthy. The bacon and cheese request says, I dont care about eating healthy. Put together, those two intentions make no sense. Well, neither does Doc Rivers.
Rivers lack of common sense was seen during the start of the season when the Celts took on the Atlanta Hawks. It was a fairly close game, and in the fourth quarter of a close game, Rivers decided to switch to a zone defense, which left the Hawks to shoot open three pointers and win the game. Its moments like this that make you want to slam your head against the television set.
So please Doc, dont trade Paul, do all Celtic fans a favor and resign.