CELTICS GREEN ...a boston celtics blog.: Is Doc Tanking or Just a Bad Coach?

December 28, 2006

Is Doc tanking?

Watching the games, it has seemed to me that Doc makes some very bad decisions in the games. It is especially obvious in his substitutions. At times, the starters will get off to a very slow start. Doc will put the bench in and they up the tempo and get us back into the game. Just as we get rolling Doc will put the starters back in and we slow down and lose the game. Other times one player will play very well and Doc pulls him. I thought I may have been imagining it until a couple of posters on CG echoed my thoughts.

Here are some thoughts from Derrenmatts on the Denver game:

Powe was doing really well out there, and then he gets yanked. Gomes has been a disappointment lately, and I really wanted Powe out there because he played with more hustle and energy and he was making things happen. But Doc insists on taking away what works, and after putting the starters back in, we begin to play junk again and lose whatever momentum the 2nd unit built.

And then on last night's game.

I don't know why, but Doc chose not to use Tony Allen for a big part of the 2nd and 3rd quarter, precisely when we started to fall apart. Tony was a big part of the reason why we fought back in the 1st quarter, but was relegated to the bench. Foul trouble or not, Doc could not afford to keep him out for that long and it costed us dearly.

Powe needs to play. All Gomes is good for right now is knocking down 18 footers. I appreciate it, but we need physical rebounding in the paint and some blocked shots more than 18 foot jumpers. On a night where Jefferson could have used help on the boards, all Gomes could muster was 1 measly rebound. That's unacceptable.

And here are Eja117's thoughts:

And that's that almost every time if something is working Doc stops it. It's like clockwork. It's very predictable. Too predictable. In fact it happens so often it isn't random any more. I think one of two things is happening. Either Doc is tanking for some unkown reason. Maybe since he figures he's here for the season and they can't win a championship he thinks he'll tank and get a better draft pick cause he thinks he has a good relationship with DA (and I kinda think they do) or DA has told him to tank, or he is purposely affecting the outcome because (seriously now. It has happened before) there are some shenanigans going on on the side. Pete Rose did it. Would you be shocked if you found out Doc was doing it? I wouldn't.

So, I am not just imagining it. When we get a lineup in there that works, Doc goes away from them and we don't see them again. Powe has been very effective whenever Doc plays him. In the Denver game, he played 7 minutes and had 5 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block and 1 steal and he was playing good defense in the paint. So why wouldn't Doc play him more? Rondo played 16 minutes and had 6 points, 6 assists, and 2 steals. He was also playing better defense than Telfair who got 25 minutes. Last night, Allen was playing aggressively and helped get us back into the game and then Doc sits him.

Eja117 gives 3 possible reasons for this phenomenon that we have been seeing. 1)Doc is tanking for some reason. 2)Danny is telling Doc to tank for some reason. 3)Doc is purposely affecting the outcome of games due to some underhanded dealings.

If either of the first two reasons are true, we know that the reason is probably the hope of landing Greg Oden. He is the type of dominant big man that comes along rarely. Even if we didn't land Oden, a high draft pick would net us a dominant player from this year's very strong draft. This is a very real possibility. I have even read murmurings that some of the injuries were possibly manufactured to allow us to lose without appearing to tank or to give the young players a chance to either prove they can play or prove that they can't.
I just don't believe that Doc would be betting against the Celtics and trying to influence the score and outcome for that reason. He may not be the best coach but I don't think he would be doing something underhanded like that.

That brings us to a very possible 4th reason for this behavior. Doc is just a terrible in game coach. Danny has said that he is standing behind Doc and that there won't be a coaching change this season. That may be Danny's way of tanking. Danny was a good coach and knows what it takes to win. I can't believe that he doesn't realize that what Doc's coaching strategies are much of the reason that we are losing. Is sticking with Doc Danny's way of tanking without actually tanking?

Whatever the reason, it is very obvious to at least a few of us that Doc purposely goes away from what works in games. Is it tanking on purpose or is it inadvertent tanking by sticking with a coach who just can't manage a roster? Whichever it is, I just can't figure why Powe and Rondo aren't getting more minutes unless it is because when they are on the floor we are a better team. Stay tuned as I am sure there is more to come on this issue as more and more fans notice it.

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