Although Rivers has not achieved any good results with the Celtics in the past two years, he has really improved his reputation.
Since losing in the 2010 Finals, the Celtics' Big Three have been in decline. Everyone knows that they have lost the ability to compete for the championship.
But in this case, the Celtics still maintained their combat effectiveness for three seasons, and almost accidentally defeated the Cavaliers in 2012.
Once past the Cavaliers, the highly motivated Celtics will definitely have a chance to reach the finals. This allows people to see the tenacity and combat effectiveness of the Green Army.
Correspondingly, people believe that Rivers, as the head coach, definitely contributed.
In fact, Rivers' coaching ability is indeed not bad, but there is a prerequisite: the quality of the team itself is not very good, or the flaws are relatively large.
To put it simply, Rivers is good at taking a team with an overall quality of only 60 points to 70 or even 80 points. He is especially good at using point guards because he himself is a point guard.
The overall quality of the team is 80 points. For Rivers, the question may be a bit over the top. Sometimes he can score 80 points, and sometimes he can score 60 points.
The Celtics' Big Three were a 95-point team in 2008. However, in the playoffs, Rivers led two tiebreakers in the first and second rounds. They lost the home court advantage in the Eastern Conference Finals and the finals were also semi-finals. After falling behind by a big score, they relied on the players' unparalleled will to win the championship and the smart operation of "Shit Escape - Return of the King" to win the 2008 championship.
Logically speaking, the Celtics' lineup in 2008 was crushing the entire league. The three-man combination was a perfect match, and the bench resources were very rich.
For this championship, Danny Ainge brought in all the useful veterans and substitute players he could find, such as PJ Brown, Cassell, Posey, House...the thickness of each position is huge. Absolutely, if such a lineup is given to masters like Phil Jackson and Popovich, the four-round series will at least have a 4:0 and a 4:1.
When Rivers arrived, the Big Three with such a luxurious lineup became the team that took the most games to win the championship in NBA history.
However, as the Big Three age and role players change one after another, the Celtics lineup gradually loses the strength to compete for the championship. However, under the leadership and training of Rivers, it has become a tough nut to crack in the Eastern Conference.
They may not be able to reach the finals and win the championship, but if you underestimate them, you may capsize, and you must work hard to fight against them.
Rivers is such a coach. When you think you underestimate him, he will use his actual actions to tell you that his lower limit can actually be lower.
And when you think he is overvalued, he can often perform a wave of dazzling operations that make people look at him with admiration.
In short, this is a magical coach who is indeed capable and has very good results, but is easily misjudged.
At this point in 2013, Rivers was at the peak of his reputation. After Chris Paul squeezed out Kobe, he named Rivers to coach.
So the Lakers used a trade to trade Rivers from Boston with a draft pick.
This move caused dissatisfaction among many Lakers middle management and fans.
It's not because everyone doesn't believe in Rivers' ability, but because when did the Lakers need a Celtics coach to save them?
After all, the two sides are feuding. It has only been three years since the last crazy yellow-green war, and both the Lakers and Celtics fell apart.
Is it appropriate to let Rivers coach the Lakers?
Chris Paul thought it was appropriate. When faced with doubts, he posted an old photo on social media: the Lakers' meritorious coach, Bill Sharman.
The championship coach who led the Lakers to their first championship after moving to Los Angeles was a Celtics player in the past and a Celtic star.
The year was 1972, and the Lakers were experiencing unparalleled pain throughout the 1960s: After they moved to Los Angeles, they lost seven times in the Finals.
Counting the one in Minneapolis, there have been eight defeats and eight overall runner-ups, seven of which were lost to the Boston Celtics.
Among them, in 1969, Bill Sharman was in the lineup, which started the Lakers' tragic championship run in the 1960s.
In 1972, a frustrated Baylor retired, and West and Chamberlain were both aging. The Lakers' appointment of Sharman, a famous Celtics coach, as head coach caused a lot of controversy.
But that year, the Lakers quickly gave Los Angeles fans a perfect answer with a 33-game winning streak, the strongest record in history of 69 wins in a season, and a championship trophy.
This distant and hidden history was dug up by Chris Paul to prove that there is no problem in finding a Celtics coach to be the Lakers head coach.
Maybe this is the beginning of the Lakers regaining the championship.
Paul's explanation may be convincing to some people, but it can be seen from this incident that the seeds of doubt and dissatisfaction among fans and management have been sown.
If you want to completely eliminate these negative emotions, the best way is to win and win.
For the Lakers, playing the Clippers in the first game couldn't be better.
The newly formed Lakers team is full of confidence. With Paul as the core, the team wants to achieve great results in the new season.
Rivers is also very satisfied with this group of people. The starting age structure is reasonable, the players are strong, and there are quite a few people who can be used as substitutes.
Players like Blake, Nick Young, Meeks, and Henry are all regular season players with good abilities.
Rivers is also very good at training such half-hearted players in the regular season, and can bring these 60-point players together to achieve 70-point combat effectiveness.
The game between the two sides started on time at 7 pm Pacific time. The opening game attracted 19,000 spectators - but a large number of Clippers fans wearing red and blue jerseys were visible to the naked eye.
Min Congda also came to the sidelines to watch the game as usual, sitting behind the Clippers bench.
There was a trace of nervousness and excitement in his heart. Sure enough, his mentality was different, and the feeling of watching the game was different.
Some time ago, Min Congda came to watch the game with the same heavy mood as visiting a grave, because he knew that the Clippers were expected to win.
This win means that part of my income has been reduced, which makes me feel very uncomfortable.
After four years of deception and investment and financial management, Min Congda no longer needs to live on the salary he loses.
Tens of thousands of dollars in win-win fines are available in the playoffs, no problem at all.
He thought to himself that he could finally enjoy basketball and enjoy the glory of the championship!
"Winning against the Lakers tonight will give me a great feeling!"
(End of chapter)
