Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers is considered one of the most respected minds in the basketball world. He led the Boston Celtics to the championship back in 2007-2008, and has put up multiple 50-win seasons in Southern California since taking over that job two years ago.
With championship aspirations in Los Angeles, the team fell well short of its goal this season, losing in the Western Conference Semifinals to the Houston Rockets. It did so despite possessing a 19-point late in the third quarter in what could have been a series-clinching Game 6 outing at home.
Now eliminated from title contention, Rivers is making some noise stemming from comments he made after the team’s Game 7 loss to Houston on Sunday.
“I want to fix it. I want to win. That’s why I came here. I knew when I came here that roster-wise it was going to be very difficult. The first thing I did before I took this job, I looked at the roster and we laughed. I was like, “What the [expletive] can we do with this?” It was more the contracts,” Rivers said, via USA Today Sports. “But we have to try to do it somehow. I don’t know how yet, but something will work out.”
We should note that Rivers took over a 56-win team that already had Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan on the roster.
Is this Rivers way of placing blame for the team’s choke job on the roster itself? Maybe he’s angling for an out from Los Angeles.
Either way, these are some alarming comments following what was a disastrous meltdown after taking a 3-1 series lead against Houston in the conference semifinals. If Rivers isn’t happy with his team’s performance, that’s fine. But he should also look in the mirror. The Clippers have won 113 regular season games over the past two seasons, but have failed to reach the conference finals during that span.
Photo: USA Today Sports