A Blown Lead and Collapse By A Doc Rivers Led Team Isn’t Stunning, But His Lack of Accountability on the Matter Sure Is

After a slow start at the Wells Fargo Center, the Sixers stormed into halftime with a 14 point lead. In the back half of the 2nd quarter you could feel their momentum gaining with each clank of the rim on a Clippers missed jumper. Philly came out of the half with more of the same and their lead ballooned to 24 points. It should have been enough to cruise to back to back blowout wins and another statement moment in the Joel Embiid MVP campaign.

 

Alas, that didn’t happen because they did “it” again. They blew a 20+ point lead at home and they lost the game. The spiral began in the late third quarter and…well, why explain the rest? You know the rest, you’ve sat through it countless times. An unforeseen amount of times for a team as talented as the Sixers.

 

As if the ending was heartbreaking and infuriating enough, the post-game press conference somehow made the situation exponentially worse. When asked what about the loss could be attributed to coaching, here’s what head coach Doc Rivers had to say:

“Would you ask Pop that question? No you wouldn’t.”

 

And he’s right we would never ask Gregg Popovich that question. Because Coach Pop is a five time NBA champion and two-time gold medalist with Team USA. He is the winningest coach in NBA history in both regular season and playoffs. 

 

Coach Pop has five rings. Doc Rivers has six teams that have blown a 3-2 or 3-1 series leads. He has the most 3-1 blown series leads in NBA history. He has the most Game 7 losses in NBA history. He blew a double digit lead in Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals. Here is how his last two playoff exits have gone:

So yeah, unfortunately when faced with a 20+ lead that is blown once again, coming off a season that was ended by blowing a 26(!!!) point lead in a playoff game, we do have to ask that question. 

 

We have to waste our time asking again and again if coaching should have been handled differently after each painstaking Doc Rivers inspired collapse. We have to waste Joel Embiid’s prime asking did the coaching play a part in not being able to win even with a generational talent on the floor. And unfortunately, we will probably keep having to ask. Because with that blatant lack of accountability, it is clear the Sixers aren’t led by a man who realizes he has done anything wrong.

 

Which is ironic because by the time Doc Rivers realizes something has gone wrong during a game, it’s already too late. Another double-digit lead has already evaporated.

 

In the third quarter tonight, the Sixers starters appeared to be gassed. The Clippers had strung together a few made baskets and had switched to a zone that was befuddling the Sixers. There was no timeout to stop the bleeding. There was no adjustments made on offense or defense. A small leak turned into a gushing flood. A Doc Rivers coached tale as old as time.

 

So no, we won’t be asking five-time NBA champion Coach Pop if coaching could be handled differently. But we sure as shit wish we could stop asking you, Doc Rivers.

 

By Aidan Powers | January 22, 2022
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,