Pros and Cons: Sixers vs. Heat Game 1
Doc Rivers needs to be better.
Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.
With Joel Embiid sidelined, the Sixers opened up their second round series in the NBA postseason tonight, facing the Miami Heat in their building.
Typically, win or loss, I choose three observations to expand on. But after that loss, only one person is on my mind: Doc Rivers.
If you watched even a fraction of this game, you saw that the Sixers were not only at a major disadvantage personnel-wise, but they were also on the wrong end of an extreme strategic mismatch.
While Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra can always be relied on to give his team the best chance to win the game, Rivers repeatedly shot his team in the foot with questionable decision after questionable decision.
DeAndre Jordan was given the starting nod tonight in favor of Paul Reed, and it went almost as poorly as one could possibly imagine. Frankly, Jordan was terrible. And I don’t completely fault him -- he’s not the one who is relying on a clearly washed center in Embiid’s absence.Â
Who I do fault most is Rivers, who has seen time and time again for multiple months that Jordan is not even playable in a regular season game, let alone in the starting lineup of a round two playoff game.
Sure, Rivers doesn’t have a ton of ideal options at center without Embiid. But his continued reliance on someone who is so clearly not suitable for the job is an indictment of his ability to make proper adjustments.
Of course, Rivers doesn’t have great options at that spot. But Reed needs to start moving forward, and Charles Bassey, despite his rookie status, deserves a chance as a player who can at least grab rebounds and put back missed shots.
Rivers’ fascination with experience and veterans is not one unique to him — hell, Joe Girardi has the same issue across the street. But it’s a set of ideals that he needs to abandon, at least with this roster.
Nobody is saying that this roster is perfect, or that Rivers’ job is easy. But his playoff performances leading the Sixers — and, truthfully, his playoff career as a whole — indicates that he very well may not be the best man for this job.
Hopefully for all of you, we can look back at this in a few weeks — or even a few months — and laugh about it. But it will take one hell of a turnaround for that to be the case.
Unfortunately, for now I find plenty of reasons to be skeptical that such a turnaround will take place..