Doc Rivers as Head Coach/GM?

[KB21]

What do you think? Terrence Moore has an article up about this subject.

Rivers has 1 year left on his Orlando deal. There are some ownership quarrels there with the desire to get a new arena built. Rivers and Gabriel aren't on the same page (Rivers wanted to draft Tinsley or Parker/Gabriel drafted Sasser instead).

I'm not sure how the rules in the NBA work, but Atlanta could hire him as a head coach but they would have to compensate the Magic. I'm not sure if the compensation rules apply if his position is upgraded to a GM spot.

Hiring him would be a good start in the attempt to get fans back in the arena. The connection between now and the good ole days of the Hawks in the mid-80s has been broken for a while. The Hawks never had trouble getting people in the Omni back then. Anyway, Doc is one of those players, and I think it would be a wise decision to attempt to bridge that gap as much as possible and get as many former players from that era involved as we can. You've got Doc who is a viable GM/Coach candidate. You've got Dominique who would like to try his hand at being an assistant. You've got Tree Rollins who is already an assistant coach and would be a great hire just to teach the team how to play defense in the post.

[Guest]

The team on the floor is what counts the most.I

think the fans started to decline even more after

Nique was traded not just because of him as a

player....But because that was the Hawks legit

chance to win the title.

Since then I've never got the feeling this franchise

would do anything possible to win a championship.

That turns the fans off......They probably feel the

Hawks have no desire to go non-stop to compete

for a title....Babs wasn't and isn't willing to go

non-stop.He will not even hide players on IR to

help the team!

We lost even more fans after Smitty was traded

for Rider.I would almost bet money we lost even

more when that trade was made.

[jezmund]

I'm all for it.....Considering the talent the Magic have, Rivers has done an excellent job over the last few years. We have a lot more talent then they do IMO. Although they have one of the top 5 players in the league on their team, that's about all they have.

[KB21]

Don't kid yourself. A lot of Hawks fans hold resentment towards Kasten/Babcock for the 'nique trade, and ever since then, people in Atlanta have lost interest in Hawks basketball.

During the 'nique era, there were no other teams in the south. The Atlanta Hawks were the South's Basketball team. The Braves sucked. The first Atlanta Hockey team sucked. The Falcons sucked. The Hawks were winning, and people in Atlanta as well as the entire State of Georgia and the rest of the South identified with Dominique Wilkins.

When he was traded, Miami, Orlando, and Charlotte had teams. People who gravitated toward Dominique started paying attention to the Heat, Magic, and Hornets more than the Hawks. There was a lot of distaste over that trade, and the Hawks have yet to regain those fans.

Remember, one of Pete's first moves was to trade fan favorite Doc Rivers to the LA Clippers for the draft pick that produced Stacey Augmon. Then, Pete traded another fan favorite in Spud Webb to Sacramento for Travis Mays. Then came the Dominique deal, and he's never been forgiven.

[Guest]

I know that.Alot of things contriubed to the

hawks lack of fans.....But we need to show

that we want to win a title...Pete hasn't done

that and fans can see it.

It seems like Babs does everything to get rid

of players people really like.And keeping guys

out doesn't help...

This franchise needs to show they want to win

a title.

[KB21]

Well, the first move that could show fans they want to win a championship would be to go after Doc Rivers and do whatever it takes to get him. Right now, the Magic have McGrady and Miller with not much else.

I've always stated the mark of a great coach is not what he does when he has great players to work with, but what he does when his players aren't so great. Doc's first year in Orlando was a sign of what he can do with limited talent:

In reply to:

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1999-2000: A Doc in the House

With several transactions before and during the 1999-2000 campaign, no one knew what to expect from the Orlando Magic. Orlando had 11 players on its roster with three or less years of NBA experience. They also had five players that were not even selected in the NBA draft. In fact, four of them – John Amaechi, Darrell Armstrong, Bo Outlaw and Ben Wallace – were in the starting lineup. However, the Magic had plenty of two things during that refreshing season: heart and hustle.

The Magic finished the regular season with a 41-41 record, just one game shy of making the NBA Playoffs, despite almost every pre-season publication predicting they would finish near or at the bottom of the league standings.

From June 14, 1999 until February 24, 2000, General Manager John Gabriel made 37 player transactions, involving 38 different players. The Magic also stockpiled nine first round draft selections over the next five years and created salary cap flexibility. He was named the 1999-2000 NBA Executive of the Year. Along the way, Gabriel may have acquired the biggest free agent possible – first-year head coach Glenn “Doc” Rivers.

Rivers earned universal acclaim by getting the most out of his squad each and every night. He led the Magic on a seven-game winning streak, the franchise’s longest such streak in four years. Rivers also performed “magic” by getting production from every player in uniform, as Orlando’s reserves accounted for almost half (48.2 percent) of the team’s scoring, the best bench scoring in the NBA.

For his efforts, Rivers was named the 1999-2000 NBA Coach of the Year. He became the first coach in league history to capture the award without leading his team to the playoffs, the third to win the honor with a team that posted a record of .500-or-below, and the fifth rookie to be named the NBA’s top coach.

Armstrong, the team captain, led the Magic in scoring, assists, steals and minutes played, averaging 16.2 ppg., 6.1 apg., 3.3 rpg. and 2.06 stlpg. in 31.6 minpg. The epitome of “heart and hustle,” Armstrong was third in the NBA in free throw percentage, tied for third in steals and 16th in assists. He started in all 82 games, one of 26 players in the league to play and start in every regular season outing.

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[chillzatl]

I like doc and I like what he's done in orlando. But to say he can just turn a team around is a bit much. First off, he had guys in orlando that were willing to work their asses off for him. WHen he first got the job, they had a team full of role players. Role players typically play hard REGARDLESS (our role players even do that), because they want to keep their jobs. They also usually play hard defense. They might not play 1st team defense, but they play hard. Also His lone star is a superstar, which by nature means he works his ass off too. You combine that and you are naturally going to have some success.

Now i'm not taking anything away from Doc. He has done a great job in Orlando. But I don't think our problem stems from bad coaching (either lon or stotts). We just don't have guys who are willing to work hard night in and night out. I can't see Doc changing that.

He might drum up a little interest at first because of the name recognition. But after a fwe games of watching million dollar athletes play with as much heart as they give while taking out the trash, they are going to go home again.