Yeah, this was obviously going to happen. In the wake of yet another blown series lead and a horrid Game 7 performance, the 76ers have fired Doc Rivers as The Process is unraveling before our very eyes.
I really do like Doc Rivers as a HC, but his record in big games is simply woeful!
The Philadelphia 76ers are making massive changes after blowing a 3-2 series lead against the Boston Celtics and getting blown out 112-88 in Game 7 with head coach Doc Rivers being the first piece of The Process to get shipped out of town. And, even though I think Doc is a great head coach, this move was necessary.
I don’t think I really need to get into that 76ers performance in Game 7 for as every 76ers fan, whether they are as cynical as an atheist or as trusting as a newborn baby in The Process, will attest that game was one of the lowest moments in the franchise’s storied history.
Seriously, the 76ers not only blew the best opportunity this core has had at an NBA championship (and probably ever will at this point), but they also did so in such a humiliating fashion against the team’s archrival. I mean, how do you go out on the court at TD Garden as a proud member of the 76ers and get smacked for 24 points by the Boston Celtics?
I think I can speak for every 76ers fan by saying that performance was unacceptable, embarrassing, disgraceful, disgusting, disrespectful, and someone needed to pay! Who might that be? Obviously, it was head coach Doc Rivers.
As I mentioned in the intro, Doc Rivers truly does have one of the all-time worst clutch-game (aka: elimination games, Game 7) records as a head coach in NBA history as he’s now blown 12 series when his team had a lead of any kind, 16-33 when his team is in a close-out position, and is now 6-10 in Game 7 (the most losses in NBA history).
That’s really bad when you see he’s coached players like Tracy McGrady, Grant Hill, Horace Grant, Shawn “Drive By” Kemp (Magic: 1999-2004), Kevin Garnet, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, Shaquille O’Neal (Celtics 2004-13), Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Blake Griffin, Chris Paul (Clippers 2013-19), Joel Embiid, James Harden, Jimmy Butler, the functioning Ben Simmons, and Tyrese Maxey (76ers 2020-23).
Obviously, not all of his teams’ collapses are on him as he was constantly a lower seed in Orlando, injuries and old age took their toll on his teams in Boston and Los Angeles, and this 76ers team was destroyed by Daryl Morey’s The Process logic, but a lot of it is.
Including the loss in Game 7 as he was unable to make the necessary adjustments (i.e.: get Joel Embiid the ball more, forcing James Harden to shoot the ball, setting up better lineups to negate the Celtics’ big man lineup) against Celtics HC Joe Mazzulla’s gameplan.
But, as I said, the real issue with this 76ers team is their inability to win when the moment is brightest. Well, more specifically, the superstars, such as Joel Embiid, James Harden, and Ben Simmons in yesteryear, being unable to win in key elimination games.
In their Game 7 loss, both James Harden and Joel Embiid scored under .280 FG shooting, both scored less than 6 FGs, both failed to score more than a single 3-pointer, both had at least 4 turnovers, both finished the game with +/- ratings of -28 and worse, and neither finished as the 76ers highest scorer of the game for Philly (that was Tobias Harris with 19 PTS). Those are pretty awful stats, right?
Well, according to Embiid, he and Harden carried the 76ers in this game as he said in this postgame interview, “Me and James, we can’t win alone. That’s why basketball is played 5-on-5. We need everyone to find ways to be better.” I really hope he meant something different than what his words say as otherwise he’s a buffoon.
Embiid (15 PTS, 8 REB, 1 AST) was outscored by Tyrese Maxey (17 PTS, 3 REB, 4 AST) and Tobias Harris (19 PTS, 5 REB, 0 AST), while the entire starting lineup (Maxey: 17 PTS, Harris: 19 PTS, Embiid: 15 PTS, P.J. Tucker: 11 PTS) outscored James Harden (9 PTS, 6 REB, 7 AST).
Do I need to give more stats to prove how stupid Embiid’s postgame comments were?
Yes? Alright, five 76ers (Tucker, Embiid, Maxey, Harris, and Deanthony Melton) all scored at least as many field goals as Harden (3 FG) in this game, 5 Celtics players (Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Malcolm Brogdon, Robert Williams, Marcus Smart) scored at least as many FGs as Harden, and (obviously) 10 players in total scored more field goals than A FORMER MVP!
As for Embiid, both Jayson Tatum (10 REB) and Al Horford (13 REB) had more rebounds than the current MVP, and three players had at least as many blocks (Brown, Melton, Horford) as the 7-foot Embiid.
Is that enough evidence these two MVPs shrunk under the spotlight?
I certainly hope so as The Process’ purposefully tanking/losing to win mentality has destroyed this franchise and broken the winning culture created by the 76er legends of the past, such as Dr. J Erving, Moses Malone, Allen Iverson, Charles Barkley, Hal Greer, and Wilt Chamberlin. Accepting losing as a necessary ingredient to winning is not only painfully stupid, but it is also the complete opposite of how one should view losing.
You should always try to win when you can (which is what the 76ers should have been doing) and use your losses to learn how to win in the future (which is something the 76ers just aren’t doing).
Unfortunately for 76ers fans, bringing back a winning culture is harder than finding a needle in an ocean-sized haystack. And that’s’ putting it mildly.
Images Source: Featured Image:
