Sunday, June 15, 2008
Celtics Coach Doc Rivers Riding Victory Waves Over NBA Hall Of Famer Phil Jackson
Is This It?????
Well today may be the day that the NBA Finals comes to an end and the Boston Celtics start making plans for that parade.
And throughout these games where have the Phil Jackson adjustment been. In the beginning, given that the teams seamed equal in talent the big nod went to the Lakers to win it all because they had the "Zen Master" Phil Jackson.
Phil who during games hardly ever leaves his seat and who was notorious for effective cerebral game time strategy and renown for adjustment when things were not going good.
Who da' thunk with 5 games gone we'd be talking about Doc Rivers the "master coach" and how he is coaching Phil under the table.
But this is how Doc made it happen from the very beginning.
The day before the Boston Celtics embarked on a trip across the Atlantic Ocean for training camp in Rome, Coach Doc Rivers wanted Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce to start thinking about the Charles River in June. Rivers called his three all-stars and told them to be at his apartment at 8 a.m., which created some serious problems for Garnett, who was new to Boston and had no clue how to get there.
So that means I had to get up at 6:30," Garnett said. "I don't think the three of us were real happy about that, but we finally got there."
Shortly after they settled in, Garnett was stunned to see an amphibious tank -- "this boat basically, you know, on wheels," he said -- pull up just outside the apartment. Rivers had planned to take Garnett, Allen and Pierce on a surprise ride on one of Boston's famous Duck Tours. Garnett, Allen and Pierce rolled their eyes for what they thought was an unnecessary history lesson about Paul Revere and tea parties.
Me, myself was looking at him like, 'Are you serious?' This could have waited till the sun came out, you know," Garnett said.
But as the tour guide took the four of them through Boston's historic streets and the Charles River, it slowly began to sink in that this was no ordinary ride. Rivers took his players through the same parade route used by the Red Sox and Patriots, while preaching about the sacrifices it would take for them to follow suit.
See more of this Michael Lee story at WASHINGTONPOST.COM