Doc Rivers Talks Coaching Rumors, Sixers' Approach to Raptors Series

Rivers talks coaching rumors, approach vs. Raptors as Sixers start playoff prep originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

CAMDEN, N.J. — Sixers head coach Doc Rivers doesn’t seem to mind brief media sessions. 

After a quick pregame or postgame press conference, he’ll occasionally joke about how the reporters in the room are "the best," or something along those lines. 

Tuesday afternoon was different. When a Sixers public relations official gave a customary “two more questions,” Rivers replied with, “We can do more today.”

It wasn’t a marathon, but Rivers did indeed address a few interesting topics following the Sixers’ first practice after the regular season and before their first-round playoff series against the Raptors. 

Asked about being mentioned as a potential coaching hiring for other teams — Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer last week named the Lakers and Jazz — Rivers expressed his displeasure at the prevalence of coaching rumors. 

And he specifically brought up Frank Vogel, who responded to reports that the Lakers were set to fire him by telling reporters, “I haven’t been told s---.” The team eventually made the firing official.

“I think it’s disrespectful to all the other coaches. … I just think the rumors about coaches taking jobs, coaches getting fired, I just think for my profession, it makes our job so much harder,” Rivers said. “And I think it’s so unfair. I thought the Frank Vogel thing was so unfair. We work just like you guys work. How would you like your job to be mentioned every day, even if it’s someone wanting to have you? It’s just not right. I hate it. 

“There’s nothing I can do about it, but we talk a lot here and everybody’s happy here. We want to get this right. I came here for one reason. And like I said when I took (the job), you’re going to like some of the things I do, (some) you’re not going to like. And from a coaching point, you really can’t care about that. But I am committed to winning. I just think if we can turn this around — which we have from when we first got here to now ... but we want to win it, and that’s my focus.”

Rivers said unequivocally that he’s “not a candidate” for any other positions and is “very happy” with the Sixers. 

Meanwhile, he’s got a job to do. There aren’t heaps of valuable insights to be extracted from the Sixers’ four regular-season meetings against Toronto because Joel Embiid missed the first game with COVID-19 and Fred VanVleet sat out the next three. Still, aspects of the Raptors’ identity and schemes are predictable. 

Embiid will see frequent double teams.

“The size — same size,” Rivers said of what makes Toronto unique defensively. “A lot of teams try to do the same thing, but they’ve got two guards who are 6-1. So when you’re doubling Joel and you’re diving guys, that’s a 6-1 guy that’s trying to take the diver. Against them, that’s a 6-9 guy that’s taking the diver; they can absorb that. 

“Also, in most cases, their trapper is 6-7, 6-8. A lot of times you can throw the ball to Joel with any player. With them, you have to (look at) who’s throwing it. If you can get one of their smaller guards in (Gary Trent Jr.) or VanVleet to throw it and they try trapping off of them, then that’s a 6-3 guard. … When James (Harden) is throwing it, which we like to use, that’s Scottie Barnes. That’s a 6-7 guy. … And going through hands is not easy. That’s a hard thing to do, so we have to be ready for that.”

As far as the Sixers’ defense, it's likely safe to predict the team won’t be so aggressive. 

“That’s why we hate blitzing," Rivers said after a March 7 win over the Bulls in which the Sixers guarded DeMar DeRozan well but conceded 10 offensive rebounds in the first half, “because I love to blitz but it also puts your big 100 feet away from the basket, and I thought they took advantage on the glass because of that.”

He hit on that idea Tuesday.

“We’re going to have to guard the ball,” Rivers said. “And guarding the ball is connected to rebounding, right? The better we guard the ball, the better we’re going to rebound. The better we keep the ball out of the paint, the better we’re going to rebound.

“The better we can not help, the more we’re going to be able to rebound. If you see the ball in the paint and you see helping a lot, you’re going to see a lot of offensive rebounds. And we know that. So we have to be better on the ball.”

An obvious challenge for Rivers this series is the part-time status of Matisse Thybulle, who’s ineligible to play in Canada because he isn’t fully vaccinated. 

Thybulle being unavailable to play in Toronto did not catch Rivers off guard at all. 

“I knew all year,” he said. “I encouraged him all year. But as a coach, you’ve got to be a human, too. It puts you in a tough spot. You’ve got to support your kid. I told him I didn’t agree, but I told him I support him. And I will, and I’ll make sure as much as I can that his teammates will. Tough spot for us to be in, but it is what it is.”

One potential approach before the series begins Saturday night would be incorporating road-specific plans — spending time at practice with lineups that will feature heavily in Thybulle-less games, for example — but Rivers and the Sixers didn’t choose that route.

“No difference in preparation because the first two games, Matisse is playing,” he said. “That’s the one thing as a staff we decided: we’ll cross Games 3 and 4 when we get to Game 3 and 4.

“I want to prepare for Game 1 and 2. I don’t want to have a second plan and the distraction of that. So we’ll get to Game 3 when we get to Game 3, but the first two games we are whole. And that’s how we’re going to work.”