Clippers' Doc Rivers: 'We need to win,' but no panic
PLAYA VISTA, Calif. — Considering the way those closing minutes had gone Saturday for the Los Angeles Clippers — with turnovers, missed free throws, blown opportunities and the like in their Game 1 loss to the Golden State Warriors at home — it came as no surprise that coach Doc Rivers was yelling at his star point guard the morning after.
The unexpected twist was that he wore a huge smile while doing it.
"C'mon CP," he hollered at Chris Paul inside the team's practice facility, the coach bounding in to relieve Paul from his mandated time with the media while taking his turn in front of all those microphones and cameras.
News reporters on hand laughed, as did Paul. Levity, it seems, is part of the approach for Monday night's pivotal Game 2.
There were no speeches about Ubuntu, the Nelson Mandela-inspired philosophy that was a hallmark of Rivers' storied time with the Boston Celtics. There were no unyielding admonishments, simply pointed discussions with his players about maximizing each and every opportunity as the safest way of avoiding what would be a significant upset in this series.
And true to his form, there was personal accountability. Rivers criticized one of his own play calls late in the game, and highlighted the need for him to be better too.
"We need to win," Rivers said. "Yeah, there's no doubt about it. You don't want to go down 0-2 going to Golden State (for Game 3 on Thursday). ... (But) I'm not going to do anything different because it's a game that you need to win.
"No, the message is just go play. Not that all this — do you come calm, do you come intense? Just go play basketball and play as hard as you can with focus and intensity and great energy, and it will work out."
There was, however, a brief history lesson: During the 2008 postseason that led to Rivers' lone championship, his Celtics needed seven games to down the Atlanta Hawks in the first round and another seven to outlast the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round. Rivers told the Clippers two weeks ago that they would lose a playoff game on their home floor and needed to be prepared to bounce back.
He just didn't know it would happen so soon.
"If you go back and look at teams that have had long runs, deep runs, they've had adversity at some point," Clippers guard Jamal Crawford said. "You have to go through things. It's how you bounce back.
"(Rivers) has been through just about every situation on this journey (and) every team that has (gone) far has had adversity. It's inevitable. These are good teams (in the playoffs)."
Rivers was brought here to take this team to the next level, to share all his wisdom gained and lessons learned in such a collective, cohesive way that this talent-rich Clippers team finally evolved into a championship contender. Former coach Vinny Del Negro had been a regular-season star, his teams going a combined 96-52 (.649) in the past two seasons but falling short from there.
Insert Rivers, who is as safe as any coach in the league when it comes to job security (he signed a three-year, $21 million deal and is also heading the team's front office), but who finds himself in an unenviable position when it comes to public perception. The fact that the Clippers went 57-25 in the regular season has been mostly rendered irrelevant, evidenced by the fact that Rivers won't likely finish on the short list for the league's Coach of the Year award despite doing such good work to this point. Unofficially, his job and the judgment that comes with it starts in earnest now.
As Warriors coach Mark Jackson so duly noted, though, it's not as if Rivers took over the Bad News Bears here. These Clippers may not have pushed for a title before, but they're not without gritty playoff memories. They came back on the road from 27 points down against the Grizzlies in Game 1 of the first round two years ago, then finished the series on Memphis' home floor with a Game 7 win that led to a second-round sweep courtesy of the San Antonio Spurs.
They've been good — just not good enough.
"They've got guys who are experienced," Jackson said. "It's not their first merry-go-round, so they're going to be prepared. They've got guys — not just Doc but a lead assistant in (former Phoenix Suns and Clippers head coach Alvin Gentry) — who have been there and done that. They're going to be prepared, and we understand we're going to face a better Clipper team tomorrow night."
Rivers focused on keeping things simple on Sunday. Keep the program the same, from the way in which media is handled to the practice regimen and the like. A familiar routine has a way of making playoff preparation almost normal, he believes.
He complimented Jackson, noting how his players were more calm than the Clippers and how that's the path to surviving all this pressure. Rivers' subtle messages about crossing Ts and dotting Is were clearly heard by Paul, who spoke in great detail about all the mistakes that simply must be cleaned up.
"The big play was that three-on-one," Paul, who missed two free three throws with 11 seconds, recounted. "I looked at it (on video) I think six times this morning. I thought I should've given the ball up to JJ (Redick). ... Doc talks about it all the time — baseline out of bounds (plays), free throws, stuff like that.
"You've got to make (free throws). It's as simple as that. You make them. You don't turn the ball over, and luckily I get an opportunity to redeem myself (in Game 2)."
He's not alone.
