Doc Rivers: Ignore record, Brett Brown doing ‘masterful' job

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Doc Rivers understands what Brett Brown is going through.

Before the NBA championship with the Celtics, before the annual playoff runs with the Clippers, Rivers was also at the helm of struggling young teams. So when he hears 45 wins and 171 losses, he doesn’t think that represents the job Brown has done over the past three seasons.

"He’s a terrific coach," Rivers said Monday before the Sixers' overtime loss to the Clippers. "I always say all the time, it’s a great example, I think people make mistakes when they judge you by your record sometimes."

Rivers pointed out the challenges that come with coaching a young team. Only three of the Sixers are older than 25. Not counting Joel Embiid, there are seven players in their rookie or sophomore seasons.

In Rivers’ first year coaching the Magic (1999-2000), he had two rookies, six second-year and five third-year players on his team during the season. Even though the squad finished .500, it went through its ups and downs, including an eight-game losing streak.

He took over as head coach of the Celtics in 2004, and the team’s record worsened over the first three seasons. During the 2006-07 campaign, they lost 18 straight and went 24-58. Ten of the players on the roster that season were younger than 25, including four rookies.

"I don’t think people understand how hard it is to coach a bunch of young guys," Rivers said. "Not because they don’t know how to play, some do, none of them want to play together. I’ve always thought that. They all want to be ‘the guy,’ and so it’s very difficult to get a team to buy into roles when they’re competing against each other."

Roles change frequently on the Sixers. Brown has implemented 26 different starting lineups this season. They are based on opponents' matchups and health. Ish Smith is the only player to start in every game in which he has played.

"In Boston, I thought our hardest days were our practices," Rivers said. "The guys went at each other because they wanted to start. ... Then when the game started, you had five guys who liked you and the other seven just couldn’t stand you because they weren’t starting anymore. Somehow Brett does that. I don’t know how he does it."

Then there is talk of the future, away from the games being played this season. The buzz surrounding the Sixers is just as much about what will happen down the road as it is what is occurring in a game that night.

With a bevy of draft picks, an injured big who has yet to play and two natural centers trying to work together on the floor, there are constant questions. Rivers has been impressed by the way Brown has the Sixers focused on the 82 games at hand in spite of all the other uncertainties.

"His teams play hard every night, yet every day they hear about them getting traded, about what the team’s not doing, about the draft the following year," Rivers said. "To get your guys to execute and play hard and want to play for your team is, to me, masterful. And he does it, I don’t know how he does it. It’s hard to do. It really is."

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