Speaker 1: This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers podcast Network
Speaker 1: search seventy Sixers podcast wherever you get your pods. Welcome
Speaker 1: back to a brand new season of Tom's Talks from
Speaker 1: the seventy Sixers podcast Network. In early October, Doc Rivers
Speaker 1: became the twenty fifth head coach in Philadelphia seventy Sixers history.
Speaker 1: He heads into his twenty first overall campaign as a
Speaker 1: head coach with quite a resume, a thirteen year career
Speaker 1: as a player, in the NBA Coach of the Year honors,
Speaker 1: and of course an NBA championship. In this edition of
Speaker 1: Tom's Talks with chat was Sixers head coach Doc Rivers. Well,
Speaker 1: welcome to another edition of Tom's Talks and we're joined
Speaker 1: by Sixers head coach Glenn Doc Rivers and Coacha. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much. It's the first time we've had a
Speaker 1: forum to shoot the breeze. And I must say, even
Speaker 1: though it's been over a couple of months since you
Speaker 1: got the job, watching you that first day of practice
Speaker 1: was like a reality, like for me, like when Larry
Speaker 1: Brown walked onto our practice quarter ten years ago or
Speaker 1: so when doctor Doug Collins did it. And to see
Speaker 1: you out there as a six years coach and the
Speaker 1: coach of our franchise. Was really exciting. And what was
Speaker 1: it like to take the floor for your first practice?
Speaker 1: You know, Tom, it's interesting. First of all, it's about
Speaker 1: time we talked. Let me just start with that. And secondly,
Speaker 1: it was different than normal because of COVID. You know, usually,
Speaker 1: and you know this from being around, by the first
Speaker 1: day of camp, you've pretty much created some kind of
Speaker 1: relationship with all your players, whether you're a new coach
Speaker 1: or a coach that have been there for many of
Speaker 1: the guys. This is the longest period of time that
Speaker 1: I've been with him since taking the job. This is
Speaker 1: the most that they've heard my voice and all my
Speaker 1: new staff's voice. So it was different. I wouldn't say this.
Speaker 1: I was pleasantly surprised with the endurance of our guys,
Speaker 1: Like I was surprised, you know, we didn't go as
Speaker 1: long as you would for a normal training camp because
Speaker 1: I don't think our guys could just sustain it. I
Speaker 1: think many of the guys that was the first time
Speaker 1: they went up and down since the bubble. That's incredible
Speaker 1: when you think about it in those terms. But I
Speaker 1: thought conditioning wise, guys were in pretty good shape speaking
Speaker 1: of voice and endurance and just delving away from the
Speaker 1: here and now a little bit. You usually lose your
Speaker 1: voice by the end of the second week or so,
Speaker 1: so in practice with coaches like Burke and Yeager and
Speaker 1: coach Cassal, and then even in the arena. I don't
Speaker 1: know if you found this to be true in the
Speaker 1: bubble where you don't have to project over twenty thousand people.
Speaker 1: Are we going to be able to have full throat
Speaker 1: throughout the early weeks months of the season. No, I'll
Speaker 1: lose my voice. I'm already losing. You know. It's funny.
Speaker 1: You just talk more. You know. What I've learned is
Speaker 1: when I get home, I talk none at all. Like tonight,
Speaker 1: I just kind of I'm quiet, and I watched TV
Speaker 1: and watch football for the most part and move on
Speaker 1: with it. But I have a heck of a staff,
Speaker 1: having Dave Yager, then Berg, Sam Casale, and I lean
Speaker 1: on my staff, you know, And so yeah, I'm hoping
Speaker 1: they can be my savior for sure. Let's get into
Speaker 1: that a little bit, because, as you've said before, you
Speaker 1: like hiring guys that have been head coaches because they've
Speaker 1: walked that walk before. You've had Woodie and Lawrence Frank
Speaker 1: and Toronto Lou and all these other guys that have
Speaker 1: been head coaches. And you've done that again with Dave Yager.
Speaker 1: Speak to that as you bring in these other voices
Speaker 1: and creative offensive minds. And Dan Burke's not the head coach,
Speaker 1: but a great defensive coach over the years in Indiana.
Speaker 1: Speak about your staff. Yeah, I've always done that. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm listen, I'm just like you. We watched the league,
Speaker 1: right and you know what good looks like. You know, Uh,
Speaker 1: Spo and I did a podcast with Woes last year
Speaker 1: and woach ask us both at the same time, who
Speaker 1: was one of the better offensive guys that you go against, uh,
Speaker 1: that we probably wouldn't know, and we both sit uh
Speaker 1: Dave Viager at the exact same time. And so it's funny.
Speaker 1: When I heard Spose say that, I remember thinking I
Speaker 1: need to go out and get Dave Viager. He's not
Speaker 1: coaching right now, and so I did. You know the
Speaker 1: same thing with Dan Indiana, no matter what the coach
Speaker 1: has been, their defense has always been legit and strong
Speaker 1: and had that tough personality. Um, I am a believer
Speaker 1: that you you fit the personality of your city sometimes
Speaker 1: and this is a city of toughness, you know, and
Speaker 1: like we have to we have to embode that on
Speaker 1: everybody every night. And that's what we talked about as
Speaker 1: a team tonight. Uh. You know, we have size, you
Speaker 1: know when you look at our team this we have
Speaker 1: size on our team, you know, and and big, strong,
Speaker 1: athletic guys. We need to impose that on our our opponent.
Speaker 1: And so you know, going out and getting Dan was
Speaker 1: perfect for that. And then with Sam, I really thought
Speaker 1: Sam could sale. The first thing I thought was been
Speaker 1: I thought Sam's gonna be great for Ben, and so
Speaker 1: far has been terrific. Speaking of the initial conversation, like
Speaker 1: before you guys started to go through plays and up
Speaker 1: and down for practice, you know, there's that initial meeting
Speaker 1: where you talk about I'm assuming shared sacrifice, not skipping steps,
Speaker 1: being optimistic, bringing a good attitude, and and accountability and collaboration.
Speaker 1: You've said in the past, part of your deal is
Speaker 1: just saying up front, right off the bat, look, I
Speaker 1: don't have all the answers and it needs to be
Speaker 1: a collaborative process. Speak to that, because that's a huge,
Speaker 1: important element of being a team with chemistry that's going
Speaker 1: to make it all the way to the end and
Speaker 1: play for seven or so much. There's no winning team
Speaker 1: that doesn't do it well. Cooperation, like it's the key
Speaker 1: to winning, the key to business. You have to cooperate,
Speaker 1: you have to get along, you have to be willing
Speaker 1: to sacrifice, you have to be willing to give up
Speaker 1: yourself for the greater good of the team. And so
Speaker 1: we talked about a lot of that, and individually, I
Speaker 1: talked about guys, you know, dominating their role, like every night,
Speaker 1: you know, I told Joel every night they should know
Speaker 1: Joel and beats in the building and he's the baddest
Speaker 1: big man in the league. And you have to come
Speaker 1: out with that. But then on top of that, that
Speaker 1: can't not allow everybody else on the team to be
Speaker 1: great too. You know, if it's just about you being dominant,
Speaker 1: not to whole team being dominant, it doesn't work. But
Speaker 1: it's about you being dominant and allowing the team to
Speaker 1: be dominant, it works beautifully. And I think that's what
Speaker 1: we're gonna do. Speaking about that accountability and stepping back
Speaker 1: up being specific about this team or our franchise. But
Speaker 1: in general, like in high school, the coach can just
Speaker 1: in a punitive way say I'm alie and make guys run.
Speaker 1: In college, he's dealing with men seventeen to twenty two.
Speaker 1: He can control their minutes. In the pros, you can't
Speaker 1: necessarily bench a guy. You might hear from the front
Speaker 1: office of the ownership like, yo, we're paying that guy
Speaker 1: a lot of money, So it has to be player
Speaker 1: buying because you don't have that directive. Is that speak
Speaker 1: about that a little bit? Well? You do? You know,
Speaker 1: I've always kind of disagreed with that a little you know,
Speaker 1: I've always been like, listen, I'm gonna do what's best
Speaker 1: for the team, and that's sitting a guy. Because I
Speaker 1: do it, and I'm willing to take the heat from
Speaker 1: wherever he goes. It's not going to change me. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna keep doing it, you know. Having said that, this
Speaker 1: is a player's league and that's okay. Players want to
Speaker 1: be coached. They do. They want to make sure you know,
Speaker 1: the difference between a player in college and a player
Speaker 1: in the pros is in college players have to be coached.
Speaker 1: They have no choice. They're trying to get to the
Speaker 1: NBA and they know that college coach holds the card
Speaker 1: to that when they get to the pros, they still
Speaker 1: want to be coached. In my opinion, they just want
Speaker 1: to make sure it's worth it, you know. And I've
Speaker 1: always said that they want to make sure that they
Speaker 1: have a chance what's in it for them, and that's
Speaker 1: not being a selfish thing. That means as a team thing.
Speaker 1: And so I've always you know, I tell young coaches
Speaker 1: all the time just because you know, I had a
Speaker 1: coach tell me once, you know, I got to show
Speaker 1: them I'm the head coach and I and I actually said,
Speaker 1: do me a favor. Go outside, look outside your door,
Speaker 1: and what does it say? And he says, well, it
Speaker 1: says head coach. I said, okay, they already know that.
Speaker 1: Now you've got to prove to them what you want
Speaker 1: them to do and that it will work, you know.
Speaker 1: So I've never had a problem proven that, or at
Speaker 1: least trying to more of my conversation with Doc Rivers
Speaker 1: in a moment, But I would like to remind you
Speaker 1: that we'll have new episodes of Tom's Talks premiering Thursdays
Speaker 1: all season low and coming next week on the seventy
Speaker 1: six Ers podcast. Network, Matt Murphy chats with Jamir Nelson
Speaker 1: on a new edition of Coach Check, the official podcast
Speaker 1: of the Delaware Bluecoats, and Brian Seltzer catches up with
Speaker 1: Joel and be Now more of my conversation with Doc Rivers.
Speaker 1: One of the things that drew you here, obviously is
Speaker 1: the talent. You've got a roster and now there's already
Speaker 1: been some tweaks. You've brought in a lot of shooters
Speaker 1: that will create spacing. Speak to the prospects of coaching
Speaker 1: this roster to a championship. Yeah, I mean, it's it's
Speaker 1: why I came. I chose them, and I told them that,
Speaker 1: like I did, have other choices, and one of them
Speaker 1: would go to TV and sit next to you maybe
Speaker 1: on radio and just through games and enjoy. But I
Speaker 1: like being in afraid and I wanted to be in
Speaker 1: a fray with a group that I thought we can
Speaker 1: mode and win. You know, But with that statement comes
Speaker 1: you got to do the required stuff, man. Like you know,
Speaker 1: I told our guys, Okay, everybody wants to win the title,
Speaker 1: can Now what are you willing to do? Are we
Speaker 1: willing to do the required word that it takes. There's
Speaker 1: certain things that are required to win. You just can't
Speaker 1: say I want to win. You got to go out
Speaker 1: and get in shape. You gotta go out and give
Speaker 1: up your game and trust each other. There's a lot
Speaker 1: of stuff to that, and I said, now that we've
Speaker 1: all committed to that, we're going to find out who
Speaker 1: actually wants to do that. And we'll find that out.
Speaker 1: One other thing that's such a huge part of this,
Speaker 1: it's sort of the elephant in the room, is the
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen virus, just because, as you've said, if two
Speaker 1: or three of your players end up having to sit
Speaker 1: down and be quarantine, and this is during a chunk
Speaker 1: of your schedule where you're playing in two huge division
Speaker 1: rivals and they might miss six or so games, it's
Speaker 1: a it's a variable for the league and for your team,
Speaker 1: and the possibility is out there at any given time.
Speaker 1: And that's where guys speaking of sacrifice have to It's
Speaker 1: just the wild card, is it not? It is? And
Speaker 1: I can honestly say, I know how it's gonna go.
Speaker 1: I wish I did we talk to our players. UM,
Speaker 1: you know, think about telling the play. Hey don't allow
Speaker 1: any family members in. Uh, if your friends want to
Speaker 1: come in and see you say, no, you know, trying
Speaker 1: not to eat at a restaurant, trying. I mean, there's
Speaker 1: a lot and this is not just the athletes. Everybody
Speaker 1: that has to try to conduct themselves in the right way. Um,
Speaker 1: this this COVID is tough. Man. It's been a knockout punch.
Speaker 1: It really has been. But it's gonna be over soon,
Speaker 1: I hope, and we have to maintain through it. But
Speaker 1: you're right, Um, we have to try our best not
Speaker 1: to have that week where we're missing four five players
Speaker 1: because in a seventy two games schedule with not even
Speaker 1: a guarantee of that with COVID, every game is precious.
Speaker 1: Right now. The East is so tough. I mean everyone
Speaker 1: talks about the West and you know that really well.
Speaker 1: But in your division you've got Toronto that's not going away,
Speaker 1: Boston who's been really a nemesis obviously for the Sixers
Speaker 1: as you know forever, and of course now Brooklyn and Atlanta,
Speaker 1: you got I mean, Milwaukee, Miami. This is it's gonna
Speaker 1: be a tough division, tough Eastern Conference. Yeah, the East
Speaker 1: is gonna be tough. You know, I keep following the
Speaker 1: good conferences. I'm not figured that one out. You know.
Speaker 1: When I was in the East the last time, you know,
Speaker 1: we had Detroit and Cleveland and we had to try
Speaker 1: to get through all these teams. Then I go West
Speaker 1: and we have all these teams. So it's gonna make
Speaker 1: it interesting for sure. You gotta win games, you know,
Speaker 1: you gotta one thing. I told our guys, you know,
Speaker 1: and it's different without fans, But we have to be
Speaker 1: on the road for sure. If we can continue to
Speaker 1: do what we've done last year at home and then
Speaker 1: go out and win road games, that we're really dangerous.
Speaker 1: You've been with a number of franchises, the Magic and
Speaker 1: Boston and the Clippers and played for a number You've
Speaker 1: got a lot going here with great ownership now with
Speaker 1: Darryl Moray and Elton Brand, yourself and a talented roster.
Speaker 1: This is a great situation. We've kind of spoken about this,
Speaker 1: but now it's time to go get it done and
Speaker 1: prove that all these parts can lead yourself to a championship. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I love it. I love where we're at, I love
Speaker 1: working here. I love our group, you know, Darrow and
Speaker 1: you know Elton. Just a communication we have right now daily,
Speaker 1: We're so just united at the hip. I hope in
Speaker 1: five years I'm saying that that means we have won
Speaker 1: a title, and that's the goal. I think the greatest
Speaker 1: part about being here right now, you know, we'll see.
Speaker 1: I think we were good enough to do that, and
Speaker 1: if we're not, I think we will be because the
Speaker 1: group we're working with, they're going to leave no stone unturned.
Speaker 1: They want to win. It's nice when you're with the
Speaker 1: group like that. Coach, I can't thank enough. We hope
Speaker 1: to do it again. Amen. We will guarantee. Thanks for
Speaker 1: listening to this edition of Tom's Talks. If you like
Speaker 1: what you're hearing, consider subscribing to the seventy six ers
Speaker 1: podcast network Feed or giving us a follow wherever you
Speaker 1: get your pods and if that happens to be on
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, we'd love for you to give us a rating.
Speaker 1: I'm Tom McGinnis, talk to you down the road.