Doc Rivers not impressed with league’s fine against San Antonio Spurs – NBA Update
The Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs are two of the most aged teams in NBA. And, after the league decided to fine the Spurs for resting three of its major stars in Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili for the game against
the Miami Heat last night, their 5th in six days and last in a six game road stretch, C’s coach Doc Rivers has come out in support of Gregg Popovich, the Spurs coach under fire.
"I do get the other side, but it's a tough one," he said before Boston's game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night. "You've got to coach your team to win in the long run and you have to do whatever you need to do.
If that's sitting players, you sit players."
The Spurs have been one of the most successful teams of the last decade, but their star players, especially Duncan, are now in the twilight of their careers and in order to maintain the championship pedigree, Popovich has been
very efficiently managing their on-court time. In the last season, coach Pop even gave Duncan a game off by declaring him as OLD and it is very rare for him to expose all three of his star players to major game minutes.
The bottom line is that the Spurs want to win the title, and they have a second unit capable enough to pose a decent challenge even if the stars are not on the team. Rivers says he understands where Popovich was coming from;
"Whatever is going to help your team win, a coach is going to do," he said, "because if you don't and it hurts your team then you're the one that won't be around."
There is an impression around the league that after a quarter million dollars fine for the Spurs, many teams will be hesitant to bench their stars in order to manage the workload. Rivers however remained adamant that he will do
things his own way, no matter what the consequences are;
"We'll do it when we want to do it, and we should be able to do it," Rivers said. "It could be early in the season, the end of the season."
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