Rivers hoping he can get the best from Harris again
The Sixers are confident Doc Rivers can bring the best out in Joel Embiid.
The Sixers are hopeful Don Rivers can make Ben Simmons a more complete player.
The Sixers know, for they have been shown, that their new coach can maximize the value of Tobias Harris.
It was under Rivers in
2019 that Harris blossomed from a good player to an AllStar candidate, averaging
20.9 points for the Clippers. That’s when the Sixers sent a package including valuable rookie Landry Shamet to Los Angeles for Mike Scott, Boban Marjanovic and Harris. With that, they believed they fitted Jimmy Butler, Embiid and Simmons with the last missing nugget of star power.
While Harris has averaged 19.2 points in a yearplus with the Sixers, he did not continue on his All-Star arc. Excellent at times, ineffective at others, Harris flattened last season.
Rivers is ready to help his revival.
“I love him,” he said Monday at his introductory press conference. “I love that he is a multi-dimensional player. He’s a big three. He’s a quick four. That’s how we used him a lot in L.A. We kept moving him back and forth to different spots.”
While that, too, was Brett Brown’s plan, Harris’ 3-point shooting percentage fell from 43.4 percent with the Clippers to 36.7 percent last season. As the Sixers were being swept from the first round by the Celtics, he shot 2-for-15 from the arc.
“You know, I love his shot,” Rivers said. “He has a great in-between game, which is sometimes lost in today’s game. And I think he’s a terrific straight-line driver. You just have to put him in positions to do that. I’m really looking forward to working with him again.”
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Even in a non-convoluted NBA season, there are some individual efforts that invite the scratching of heads … and maybe visions of greatness.
Rivers was on the sideline for one in March. That’s when Shake Milton shot 14
for-20 and 7-for-9 from distance for 39 points in a 136
130, nationally televised loss to the Clippers. That was with neither Simmons nor Embiid available.
“I was on the phone with Shake last night,” Rivers said. “The only thing I said to him was that if he can play like he did against us in L.A., then I don’t need to say another word to him. I mean, he was phenomenal. Shake almost single-handedly beat us. And from that point on, he took off.”
In large part because of that game, Milton became the Sixers’ No. 1 point guard when Brown bumped Simmons to the frontcourt for the postseason.
“I just love that he is not scared to take the shot,” Rivers said. “I love players like that. And I think he will do well under me.”
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While the general manager did not make himself available for questioning, a rarity if not a first in the history of major-league head coaching appointments, Elton Brand had high praise for Rivers in his formal introduction.
“Doc is truly one of the NBA’s elite head coaches,” Brand had said. “He’s an NBA champion, a former NBA Coach of the Year. He holds the second most wins among active NBA head coaches, and ranking 11th in history.”
Brand was known to have interviewed Rivers’ Clippers assistant, Tyronn Lue, for the job. Veteran head coach and former short-term Sixers assistant Mike D’Antoni
were also on his short list. But once Rivers was fired by the Clippers, Brand did not hesitate.
“As I worked to identify which head coach would lead us the best, Doc stood out in all categories,” Brand said. “He’s a proven leader with one of the NBA’s most accomplished resumes, and he’s helped guide some of the best teams and brightest stars.”
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Rivers has had success coaching big men, among them Kevin Garnett and DeAndre Jordan.
He believes Embiid can be among the best.
“Joel is an amazing talent,” Rivers said. “Having coached Kevin Garnett and D.J. and
Kendrick Perkins, there are just so many different levels of bigs. And in this generation, that has changed even more, now that they are out shooting threes and at times even running offenses.
“I think Joel can do all of those things. He is a dominant big man and he will be a dominant big man for me.”
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Rivers said he “can’t wait to get on the court.”
The problem: The NBA has yet to announce when that will happen for the 2020-21 season.
“Not knowing when the season is going to start makes it a little more difficult,” he said. “It does. We’ll just have to figure that out.”