PHILADELPHIA (94WIP SportsRadio) — Sports writer and podcaster Bill Simmons asked former Philadelphia head coach Doc Rivers if the 76ers organization is still feeling the ill effects of the early years of "The Process."
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"Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah, you can feel it all through the organization," Rivers admitted on Monday night on The Bill Simmons Podcast. "Elton [Brand], when he brought me in, that's what he told me: 'This is not just about coaching the team. We're bringing you in here to change the culture.' And he meant everywhere. We looked through the whole organization — if you're not on board, if you're not trying to win, if that's not what you're breathing every day, for me it's time to go and I meant that with everybody in the organization. And overall, I thought we were starting to get it done."
The former Sixers' head coach joined Simmons immediately following Game 5 of the NBA Finals, where Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets completed their remarkable season to win the championship.
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Simmons asked Rivers if Joel Embiid can get to that level and win a championship and what he needs to do in order to achieve that goal.
"No. 1, he has to be healthy in the playoffs, and this was the healthiest, but he still wasn't 100%. And No. 2 for Jo is he's got to make all his players better in the playoffs," Rivers said.
"And Jo, his numbers are unfair because, if you look at his numbers in the last three years in the playoffs compared to his regular season numbers, they're not very good. A lot of that is due — the first year I had him, he hurts his knee. The next year, he gets hit in the face and tears the ligaments in his hands. And then this year he has a knee injury. And he was never the same once he came back this year. So health is No. 1.
"The second thing is, I stayed on him daily. He has the ability to make his teammates better. If you look at our games this year when he did that and dominated — hard to go away from Joel Embiid, it really is. He's just got to do that on a consistent basis, not just on the court, but also off the court. Just be around your guys and spend time with your guys and let them know that you love them because they love you. I thought Jo — in the three years, you can see the growth there. We forget how young he is. We also forget his first years he didn't play. Bill, I'm telling you that sets a tone."
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When asked who is the perfect third guy for the Sixers, without James Harden, Doc Rivers mentioned a player like Manu Ginóbili
"James would speak up, and you need that. You need another alpha in the room. So if Jo is not doing something to call Jo on, 'Jo you gotta do this' and Jo will listen," Rivers said.
"If I could pick the perfect guy without a name it would be a big point guard who can score. And the reason is we need a playmaker other than Joel, and Maxey right now is more of a scorer. He is a downhill scorer with speed ... when we can free him up and just go score. You can make a case like a Ginobili, who at times was their point with his passing, gave them toughness, was an attacker, was great off of the ball, and allowed Tony Parker to just go and be free. Someone in that category would be the perfect fit for that team."
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Rivers was also asked about coaching James Harden and his postseason struggles.
"It was challenging," Rivers said. "More because we were fighting two things, and not like visually fighting — is that James is so good at playing one way. And the way that I believe you have to play to win, in some ways, is different because it's a lot of giving up the ball, moving the ball, coming back to the ball. I would have loved to have him younger when that was easier for him, because giving up the ball and getting back the ball is hard.
"He didn't finish as well as he finished because he's older. So yeah, at times to get him to moving and playing the way I needed him to play — I thought the first half of the year, I thought we were the best team in the game. I thought James was playing perfect basketball. He was the point guard of the team, he was still scoring, but he was doing more playmaking and scoring. And then the second half, he started trying to score more and I thought we got stagnant at times."
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