Doc Rivers is Going to Keep Starting DeAndre Jordan "Whether You Like it or Not"
The Sixers lost game 1 in Miami. They weren’t favored to win, but went into halftime with the lead and then got their doors blown off in the fourth quarter, en route to a 106-92 loss. There was a lineup on the floor featuring Furkan Korkmaz, Matisse Thybulle, and DeAndre Jordan.
After the game, we got another doozy of a quote from Doc Rivers:
Doc Rivers: “We like DJ. We’re gonna keep starting him whether you like it or not.” #Sixers
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) May 3, 2022
Doc Rivers just now: "We are going to keep starting him [DeAndre Jordan] whether you like it or not because our guys believe in him."
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) May 3, 2022
DeAndre Jordan finished with four points and two rebounds in 17 minutes. He was a -22 if anybody cares about that statistic, but you don’t need numbers when your eyes show you that DJ just doesn’t have it anymore. He didn’t play in the Toronto series with Doc Rivers rolling a Joel Embiid/Paul Reed duo at center, and so it seems like a rough time for Jordan to enter the starting lineup. It doesn’t always matter who starts since closing is more important, but in this case they ended up with Reed in foul trouble and only logging 13 minutes of game time.
The strange thing about Jordan playing 17 minutes is that when Doc bitched at Bodner however many weeks ago, he was explaining that they like Reed against smaller lineups and Jordan against bigger lineups. By that logic, he’d be starting Reed, since Miami isn’t a very large team. Bam Adebayo is tough but he’s only 6’9″, and their backup bigs have the height, but don’t play that many minutes. You’d think Doc would prefer Reed the way he used him in Toronto, and exercise some continuity there, but who knows what’s going through his head.
Anyway, the overarching theme is that Doc always has to come across as adversarial or condescending in these press conferences. He’s a basketball deity and we are all insignificant worms. We are mere mortals in the presence of a God.