Look of a winner By Jerry Brewer | Sentinel Staff Writer Posted March 7, 2003 SEASON RECORD 32-30, 4th in Atlantic Division NEXT GAME March 7, vs. New York, 7 p.m. LAST GAME March 5, defeated Milwaukee, 111-99 On Doomsday -- Ankle Angst III -- he made them have fun. Orlando Magic Coach Doc Rivers blew his whistle. "All right," he began, "I want the smalls on this side and the bigs on this side." Time to try something fresh, something comical. Post players versus perimeter players. One rule: Bigs could only shoot outside the paint; smalls could only shoot inside the paint. Tracy McGrady served as one referee because his body needed rest for the pounding it was about to take. Grant Hill acted as the other official because his left ankle wouldn't let him play. He was about to go on the injured list, likely for the rest of the season. For the fourth consecutive season, the third with Hill, the Magic were back to being undermanned. To cope, Rivers just laughed and had a good time watching the goofy basketball he had set up. Right there, on that January day, Rivers was at another crucial point in his coaching career. You wondered if he would become frustrated and bolt one day for a franchise that covets his charm and coaching ability. You wondered if his stock had cooled, if there was more to why the franchise is stuck -- like Rivers' mistakes. Right there, Rivers attacked it all -- reality and perception -- using his unpredictable methods. The only predictable part about Rivers is that he will be candid and show emotion. He is in front of the media, shaking his head, sighing, looking as if tears could well while talking about how bad he feels for Hill. Then, he is in front of the media, shaking his head, sighing, searching for one of his favorite phrases to do a bad job masking his anguish. Pick a clich: "It is what it is." "I'm being realistic." "We are who we are." He is angry, the guy the referees see the most, barking at his players for more, prodding, always prodding. Then he is consoling, the guy having his players watch funny film sessions after tough games, placing cards of appreciation in lockers and telling his team, "Guys, it ain't as bad as you think." He is a little of everything, and good thing, too. Otherwise, this job could kick his butt. How others do it Rivers approached Houston Coach Rudy Tomjanovich for a chat. He wanted to know how Tomjanovich handled the in-and-out status of guard Steve Francis last season. Migraine headaches bothered Francis all year, and he often was a late scratch from games, similar to what the Magic faced with Hill before he went down. "How'd you do?" Rivers asked. "We got Yao Ming," Tomjanovich replied. "That tells you we didn't do a very good job." For a coach, the toughest assignment often is keeping your team afloat without an injured star. Most coaches perish. They are too impatient and demanding. They eventually succumb to their own methods. Somehow, Rivers has avoided this. It's the greatest coaching trait he has shown. At 38, he won NBA coach-of-the-year honors in his first season for turning a team with no stars and numerous undrafted players into a .500 squad that almost made the playoffs. Problem is, he has been in a similar predicament ever since. McGrady and Hill came to Orlando after his first season, and they were supposed to lead the franchise to a new era of greatness. McGrady has excelled, but ankle problems have limited Hill to 47 games in three seasons. No one has learned anything more about Rivers, except that he can coach a team through injury. "He may not have the team he thought he would yet, or even the team he wants, but that's how it is sometimes," Seattle Coach Nate McMillan said. "You have to adapt to the players that you have. You want to play a certain way, but you can't. You have to change your train of thought. "That's what Doc is good at doing. And the guys who are willing are the guys who have a chance to have some success." Rivers has shown he can take a team with marginal talent or one decimated because of injury and keep it together. But can he make a good team great? That's an unanswerable question at this time: He hasn't had that opportunity. "So far, my success has been defined on how well we've been able to recover from, in a lot of ways, devastation," Rivers said. Some coaches would take that for a while and just be happy they have a job. Of course, those are the coaching lifers, the ones who want to be in it for 30 years. When Rivers talks about his coaching career, he likes to say, "10 years or championship." Succeed and go back to a much quieter family life. He wants it now. Always has. "For me, I have my own level of where I want to go," Rivers said. "To me -- and this is a crazy statement -- but for me, my success will depend on if I win a championship or not. That's it. Now we haven't had the opportunity yet, but we're going to create that opportunity eventually, hopefully soon. That's what I want, honest to God." The contrast of his impatient nature with his patient behavior has been impressive. "I respect the way he's handled it," Philadelphia Coach Larry Brown said. "I don't know if I've had a player with Grant's situation. The last three years, every day, it's been a difficult issue." Why ask why? The phone rang. Hank Raymonds, Rivers' college coach at Marquette, was calling. The Magic still were in a rut. This was before they made the trade for Drew Gooden and Gordan Giricek, which has re-energized the team. This was when the Magic could not find their way -- or even a way. Rivers had one question for his coach: "Why?" "There is no 'why' sometimes," Raymonds told him. "You know that? Sometimes, they just kick your butt." "Yeah," Rivers said, "but even in that, you've still got to try to find out why." Raymonds laughed. "There is no why," he said. They hung up, and Rivers went back to a self-evaluation. This is one part of him you do not see. Rivers always appears so sure of himself, almost arrogant. That is the part of the man that Horace Grant could not see through. "It's all about Doc," Grant said after he was waived in December after a long dispute with Rivers. It is, and it isn't. Once again, Rivers is unpredictable. He believes in showing strength as a coach, confidence, verve. Look at some of the guys who coached him in the NBA: Brown, Pat Riley, Mike Fratello. All demanding, all stubborn that their way will work. Rivers copied that trait. Yet when the game is over, when his door is closed and the lights are off, it's just him watching a tape of the game. It's just him wincing and picking apart his strategy. When he fails with a player, he goes back to his favorite question. Why? "It bugs me when I can't get a guy to see something," Rivers said. "I just think, 'If I can see it, you can see it.' It's something that's very emotional and tough for me. "I self-check all the time. But I can't pull a rabbit out of the hat. I don't think any coach is above not getting better. You want to have that sustained consistency. It's tough to get it." As much as Rivers was hyped as the ideal coach of players, that statement has proven false. He is just a basketball coach, like the rest, trying to get his team to win. He is 41 and finished playing in 1996, but it does not make him the magical guy who's loved by all his players. "Doc has that fire, and you have to like that as a player," guard Darrell Armstrong said. "I don't think you can coach and keep every player happy. That's not the goal. Guys who are nice don't win. Doc wants to win, and if you want to win, too, you can work with him." There are times when players on this Magic team hate him. He is as prickly as any coach. He is always working, wanting McGrady to swing the ball, asking players to pressure each other to play harder. "He's done a solid job," General Manager John Gabriel said. "He's worked hard to keep his players focused. He must continue to do so." Going somewhere? Before the Feb. 19 trade for Gooden and Giricek, the whispers persisted: Could Rivers decide to leave? New York would love to have him as its coach. Atlanta would, too. Despite a 160-148 (.519) coaching record and never having won a playoff series, Rivers remains an intriguing prospect for other teams. Rivers has three years left on his Magic contract, but there always has been the fear he would tire of this situation. But Rivers said he hasn't entertained that possibility. He is not a quitter. His playing career was based on grit. He never was the most talented player, but he always was a factor. He is determined to take this Magic team somewhere. "There were times when you think, 'Damn! We can't get a break,'" Rivers said. "But I've always kept going. I'm a firm believer if you just keep priming the pump, just keep going, sticking to your guns . . ." He did not finish the thought. How appropriate. You knew what he was thinking, but he did not finish the thought. Just stop at hope. That's all Rivers does. Just stop at hope. "If I thought that I couldn't do it or would never have the tools to do it -- as far as, if they weren't going to give me the tools -- I wouldn't coach," Rivers said. "I can say that with 100 percent conviction. The money is great and all that, but I'm doing all right there. And I've got a family. It just wouldn't be worth it. That probably gives me an advantage with my emotions because I know what I'm in it for." Those emotions, far-ranging and unpredictable, always unite in one place: Rivers is going to do something here, in Orlando, if he gets a real chance. How that happens is the question. Gooden might be the guy who steps up next to McGrady and leads this team. Or he might not. Giricek might join Armstrong and Pat Garrity as the core role players. Or he might not. The Magic might make the right draft picks and sign the right free agents. Or they might not. Rivers might one day realize his dream: having a loaded team in which the only uncertainty is whether he can take them to greatness. Or he might not. No promises, no certainties. Just hope. "This whole struggle, it's taught me patience, and at the end of the day, it'll make me one hell of a coach," Rivers said. "It's difficult and tough, but it has to be making you better. It has to be. You know what I mean? It has to be."
