Rivers: We don’t want to foul
In his pregame talk with the media, Doc Rivers tried to dispel the notion that the Celtics are purposefully trying to foul Dwight Howard as a strategy for beating the Magic.
“We don’t really want to foul,” said Rivers. “The Magic have a secret weapon on this whole foul thing: Use all four fouls on Dwight, get to the penalty, and then get to the line….And everybody but Dwight is a good foul shouter. They don’t miss. The only time we want to foul Dwight is when he has a sure dunk.”
The biggest improvement Rivers wants to see from Game 1 to Game 2 is stopping dribble penetration. As for the concern that the Celtics might not come out as hard as they did Sunday because they’ve already stolen a game in Orlando, Rivers said, “Yeah, I mean there always is [concern] from a coaching standpoint. You can talk about it, but you don’t know until the game starts. You’ll know early. At least I will. It’s something that’s always on your mind.”
Rivers also had answered a few questions on The Guy Who Is All Over Sportscenter Every Five Seconds, otherwise known as LeBron James.
“I guess in politics the politician would be excited about this because they say any talk is good talk,” said Rivers. “I’ve got to think it’s good for our league overall. When they’re leading off talking about the NBA over the NFL, that’s pretty good for us.
On the rumor that Rivers is waiting out this potential championship season so he can jump ship and coach James and the Chicago Bulls, Rivers was very definite in his answer.
“I’m not even going to answer that one,” he said. “That’s just stupid talk… I think that’s just ridiculous.”
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