Doc Rivers may be coaching another team on the other side of the country, but he still has the utmost confident in two of recently traded players.
Rivers told Celtics Blog, that with the addition of Garnett and Pierce, he thinks the Nets have enough weapons now, to knock off the defending champion Heat.
“That will be strange for me [seeing them in another uniform]. I want them to do well,” Rivers told the Boston Globe. “For a lot of reasons I want them to do well, they could knock off Miami. But it will be interesting.”
Rivers for his part, thinks both superstars have a lot left in the tank.
“I think obviously Paul’s younger and in tune to play more minutes than Kevin,” Rivers said. “But I think they’re still at the top of their games. I think Paul is still one of those guys who can go off for big nights and still have big scoring nights. Kevin is a culture change. He won’t play but 20 to 25 minutes a night and there’ll probably be nights when he doesn’t play but his presence there alone will absolutely change the culture of Brooklyn. There’s no doubt about it. I think for some of the young guys, even some of the veteran stars, Joe Johnson and Deron Williams, will learn and understand what a winner is and looks like and professionalism and being prepared.
“That’s what I was most impressed with Kevin, how every game he prepared himself for games. That’s what I told our young guys that I just wanted them to watch him prepare for games. It was why he was so consistent. I thought it was that important.”