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Doc Rivers Criticizes Washington Wizards: 'You Can't Hand [Playing Time] To Them'

We don't know for sure, but it's probably not a good thing when your organizational philosophy is criticized by one of the most successful NBA coaches of the last half-decade.

That team? The Washington Wizards.

That coach? Boston Celtics boss Doc Rivers (5 straight playoff appearances, 2 NBA Finals appearances, 1 title).

Transmitting the knowledge? ESPNBoston's Jackie MacMullan.

Rivers absorbed some criticism for not giving [young shooting guard Avery] Bradley quality minutes sooner, but the coach said even with the benefit of hindsight, he wouldn't do it differently.

"You can't hand it to them," Rivers said. "I look at the Washington [Wizards] model, where they played Andray Blatche and those guys, and what did it teach them? That they're going to play them anyway?"

You can argue hindsight all you want, but the simple facts are these. Rivers would be preparing to coach in his third NBA Finals if LeBron James hadn't activated his superpowers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals and if Chris Bosh hadn't turned into Ray Allen circa 2001 in Game 7. The Bullets/Wizards, on the other hand, haven't sniffed the conference finals since before the Iran hostage crisis.

So, there you go.