can't speak for anyone else but i've been saying that shit for years.

dude was never any sort of great technical wizard w/ the Xs and Os. his in-game mgmt, substitution patterns, tendency to sit thru oppts runs w/o using timeouts, etc was criticized plenty during his career.

phil's bailiwick was a mastery at manipulating egos, personalities, psyches. getting great talent to coexist and play within defined roles. same as doc.

and i didn't give thibodeau "full credit" for anything. i said doc's defenses were mediocre until he linked up with garnett and thibs, and i backed it up with fact. numbers don't lie. there are things that doc does very well as a coach, and i mentioned them in my previous reply, but if i'm handing out credit for the celtics championship defense, he'd be 3rd on the list behind KG and thibs. sorry if that offends you, dogg.