The coach’s challenge is a new rule that was introduced to the NBA this offseason and has already been put into practice frequently by the ever-confident head coaches in the league. However, there is one coach that is not a fan of the new rule, as he is unsure when to pull the trigger on challenging a call: Doc Rivers of the new-look LA Clippers.
According to a story by Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle, Rivers has received conflicting reports about when to actually use his challenge. According to Simmons’s story, “His [Rivers’s] franchise’s G League coach, Brian Adams, said to keep the challenge for late a game, but analytics people say to use it whenever you’re sure about a call.”
Indeed, both schools of thought seem to make sense, as holding onto a challenge for a crucial late-game play seems to be a clever “get out of jail free” card for coaches. However, there is no guarantee that a game will get into crunch time, so using a challenge early might also make sense for teams.
Beyond that, there’s the issue of a team’s rhythm getting thrown off by unnecessarily long review processes, which is also something coaches must take into account.
According to Rivers in Simmons’s piece, he plans to use his challenges on charge-block calls most often: “I just think there’s a foul on almost every play. It’s tough to get a foul overturned.”
The coach’s challenge is surely a fascinating new wrinkle in an already scintillating league. It will be interested to see just how teams employ it throughout the season.
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