The Celtics start under Joe Mazzulla has been impressive on many levels.
They've gone 8-3 without arguably their third best player, the Time Lord, who is due back in a few weeks. And the ranking is not important, Robert Williams undoubtedly adds a dimension that they currently lack. And depth.
They've integrated seamlessly a superb 6th man in Malcom Brogdon, and a bench scorer in Sam Hauser that they totally lacked last season.
Tatum and Brown are playing at incredible levels; it's never surprising when they each put up 30 points and play shut down defense.
The point guard, Marcus Smart, has improved his passing, cut down on turnovers and has even improved his shot selection (very small sample).
Team chemistry looks to be outstanding.
They've given Big Al two maintenance games off without skipping a beat.
Blake Griffin has played sparingly but looked like he belonged in his extended minutes against the Knicks.
Luke Kornet has played well enough when called upon.
The only player who has fallen out of the regular rotation is Payton Pritchard, and with Brogdon playing as well as he has, who cares?
The players seem to respect and like Mazzulla.
Yes, it's early, but there's reason to be optimistic about these Celtics, and the fact that they lost Ime Udoka before the season appears to have been a speed bump and nothing more.
At the same time, Udoka's future hangs over them all to some extent. With the Nets being Kyried into removing Udoka from their dysfunctional equation, the former HC remains in limbo. And according to various reports, he's still on the minds of some of the players.
So what do the Cs do?
They could:
- Give it a certain amount of games, say half the season, to make sure that Mazzulla continues on his current or upward path, before removing the "interim" tag.
- Wait until the season is over to do so.
- Actually bring back Udoka next year (seems highly unlikely, at best).
This all seems very delicate and fraught with at least some risk.
On the one hand, some of the players clearly have Udoka on their minds and, despite the Cs having made him available to the Nets, might not take kindly to the Team ending the chance that Ime could return.
On the other hand, Udoka being a possibility for next season could on some level undermine Mazzulla's authority, especially if and when the Cs hit a rough patch during this season or he makes a mistake or two that contribute to a Cs loss.
If forced to choose, I would opt for removing the interim title at around the halfway mark (assuming no material problems develop before then, which I think is a safe assumption). I think removing any uncertainty about the future will, even if it's only at the margins, enhance Mazzulla's ability to guide the team this year. I think they have a reasonable chance to win it all this season (not going out on a limb there, I know), and anything that even arguably increases those odds is a move that I think should be made. These chances don't come around all that often, as we know.
But I recognize that others may say or think that they should leave well enough alone, and not borrow trouble.
Thoughts welcomed.
They've gone 8-3 without arguably their third best player, the Time Lord, who is due back in a few weeks. And the ranking is not important, Robert Williams undoubtedly adds a dimension that they currently lack. And depth.
They've integrated seamlessly a superb 6th man in Malcom Brogdon, and a bench scorer in Sam Hauser that they totally lacked last season.
Tatum and Brown are playing at incredible levels; it's never surprising when they each put up 30 points and play shut down defense.
The point guard, Marcus Smart, has improved his passing, cut down on turnovers and has even improved his shot selection (very small sample).
Team chemistry looks to be outstanding.
They've given Big Al two maintenance games off without skipping a beat.
Blake Griffin has played sparingly but looked like he belonged in his extended minutes against the Knicks.
Luke Kornet has played well enough when called upon.
The only player who has fallen out of the regular rotation is Payton Pritchard, and with Brogdon playing as well as he has, who cares?
The players seem to respect and like Mazzulla.
Yes, it's early, but there's reason to be optimistic about these Celtics, and the fact that they lost Ime Udoka before the season appears to have been a speed bump and nothing more.
At the same time, Udoka's future hangs over them all to some extent. With the Nets being Kyried into removing Udoka from their dysfunctional equation, the former HC remains in limbo. And according to various reports, he's still on the minds of some of the players.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/11/10/sports/celtics-players-keep-ime-udoka-mind-even-they-trust-joe-mazzulla/Marcus Smart said he was under the impression that Udoka would return to the Celtics following his one-year suspension for violations of organizational policies, and he was disheartened to see him possibly join a rival. Jaylen Brown said he was glad to see Udoka get a new opportunity, but added that it would have been “awesome” if Udoka had been able to stay with the Celtics.
So what do the Cs do?
They could:
- Give it a certain amount of games, say half the season, to make sure that Mazzulla continues on his current or upward path, before removing the "interim" tag.
- Wait until the season is over to do so.
- Actually bring back Udoka next year (seems highly unlikely, at best).
This all seems very delicate and fraught with at least some risk.
On the one hand, some of the players clearly have Udoka on their minds and, despite the Cs having made him available to the Nets, might not take kindly to the Team ending the chance that Ime could return.
On the other hand, Udoka being a possibility for next season could on some level undermine Mazzulla's authority, especially if and when the Cs hit a rough patch during this season or he makes a mistake or two that contribute to a Cs loss.
If forced to choose, I would opt for removing the interim title at around the halfway mark (assuming no material problems develop before then, which I think is a safe assumption). I think removing any uncertainty about the future will, even if it's only at the margins, enhance Mazzulla's ability to guide the team this year. I think they have a reasonable chance to win it all this season (not going out on a limb there, I know), and anything that even arguably increases those odds is a move that I think should be made. These chances don't come around all that often, as we know.
But I recognize that others may say or think that they should leave well enough alone, and not borrow trouble.
Thoughts welcomed.