Joe Mazzulla officially named head coach

Pablo's TB Lover

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To return to the subject at hand, one thing that dissuades me from switching coaches is that one of the leading candidates I like in a vacuum (Budenholzer), has the same weakness as Mazzulla in regards to the in-game strategy. While Coach Bud is who he is at this point, CJM at least has a shot at improving his in-game coaching with more experience.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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The general principal applies. "More akin" "matching" whatever - so long as you're saying that these characteristics fundamentally matter to coaching basketball players, you're providing a reason to not hire people people who don't have those characteristics, women being the most obvious group.

No is disputing the underrepresentation. You're stating the obvious there.
Let's try this a different way. Just because some players felt that black coaches are underrepresented, that doesn't necessarily (or logically) preclude hiring a female coach. https://www.si.com/college/tennessee/womens-basketball/vfl-kara-lawson-among-top-candidates-for-vacant-boston-celtics-head-coach-position

(As mentioned above, women coaches have a whole set of other issues that keep them from being hired.)
 

ManicCompression

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Let's try this a different way. Just because some players felt that black coaches are underrepresented, that doesn't necessarily (or logically) preclude hiring a female coach. https://www.si.com/college/tennessee/womens-basketball/vfl-kara-lawson-among-top-candidates-for-vacant-boston-celtics-head-coach-position

(As mentioned above, women coaches have a whole set of other issues that keep them from being hired.)
Great - none of the above addresses my point (and I noticed she didn't actually get hired?). You're making a statement that's it good to focus on demographic similarities in coaching searches. You're saying that this demographic should not be "former NBA players" or "former basketball players," but more specifically a certain race of coach because the league is 70% a certain race and these two things should track with each other. Then it follows that women, Asians, etc. should expect zero representation in the coaching ranks because they only make up 0-.01% of the player population at a given time and these two things should track with each other.

I'll say it again, I don't disagree with your overall desire for more black head coaches, but I disagree with your underlying argument that it's because it should equate or near equate or approximate or get closer to a certain population % because of the above. I also don't agree when it's stated that players better "connect" with coaches who look like them because of these same reasons, and frankly we repeat these kinds of things without much thought it seems.
 

JakeRae

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-It was a failure on Brad Stevens part to not bring in an experienced assistant. I understand that it was late in the process and the options were limited. I don’t care. That should have been an urgent priority. I completely disagree with the idea that coaches would have been scared off because Ime might come back. It was pretty obvious that he was done once he got suspended.
Snipping to focus on this point. We had a veteran assistant. Stoudamire was that guy. He, in fact, was sufficiently qualified that a major college program hired him midseason.

I think it’s not unreasonable to both recognize that our coaching ranks are too thin and also that we couldn’t do all that much to fix it because of Ime and timing. Not every less than ideal situation has a viable solution, and that’s even more true when the suggested solutions are premised on hindsight.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Snipping to focus on this point. We had a veteran assistant. Stoudamire was that guy. He, in fact, was sufficiently qualified that a major college program hired him midseason.

I think it’s not unreasonable to both recognize that our coaching ranks are too thin and also that we couldn’t do all that much to fix it because of Ime and timing. Not every less than ideal situation has a viable solution, and that’s even more true when the suggested solutions are premised on hindsight.
We hold people we follow to unreasonable expectations around here on the regular but dragging anyone in the Cs front office for what happened with Udoka - given what is known - feels extra.

Ime Udoka and only Ime Udoka is to blame for whatever coaching deficiencies the Celtics had this season. If we need to assess blame or fault or a reason things aren't as we wish - it has to start and end with him.
 

Auger34

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Snipping to focus on this point. We had a veteran assistant. Stoudamire was that guy. He, in fact, was sufficiently qualified that a major college program hired him midseason.

I think it’s not unreasonable to both recognize that our coaching ranks are too thin and also that we couldn’t do all that much to fix it because of Ime and timing. Not every less than ideal situation has a viable solution, and that’s even more true when the suggested solutions are premised on hindsight.
They didn’t replace Udoka or Hardy. They were already down their top 2 coaches from last year.

The Stoudamire portion of this post confuses me…he was on their staff last year? I didn’t mean to imply that the staff had no experience at all, I was saying they needed to hire another assistant with experience to help replace at least one of the two they lost.

I recognize the things you mention in your second paragraph..they are in the post you quoted from me. I just would have made it a top priority to hire someone who’s been coaching for a long time. It wouldn’t have to be someone with head coaching experience, just someone who’s been on a coaching staff for a while (like Brad had with Ron Adams)
 

Auger34

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We hold people we follow to unreasonable expectations around here on the regular but dragging anyone in the Cs front office for what happened with Udoka - given what is known - feels extra.

Ime Udoka and only Ime Udoka is to blame for whatever coaching deficiencies the Celtics had this season. If we need to assess blame or fault or a reason things aren't as we wish - it has to start and end with him.
Shouldn’t there be some baseline respect for other posters intelligence? Is anyone on this board dragging the Celtics front office for what happened with Udoka? Literally anyone? All I’ve seen from posters here is how they handled it incredibly well.

Of course Udoka is the main person to blame. I’ve had numerous posts saying “Fuck Ime”. I’ve had more than a few posts saying how I am going to be actively rooting against Houston because they hired Ime.

Saying that I think Brad should have hired an assistant with experience does not in any way, shape or form excuse what Ime did or dragging anyone for what happened with Ime.
 

JakeRae

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They didn’t replace Udoka or Hardy. They were already down their top 2 coaches from last year.

The Stoudamire portion of this post confuses me…he was on their staff last year? I didn’t mean to imply that the staff had no experience at all, I was saying they needed to hire another assistant with experience to help replace at least one of the two they lost.

I recognize the things you mention in your second paragraph..they are in the post you quoted from me. I just would have made it a top priority to hire someone who’s been coaching for a long time. It wouldn’t have to be someone with head coaching experience, just someone who’s been on a coaching staff for a while (like Brad had with Ron Adams)
They presumably didn’t think they needed to rush to replace Hardy. That isn’t crazy. They had Mazzulla and Stoudamire in the wings, one of whom they viewed as a future NBA head coach and one who had five years of college head coaching experience plus a playing background.

After Ime, I don’t think promoting Mazzulla and hiring a guy like Vogel would’ve worked, even if he took the job. It would’ve been a signal they didn’t believe in Mazzulla, created constant questions from the media, and could’ve caused an internal power struggle. They weren’t going to hire anyone with a job already given timing. And no one has suggested someone who makes sense as someone who could’ve filled the role of a quality second assistant that is the real problem post Stoudamire leaving.

We confronted a perfect storm on this front. It happens. But it is Ime’s fault, no one else’s.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Shouldn’t there be some baseline respect for other posters intelligence? Is anyone on this board dragging the Celtics front office for what happened with Udoka? Literally anyone? All I’ve seen from posters here is how they handled it incredibly well.

Of course Udoka is the main person to blame. I’ve had numerous posts saying “Fuck Ime”. I’ve had more than a few posts saying how I am going to be actively rooting against Houston because they hired Ime.

Saying that I think Brad should have hired an assistant with experience does not in any way, shape or form excuse what Ime did or dragging anyone for what happened with Ime.
I wasn't trying to insult anyone's intelligence - that is not my intention. And you are in no way the only poster who has leveled this criticism at Stevens either - you have plenty of company including folks who clearly are posting without understanding the timeline etc.

That said, if people are *blaming* Stevens for coaching staff composition, maybe it should be for hiring Udoka in the first place. But this whole thing literally came to light right before the season began and as @JakeRae notes, they had Stoudamire. As others have noted, other more desirable candidates were likely already employed etc. Expecting Stevens or Mazzulla to recruit any good assistants then seems unrealistic. Furthermore, even if they got someone, do we have any idea if it would make a difference for the season or series?

Ime Udoka did this franchise no favors and deserves all the blame.
 

benhogan

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I've been doing cartwheels with Brad's roster/contract work (even think Muscala is a nice cheap vet p/u for next season + provided BIG insurance). BUT he could have had some foresight that Damon, clearly an IME-guy from their PDX days + Joe jumped him in the pecking order, was a flight risk.

They tried to convince JJ Redick to join the staff during training camp but JJ declined. So Brad recognized they were light coaches early.

IME gets 95% of the blame, but Brad/Wyc should have been able to hire somebody with NBA experience to help our Rookie HC out.

I know it's a PLAYERS League, but expect Brad to add several experienced Asst Coaches this offseason as a cheap way to make the team a hair better.
 

Auger34

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I am uncomfortable with the way both of you are framing this but mostly @DeJesus Built My Hotrod. There seems to be an implication that I am forgiving Udoka or that I think Stevens made a bad decision firing him? And I think it’s definitely meaning to insult someone’s, maybe not mine but definitely someone’s, intelligence when you say “including folks who are posting without understanding the timeline etc”

To make this crystal clear, Ime deserved to be fired, fuck him and the Houston Rockets for hiring him. He deserves a ton of scorn and he deserves all of the blame for putting this franchise in a terrible position.

Because there was such a short time frame to hire an assistant, most of the good ones were gone. It was reported that Brad really wanted Vogel but that didnt work.

The difference in our opinions has nothing to do with Ime Udoka, his percentage of blame, him being hired in the first place, or how the Celtics handled his departure. My guess is that Brad and Joe only wanted to hire guys that they considered very good to perfect fits to be on his first coaching staff. That’s fair, especially since they didn’t know Stoudamire would leave. You and @JakeRae ascribe to that line of thinking and that’s perfectly fine.
My position is that they should have cast a wider net, looking at the mere “good fits” closer, because the brain drain of losing your top coaches is real and Joe is a first time head coach who could use more assistants than a veteran.
 

JakeRae

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I've been doing cartwheels with Brad's roster/contract work (even think Muscala is a nice cheap vet p/u for next season + provided BIG insurance). BUT he could have had some foresight that Damon, clearly an IME-guy from their PDX days + Joe jumped him in the pecking order, was a flight risk.

They tried to convince JJ Redick to join the staff during training camp but JJ declined. So Brad recognized they were light coaches early.

IME gets 95% of the blame, but Brad/Wyc should have been able to hire somebody with NBA experience to help our Rookie HC out.

I know it's a PLAYERS League, but expect Brad to add several experienced Asst Coaches this offseason as a cheap way to make the team a hair better.
I think the JJ example cuts the other way. Yes, they understood the situation. Yes, there were probably options out there that would’ve been desirable hires. And we know there was some effort to make such a hire. What doesn’t necessarily follow from that is the belief that there was a desirable hire they could have made and didn’t make. I’m skeptical there was and haven’t seen any evidence to support that there was.
 

Cellar-Door

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I think the JJ example cuts the other way. Yes, they understood the situation. Yes, there were probably options out there that would’ve been desirable hires. And we know there was some effort to make such a hire. What doesn’t necessarily follow from that is the belief that there was a desirable hire they could have made and didn’t make. I’m skeptical there was and haven’t seen any evidence to support that there was.
yeah, they even got permission to talk to Larranaga, but he declined. There weren't a ton of coaches available in September who were looking for work. It stinks, but we heard they made some efforts, and you need a guy who your coach wants, and who will slot into the bench for a year not complain about working for a 34 year old, etc.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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A few things I did NOT say:

You're making a statement that's it good to focus on demographic similarities in coaching searches.
You're saying that this demographic should not be "former NBA players" or "former basketball players," but more specifically a certain race of coach because the league is 70% a certain race and these two things should track with each other.
your overall desire for more black head coaches,
The Cs players made clear that they would prefer the hiring of a black head coach when black head coaches constituted 6 or 7 out of 30 coaches. There is nothing wrong with that and frankly in my estimation pretty reasonable. At any rate, you can argue whatever you want but I'm just stating facts.
 

Nick Kaufman

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Here's the argument for Joe giving them the best chance in 2024....
You know Joe's floor, his 1st year with no assistants he lead you to the best net rating in the league 2nd in offense and defense, you went to at least the ECF... he made some mistakes, but he's a rookie with an embarrassingly barebones staff, none of whom he chose.
The guys who are out there all got fired after worse production... sure they are vets, and some have rings... they also all got fired because they have plenty of flaws of their own. Bud has long been thought of as a regular season gimmick coach, he was on the verge of firing when he (kinda lucked into) won a title in a weird year with the 2 time MVP, Nurse got a ring with Kawhi, but his overall resume is... okay? Doc has some of the worst playoff results in the last decade of anyone. None of those guys are shoo-ins to be significantly better than Joe in the playoffs, which is where you might be concerned, since the regular season they rolled to the 2nd best record and best net rating.
Every coaching market in every sports league is recycling failure. Or perceived failure.

The trick to picking a good coach is understanding who is underrated in that he was perceived to have failed unfairly in his previous job(s).

All in all, I do think that coaching is overrated and one way I see that is by checking how much money coaches are paid in leagues with competitive markets and no salary cap like European soccer leagues.It's ususally no more than 5-10% of a team's wages overlays.

I also think it's hard for a bad coach who is a net negative in terms of wins to have a long career. The market is extremely harsh and any perceived failure is punished with relatively prompt firings, so it's hard for a bad coach to survive over many years.

I am not sure that Mazoulla is to blame for this year's failures. I am pretty sure that his role in them is overrated, because most coaching moves are overratesd. I am not sure however that he's particularly good or a net positive either.

With all that in mind, if the players are dead set on keeping Mazoulla, I don't see any harm in replacing him with a better known commodity. The new coach might have his flaws, but you will be more certain that he 'll be minimally competent which I am not about Mazoulla. And really it doesn't feel like developing a new coach with a championship caliber roster is the right move.
 

Cellar-Door

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i read it four times trying to understand if I was missing something because I could not understand it
I understood it fine, without his own staff but with Ime assistants who are planning for new jobs in HOU next year (and implied to be checked out)
 

luckiestman

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First game I thought our guy actively managed the game well and made a positive difference. Got our guys rest and back in sync at appropriate times.
 

InstaFace

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Zero posts about the worst, most-backfiring challenge in the history of replay reviews?

You know what this thread is getting?

 

Cellar-Door

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Zero posts about the worst, most-backfiring challenge in the history of replay reviews?

You know what this thread is getting?

Probably because people know the actual rules? The shot is automatically reviewed in NJ for whether it's a 2 or 3 (hence why you see them throughout the game change points if it was wrong on the floor).
The challenge was good because he didn't need the timeout, nothing bad can happen (unless it was a flagrant I guess?) but they can double check it was a foul, look to see if he traveled or double dribbled, etc.) No risk high reward even if a very long shot to matter at all.
 

SteveF

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Yep. CD is right. They'd have looked at it anyway. It was just a waste of a challenge. (And I guess even at that point what are the chances it goes to OT? Butler misses one, you get a foul and miss a free throw...)
 

OurF'ingCity

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Not to mention the challenge caused the refs to put .9 back on the clock which was clearly huge. Although maybe they do that on their own anyway.

Still, at worst, it was neutral and I was in favor of it at the time.
 

PedroKsBambino

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Probably because people know the actual rules? The shot is automatically reviewed in NJ for whether it's a 2 or 3 (hence why you see them throughout the game change points if it was wrong on the floor).
The challenge was good because he didn't need the timeout, nothing bad can happen (unless it was a flagrant I guess?) but they can double check it was a foul, look to see if he traveled or double dribbled, etc.) No risk high reward even if a very long shot to matter at all.
agreed, and in last two minutes they can review for anything—double dribble, offensive foul, stepped out. Worthwhile even if it failed, there’s a bunch of outs possible if you challenge there.

I guess conceivable nba misses the three shout foul but super unlikely; they have a whole room of guys looking specifically for that.
 

luckiestman

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This thread is moot, Smart is the coach. Joe is just there to look confused and take the heat off Marcus.
 

Auger34

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Not to mention the challenge caused the refs to put .9 back on the clock which was clearly huge. Although maybe they do that on their own anyway.

Still, at worst, it was neutral and I was in favor of it at the time.
I think the challenge overall was moot and worth a try. He was going to lose it anyway and he had the timeout he needed.,

Pretty sure NJ would have changed It to a 3 and put the time back on the clock
 

Cellar-Door

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Also, just got the wrong refs... Scott Foster would have called Jimmy for a double dribble then smirked as Heat fans booed and threw their promotional T-Shirts at him.
 

luckiestman

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Also, just got the wrong refs... Scott Foster would have called Jimmy for a double dribble then smirked as Heat fans booed and threw their promotional T-Shirts at him.
I would have hung a poster of that smirk in my office if that happened

I’m going to be laughing thinking about this for a long time
 

Ed Hillel

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Both the 3 and the clock would have been corrected regardless of the challenge. I thought Joe coached a good game, outside of the fact I really wish some coach would finally pull Al when it’s clear he doesn’t have it. He was fucking terrible all night and gassed, while Rob was on his game. And Al the last 3 minutes was downright putrid.

Timelord needs to be roughly equal to Al’s minutes.
 

ManicCompression

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Hollinger on the Hollinger and Duncan podcast said (paraphrasing) "When you hire a first year head coach, you have to expect growing pains in the playoffs."

We don't know what CJMs coaching resume is going to look like in ten years, but we shouldn't be surprised that he's not the most seasoned guy on the sidelines. Let's not forget that everyone's favorite coach Erik Spoelstra lost his first finals even though he had Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh on his team. CJM is going to make mistakes, but we have to credit him for adjusting even though it may not be as timely as we want it.
 

OurF'ingCity

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I also thought his use of timeouts was pretty good. Used them in key spots but didn’t blow so many that they didn’t have enough to use at the end of the game.
 

slamminsammya

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Both the 3 and the clock would have been corrected regardless of the challenge. I thought Joe coached a good game, outside of the fact I really wish some coach would finally pull Al when it’s clear he doesn’t have it. He was fucking terrible all night and gassed, while Rob was on his game. And Al the last 3 minutes was downright putrid.

Timelord needs to be roughly equal to Al’s minutes.
Al was "fucking terrible all night" on a night when the Heat shoot like 30% at the rim?
 

CoffeeNerdness

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A. Joe brought in TL rather than riding Al for the last 8 minutes per usual. Kudos to Joe.

B. TL gave up two straight buckets before Al came back in, so it was a good choice to get Al back in.

C. TL's total minutes were certainly lower because he was subbed out with a wrist injury.
 

Cellar-Door

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A. Joe brought in TL rather than riding Al for the last 8 minutes per usual. Kudos to Joe.

B. TL gave up two straight buckets before Al came back in, so it was a good choice to get Al back in.

C. TL's total minutes were certainly lower because he was subbed out with a wrist injury.
Also, TL was struggling on offense with the zone, he was looking lost, Al came in and we got a couple okay looks (still ran too much clock), just missed them.
 

Van Everyman

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I will admit that I didn’t fully realize that the challenge was actually separate from the 3PA reversal but was almost too stunned by the whole turn of events to contemplate getting mad at CJM.

Did any reporter ask him about any of this during the postgame presser?
 

Nick Kaufman

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Personally, I didn't know the rule and I followed the broadcasters lead. I don't remember if they explicitly said that the free throws will become three because of the challenge or I misunderstood them as they were simply saying that it's going to be 3 free throws as they were looking at the replay.

But yeah, knowing the rule, the challenge is a no brainer. The problem is the foul in the first place.
 

lars10

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Personally, I didn't know the rule and I followed the broadcasters lead. I don't remember if they explicitly said that the free throws will become three because of the challenge or I misunderstood them as they were simply saying that it's going to be 3 free throws as they were looking at the replay.

But yeah, knowing the rule, the challenge is a no brainer. The problem is the foul in the first place.
The real problem is he dropped the ball and was allowed to dribble again without anyone else touching it. He lost control of the ball on his own.. should never have even been able to have got the shot off. Al was only out of position because he stopped when Jimmy picked up his dribble the first time..and then Jimmy jumped forward into his arm.

Not sure where the line is for allowing a defender to have his space.. but Jimmy sure seems to get a lot of foul calls after jumping into defenders...which I didn't think you were allowed to do?
 

Ed Hillel

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Which came 2 seconds after he turned it over to be fair.

I get we love Al, but he nearly single handedly cost them the game at the end. He was beyond terrible the last 3 minutes of this game. In that span he let Vincent blow past him, Jimmy blow past him, was extremely late on help/switch on Jimmy next possession, committed an egregiously stupid foul on Butler at the end, and couldn’t box out Gabe Vincent on a crucial free throw ffs. He also missed two shots and dropped an easy offensive rebound that went the other way.

Dude was gassed.
 
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kazuneko

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Which came 2 seconds after he turned it over to be fair.

I get we love Al, but he nearly single handedly cost them the game at the end. He was beyond terrible the last 3 minutes of this game. He let Jimmy blow past him, was extremely late on help on Jimmy, committed an egregiously stupid foul on Butler at the end, and couldn’t box out Gabe Vincent on a crucial free throw ffs. He also missed two shots and dropped an easy offensive rebound that went the other way.

Dude was gassed.
That "egregiously stupid foul at the end" was a direct result of Jimmy Butler being allowed to double dribble. At the point Butler initially picks up the ball Horford is in a good position to defend the 3. Then, when Butler is inexplicably allowed to restart his dribble, Horford is -of course- completely out of position and ends up committing the foul.
The attached photo is the exact point Jimmy picks up his dribble. At that moment, he is in position to take what looks like a desperation, step-back 3 over Horford, something that Horford was in an excellent position to defend. Instead, Butler restarts his dribble and takes an extra step away from Horford, leaving Horford hopelessly behind the play.
Not sure we can blame Al for not knowing the refs were going to give Butler an extra dribble...
 

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lovegtm

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Horford had been playing better than Rob a lot of the game, and was a huge part of a good defensive performance.

The challenge was also totally fine: they still had a timeout to advance it, and some refs would have had the balls to call Jimmy's clear double dribble.

It feels like Mazzulla has aged in dog years in this postseason--he's having Spoelstra's 2011 come-to-Jesus moment on the fly. You realize that no one gives you brownie points for sticking to your guns or trusting shooting variance to even out, and you problem-solve on the fly.

People really aren't talking enough about how the team totally re-made its defensive scheme and identity over the course of 3 games. Huge credit to Joe; very bullish on his future in Boston.
 

Eddie Jurak

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Great - none of the above addresses my point (and I noticed she didn't actually get hired?). You're making a statement that's it good to focus on demographic similarities in coaching searches. You're saying that this demographic should not be "former NBA players" or "former basketball players," but more specifically a certain race of coach because the league is 70% a certain race and these two things should track with each other. Then it follows that women, Asians, etc. should expect zero representation in the coaching ranks because they only make up 0-.01% of the player population at a given time and these two things should track with each other.

I'll say it again, I don't disagree with your overall desire for more black head coaches, but I disagree with your underlying argument that it's because it should equate or near equate or approximate or get closer to a certain population % because of the above. I also don't agree when it's stated that players better "connect" with coaches who look like them because of these same reasons, and frankly we repeat these kinds of things without much thought it seems.
I think you are reading things into @wade boggs chicken dinner comments that he didn't say. To state the obvious:

1. Just from a numbers perspective, black players dominate the NBA (and American basketball more broadly), both in terms of overall numbers of players, minutes played numbers, All-Stars/All-NBA players, etc. Of course there are and will continue to be plenty of white NBA players and white NBA stars, but they are significantly outnumbered.

2. A very common though not exclusive route into the NBA coaching ranks is to have been a former NBA player. Most if not all coaches are at least former college players.

3. Just from a numbers perspective, the NBA coaching ranks are dominated by white coaches. This was esepcially the case when Brown made his remarks prior to Ime's hiring.

4. The players are aware of the discrepancy.

The relative lack of black coaches in the NBA (vs their numbers in the ranks of players), historically and now (and especially back when Brown make his comments), is a strong indication that there is bias in the evaluation and hiring of NBA coaches.

On top of that, the NBA, more than any other professional sports league, is a star player's league. A team's star(s) have a lot more clout with management in the NBA because they can leave. Contracts are relatively short, have opt outs, and there are a lot of incentives for teams to trade dissatisfied stars.

At the time, and now, I read Brown's comments as trying to use his status as an NBA star to put a thumb on the scale against an obvious imbalance. "White" shouldn't be on the list of qualifications for an NBA head coaching job, explicitly or implicitly. I don't see anything wrong with that nor do I think it has any implications for the hiring of female coaches. I think people looking at these kind of situations assume at baseline that NBA teams always hire the best coaches available, and so read a negative implication into comments like Brown's that isn't really there. If parity (or something reasonably close to it) between player and coaching rankes existed in the NBA when Brown made his remarks, then I think his remarks could more reasonably be read that way.
 

Ed Hillel

Wants to be startin somethin
SoSH Member
Dec 12, 2007
43,559
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That "egregiously stupid foul at the end" was a direct result of Jimmy Butler being allowed to double dribble. At the point Butler initially picks up the ball Horford is in a good position to defend the 3. Then, when Butler is inexplicably allowed to restart his dribble, Horford is -of course- completely out of position and ends up committing the foul.
The attached photo is the exact point Jimmy picks up his dribble. At that moment, he is in position to take what looks like a desperation, step-back 3 over Horford, something that Horford was in an excellent position to defend. Instead, Butler restarts his dribble and takes an extra step away from Horford, leaving Horford hopelessly behind the play.
Not sure we can blame Al for not knowing the refs were going to give Butler an extra dribble...
It was clearly a double dribble, but Al still defended the shot by going for a ball strip instead of standing straight up and letting Butler take a horribly low percentage shot (that probably would have gone in the way things were going).

Oh well, worked out.