Joe Mazzulla officially named head coach
- Thread starter Beale13
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I think he's the most readily upgraded part of our rotation, given our assets and likely degree of need for depth.
If we don't upgrade him I will not lose sleep over it, but if we're going to spend marginal assets to get better somewhere, I hope it's there (over 3rd/4th guard, or 4th wing)
This seems a little harsh. I have my criticisms of Mazzulla but overall it seems like he has the team playing hard, listening to him, and seeing success. Also, he isn't out cheating on his partner with a coworker, so big upgrade there.
The criticisms of Mazzulla this season seem pretty reflexive. Nobody can reasonably argue the Cs are perfect but unless you care about the Celtics regular season W/L record - and its not a legit issue at present - its hard to see where they are underperforming.
And as @InstaFace notes, he isn't letting extracurriculars get in the way of his day job either. People can dislike Mazzulla and even be convinced that he isn't the one to lead them to a banner. But aside from small things its just really hard to see what the problem is. There's definitely a few though...and someone will likely tell us what is lurking.
And as @InstaFace notes, he isn't letting extracurriculars get in the way of his day job either. People can dislike Mazzulla and even be convinced that he isn't the one to lead them to a banner. But aside from small things its just really hard to see what the problem is. There's definitely a few though...and someone will likely tell us what is lurking.
The real hero is Brad, though. I'm willing to guess most NBA coaches will look pretty good if they're handed a world-destroying lineup of 4 All-stars and Derrick White.
It's a bit tough for me to discern the difference in credit between the chef and the grocery-shopper. Or between what our guys are doing out there now and what they'd be doing with a different coach (or a replacement level one). How many coaches win that Minnesota game? I dunno. How many lose last night? Probably more than a few, we seemed to have a great defensive gameplan.
The Celtics have the best record and by far the best net rating, while playing more games on the road than at home and having played the hardest schedule in the league. It's hard to imagine a better start.
Off topic, but the team that's had the easiest schedule so far? Memphis. They are BAD.
The other thing to note here is that Brad not only called Mazzulla's name for last year - he brought him back this year, just with more resources. Given how they fell short last season, if Stevens decided to go in another direction for a head coach it feels like he could have done so with minimal pushback from the media/fans. He clearly has faith in Mazzulla.
We are all smarter than all the people who run our teams but I have enough information to suggest that Brad Stevens knows a bit more about running a basketball team than me. Until the evidence mounts to the contrary (I get the timeout usage drives some mad but again, where is the actual harm? ) , I think we accept that if this team is going to get a banner, its going to have to be with this head coach. At present, I have very little basis to say Mazzulla is incapable of getting them over the hump.
We are all smarter than all the people who run our teams but I have enough information to suggest that Brad Stevens knows a bit more about running a basketball team than me. Until the evidence mounts to the contrary (I get the timeout usage drives some mad but again, where is the actual harm? ) , I think we accept that if this team is going to get a banner, its going to have to be with this head coach. At present, I have very little basis to say Mazzulla is incapable of getting them over the hump.
Joe was coaching with one arm tied behind his back last season.
Between getting thrown into the fire days before the start of camp
+ NBA media immediately coming to the defense of IME (along with some players)
+ Assistant Coaches being loyal to IME ( while he openly negotiated with other NBA teams during the season)
+ The lead Asst leaving midseason for Ga. Tech
+ Joe's first year coaching an NBA team & some questionable TO usage which he course-corrected
If someone wants to complain about the team underperforming last year due to Coaching, it's a fair criticism. BUT if you want to blame Joe for last season, I think you have the wrong guy. That dude is in Houston.
I suspect Johnny's post was emotional Game Thread sarcasm/humor.
The Cellar, on the whole, has noted the improvement in Celtic Coaching this season.
I was being flippant in the moment of a gamethread. Honestly, I don't mind Mazzulla. Do I think he's a great coach? Not yet. However, a season of experience and a full complement of qualified assistants give me hope that he can lead this squad all the way to the promised land.
Somewhat interesting move by CJM with Banton starting. I like it. Rotational balance along with adding a longer defender on Trae while keeping Hauser with the 2nd unit, where he thrives, makes sense.
Joe had Hauser pick up Trae in the halfcourt a few times yesterday, which is a continuation of what he did against Dame a handful of times. Nice curveball.
Playing Queta, even though Luke has put up points recently, was very clever. Queta is more aggressive around the rim which is helpful. The Celtics will need that physicality against bigger NBA teams.
Really enjoying Joe's approach so far. His coaching/organizing skills are a plus and wouldn't mind him using TOs when the Celtics drift into bad habits (ISO-ball)
Joe had Hauser pick up Trae in the halfcourt a few times yesterday, which is a continuation of what he did against Dame a handful of times. Nice curveball.
Playing Queta, even though Luke has put up points recently, was very clever. Queta is more aggressive around the rim which is helpful. The Celtics will need that physicality against bigger NBA teams.
Really enjoying Joe's approach so far. His coaching/organizing skills are a plus and wouldn't mind him using TOs when the Celtics drift into bad habits (ISO-ball)
Banton ended up -4; Queta ended up +5. I agree with you that starting Banton against the team that had been the "hottest offense" (or so I'm told) in the NBA was smart and thought he played pretty well. It was good to have another long, switchy defender in the lineup and I also thought that going back to Banton and Horford down the stretch after ATL scored on five straight possessions (including 2 Trae walk-in 3Ps off the drop coverage) was essential to winning the game (in the approximately 3 minutes that Banton was in, ATL only hit one basket and 3 FTs).
As for Hauser, my WAG is that by matching him up on a star, JMazz is saying that teams can isolate him but get completely out of their offense or they can run offense and Hauser is going to get switched on to someone else. If that is the case, it's pretty clever.
If Queta played all his minutes getting screen and rolled on by Trae and Co with the first unit he'd have been a -30. Really wish we'd stop mentioning these misleading stats like this.
He was on the floor with Trae for most of his minutes. The one guy I think he never overlapped with was Capela. Also never played against both Murray and Trae at the same time - always one of them but never both.
Not sure what your point is. I mean most people here understand that probably the biggest part of coaching in the NBA is to put players in roles/situations where they can succeed?
As discussed in the Queta thread, I thought Queta played fine and it was very good idea to get him out of the game when ATL scored on five straight possessions in the 4Q (Trae scoring on 4 of those and assisting on the fifth). And at the end of the day, Queta's time on the floor was a net positive and I think Queta was probably a net positive in the ATL game. No one thinks Queta should be starting and frankly I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't play at all against CHI.
My larger point was that I thought Banton was also a net positive (even if his NRtg for the game was negative) so I'm happy JMazz started him. YMMV.
Agreed---I've been impressed by Hauser's credible D and do wonder if they are baiting teams into trying to focus on him. You can't imagine that goes on indefinitely though
Yea, I knew what you meant on an in-game level and agree with it.
CJM has been adept at adjusting rotations for matchups. I'm actually bullish on the Celtics deep bench which contains role players who do different things at high levels & dovetail with the TOP8.
Right. In the 1H it was clear the Hawks were not prepared for him to be on the floor and he wasn't attacked. During halftime the recognition and adjustment was clearly made as they began using his man to high screen. Hence why he was replaced by Banton.
It’s almost like being named interim head coach a few days before training camp last season put him at a disadvantage.
In hindsight, and regardless of whatever flaws and/or deficiencies one thinks he displayed last year, he was probably under-appreciated last season.
One of the areas that has really been shored up under Mazzulla has been closing time. This team is doing a much better job closing out games with the lead in the last five minutes. It’s almost like they flip a switch and really value every possession at both ends. Tatum appears to have made a conscious effort to control the last five minutes of the game, and not just trying to do everything by himself. He will dribble the ball up and run the set that has been most effective that game, and if the defense can take the ball out of his hands, he almost always makes the right play.
Boston is 14-4 against teams with winning records, and 6-1 against sub .500 teams, with two of the losses not either OT or single possession losses.
Boston is 14-4 against teams with winning records, and 6-1 against sub .500 teams, with two of the losses not either OT or single possession losses.
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No doubt and I was saying this last year as well. Many others could have easily lost this team especially when your staff are the guys from the previous coach who everyone knew would be gone in 7 months. The one thing that he DID have going for him was a strong organizational culture with Brad, their former coach, and Wyc the hands on long-time owner providing strength and stability up top.
For years we have talked about how JT really needs a "go to" move that he can use in crunch time - you know, the move that everyone knows is coming but typically no one can do anything about it.
He now has that move. It's called, "Get KP switched onto a smaller player and get him the ball."
Going to the FT line in crunch time is easy points, helps set the defense, and stops runs. We've seen it over and over again with Butler. KP isn't Butler but when he has a mismatch, he's pretty close.
I really liked Mazzulla's reaction to Jaylen catching fire:
View: https://twitter.com/StepBackfr/status/1736510186351739279?s=20
Really hoping that in hindsight, all of the criticism he took last year ends up looking really foolish. It's impossible to deny that he was put in an unbelievably difficult situation.
View: https://twitter.com/StepBackfr/status/1736510186351739279?s=20
Really hoping that in hindsight, all of the criticism he took last year ends up looking really foolish. It's impossible to deny that he was put in an unbelievably difficult situation.
I was really impressed with the coaching vs Orlando. Both of those games the team was clearly prepared and wired to play end to end, and managed different game plans due to injuries. Joe had them dialed-in which is what you want from your coach.
I will be thrilled if they show that level of 48 minute play more consistently going forward; clearly, the team is playing very well and he is having an impact. As always, too, there's stuff to do better
I will be thrilled if they show that level of 48 minute play more consistently going forward; clearly, the team is playing very well and he is having an impact. As always, too, there's stuff to do better
The Porzingis interview on Old Man and the 3 isn't ... great, because KP isn't really a big talker, but there's an interesting bit where he basically says that no one ever talked analytics with him early in his career and now that he sees the numbers, and implying the Boston is the best at delivering numbers to players, he's really dialed into optimizing his own efficiency and understanding how the team gets its best shots. He also mentioned that certain players don't want to see the numbers at all, but that seemed to be players on former teams.
I think the Cs not only prioritize analytics on the coaching staff, but also with players who are receptive to them and incorporating them into their games. That's got to be a hard line to walk as a young coach, making sure you're giving players the information you think is important, but also making sure you're giving the information in a way that they're receptive to.
To have a neutral party like KP come in and be so obviously thrilled with the organization seems like a good endorsement of Coach Joe and his methodology.
I think the Cs not only prioritize analytics on the coaching staff, but also with players who are receptive to them and incorporating them into their games. That's got to be a hard line to walk as a young coach, making sure you're giving players the information you think is important, but also making sure you're giving the information in a way that they're receptive to.
To have a neutral party like KP come in and be so obviously thrilled with the organization seems like a good endorsement of Coach Joe and his methodology.
KP has never played into the second round of the playoffs. They could probably ask him to anything and he would be happy to oblige.
Loved Mazzulla's minutes distribution in the 2nd half. He saw the Jaylen/DWhite/KP group was rolling, so he left them out there the whole quarter to keep foot on the gas. Then, he had Jrue rested and ready to play the first 9 minutes of the 4th with the bench, which let them balance resting starters in a "blowout" with not letting the Kings back in it.
Look at Coach Joe, getting his flowers:
View: https://twitter.com/taylorcsnow/status/1737879196423123184?s=20
Some people are going to have their heads explode when there starts to be talk of him as a coach of the year candidate...
View: https://twitter.com/taylorcsnow/status/1737879196423123184?s=20
Some people are going to have their heads explode when there starts to be talk of him as a coach of the year candidate...
There are so many great candidates this year due to the teams who are making leaps I don't expect him to make anyone's short list.
Yeah Joe's chance was last year, and he finished 3rd. The only way he gets in the discussion this year is if the Celtics get close to 70, or if Tatum goes down and they still win around 60. The award almost always goes to the coach who most confounded expectations, it's not reasonable to expect the Celtics to do that this year.
Lots of competition!
I haven't checked the odds, but Nurse feels like he has the double whammy of lowered expectations post-Harden, along with a (probably) very good record. Also the narrative that "someone finally got the most out of Joel".
While this all makes sense to me, I feel like that narrative will get clouded a bit because Embiid won the mvp last year.
Yeah and finished 2nd in both 2021 and 2022. We'll see where teams like Orlando, OKC, Minnesota and Houston finish by the end of the year, but I'd bet on one of those coaches getting it over Nurse, who took over a team that was 3rd in the conference last year and has the reigning MVP.
With the caveat that most teams still have about 68% of their schedule in front of them, its hard to see Finch losing COTY if the TWolves finish in the top three in the West, especially if the Thunder have a worse record. Minnesota just feels like a team, similar to Boston, that is getting good production up and down its rotation which may have zero to do with coaching but feels like its being orchestrated. Remember that many in the NBA community were LOLzing at Minnesota for the Gobert trade so to see them doing this definitely has some folks swallowing their bad takes. My guess is that the boomerang effect may help his candidacy.
However its early. Mazzulla may end up separating himself from the field in either direction, one crucial missed timeout, at a time.
However its early. Mazzulla may end up separating himself from the field in either direction, one crucial missed timeout, at a time.
Loving Joe's approach of "fuck it, yeah we're gonna shoot a ton of 3s, but we're also going to crash the glas and guard our asses off when they don't fall".
Staying on the right side of math while shoring up the downside.
Also, is it just me, or have they gotten pretty good at stopping 7-0, 10-0 type runs without needing timeouts?
Staying on the right side of math while shoring up the downside.
Also, is it just me, or have they gotten pretty good at stopping 7-0, 10-0 type runs without needing timeouts?
Joe M interview with Himmelsbach from the Globe. tldr is that Joe doesn't care about the regular season wins in the same way anymore, and mostly focuses on trying to build habits, handle adversity, and develop players:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/12/24/sports/celtics-joe-mazzulla-interview/
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/12/24/sports/celtics-joe-mazzulla-interview/
I didn’t expect Joe to be so open in an interview.
Celtics ownership and Brad Stevens obviously saw something in their second row assistant to hand him the job under difficult circumstances last season. Mazzulla is a combo of high character, intelligence, determination, relatability, toughness, and self awareness.
With his own assistants, support from the two Jays, buy in from the remaining players from last season, and new players who didn’t know him as a back bench assistant, Mazzulla is respected in a way he wasn’t last season, where IMO Smart didn’t buy in to his leadership.
Joe is growing into this job perfectly, and I’m really proud of him. I wish (my friend) his father Dan was still with us to see it.
Last season must have been interesting. In Karalis's podcast a few days ago, he intimated that Jaylen was afraid last year that if he made a mistake he wasn't going to get the ball back. And he said that he feels like there's "greater trust" in the locker room this year than last year. (Starts at around 24:00 mark in the podcast below).
I wonder if there wasn't other motives beyond basketball in sending out Smart and Brogdon. I'm sure we'll never know but I've heard hints about it.
One other thing Karalis points out in this podcast - I'm sure we're all glad that no one's "walking the dog" this season.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SPqxDbU5-E
(replying to game thread).
There was also a rest thing, where they wanted to put JB back in with around 7-8 minutes left. He played 41 minutes as it was.
The team as a whole has gotten quite good at weathering runs without timeouts; lots of examples in just the past couple weeks. We've also seen coaches like Mike Brown burn through all their timeouts against the Cs to no effect, so there is value in finding other ways to stop momentum.
Joe tried to make the right adjustment: he got Jrue back in immediately to replace Brissett. The problem is that Jrue+DWhite isn't good offense on its own: those guys really need one of KP/JB/Tatum to really work. Outside of playing JB 44 minutes, I don't think there were tons of other moves here.
CJM deserves credit for playing Kornet 15 minutes last night. I'm not a fan of the 2 BIGs but at least he isn't overplaying KP/Al while developing Luke (along with Queta)
Joe does deserve some criticism for not going "situational" at the end of games.
I can see wanting PP in for offense but Payton can't be left guarding Jalen Williams late in Q4.
Especially with all the stops in play the last few minutes.
Joe does deserve some criticism for not going "situational" at the end of games.
I can see wanting PP in for offense but Payton can't be left guarding Jalen Williams late in Q4.
Especially with all the stops in play the last few minutes.
I think Jrue was semi-officially done by then. (he came out with about 8 mins left ?after a pair of turnovers?). So maybe Hauser there?
Has anyone seen or heard any rumblings, or care to make any speculations, about how Joe is using his new assistants?
Hauser and Jrue were both getting torched defensively. Some nights, espeically on the road, you just don't have it.