good point. I mean, he looked like a fucking tool there and he’s continue to drill down on that perception.
Joe Mazzulla officially named head coach
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Not sure how anyone can see that video and not like him a little bit. He’s wired differently but it’s kind of not a bad thing for an NBA coach. The guy is a dogged worker looking for an edge any way he can get it. That’s crazy but good crazy. I actually thought his lessons from ji-jutsu that he has applied to basketball was interesting/enlightening.
I don’t know how anyone could watch that video and not think he’s an unhinged fucking weirdo.
I do like him a “little bit” but I also think he’s a fucking nut a lot of bit
He's definitely not a normal chill bro, and you also generally don't want normal chill bros in incredibly stressful, high-stakes jobs that require being kind of insane in order to excel.
As long as he is able to connect with the players and motivate them, I want him to be as unhinged and weird as possible, because chill and normal isn't very adaptive in this environment.
As long as he is able to connect with the players and motivate them, I want him to be as unhinged and weird as possible, because chill and normal isn't very adaptive in this environment.
Seems like Coach Joe was having some fun with that quote, knowing it would probably get a rise out of some folks. He's got a very dry sense of humor, and some of his quotes sound very different listening than they do reading them. It was a very light hearted interview and he was clearly having fun.
Totally agree with this. I thought the interview was really funny and was surprised to see everyone here saying it shows he's crazy. I think people are taking him too literally.
It wouldn’t be SoSH if coaches interviews weren’t dissected with every word taken as truth.
If someone can't laugh at an interview like that, they're missing one of the joys of following sports. Mazzulla was opening himself up in a way to poke fun at himself and how ridiculous the inner thoughts of people can be. Of all the forms of crazy someone can be, this is absolutely the most harmless.
There's only one guy here maybe taking it a bit too seriously. I wasn't going to give him grief over it, but regardless, there's no need to paint the whole forum with a broad brush.
There's only one guy here maybe taking it a bit too seriously. I wasn't going to give him grief over it, but regardless, there's no need to paint the whole forum with a broad brush.
Edited to remove quote
Isn't it possible that he has some undiagnosed aspergers or similar? He definitely seems to have some issues with interacting with people... if you watch all of his press conferences he’s over aggressive at times to a fault. His obsession with details, his obsession with watching the same movie over and over.. etc? I don’t think he’s a “psycho” or a “tool”.. and it’s odd to me to see people use that language to describe someone just because of how they speak ..people that think differently or express that they have different thoughts outside of the norm shouldnt be pigeon holed and insulted just because of how they think and talk. I don’t think he’s doing or saying anything to get attention.. he honestly has a different way of thinking about the world. I think it’s interesting when someone is outside the norm. There are already a lot of normal people.. the reaction by some to this interview is why players don’t say anything interesting in interviews.. we’ve ended up with LeBron or Jeter that say nothing of interest for hours of interviews.. you don’t learn anything, don’t think about anything etc. you may have well put your ear up to a potato..you’d get the same information.
Isn't it possible that he has some undiagnosed aspergers or similar? He definitely seems to have some issues with interacting with people... if you watch all of his press conferences he’s over aggressive at times to a fault. His obsession with details, his obsession with watching the same movie over and over.. etc? I don’t think he’s a “psycho” or a “tool”.. and it’s odd to me to see people use that language to describe someone just because of how they speak ..people that think differently or express that they have different thoughts outside of the norm shouldnt be pigeon holed and insulted just because of how they think and talk. I don’t think he’s doing or saying anything to get attention.. he honestly has a different way of thinking about the world. I think it’s interesting when someone is outside the norm. There are already a lot of normal people.. the reaction by some to this interview is why players don’t say anything interesting in interviews.. we’ve ended up with LeBron or Jeter that say nothing of interest for hours of interviews.. you don’t learn anything, don’t think about anything etc. you may have well put your ear up to a potato..you’d get the same information.
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i know i was quoted as an avatar for the general sentiment but i didn’t mean it as an insult at all
Yeah.. apologies.. I didn’t mean to single you out and I didn’t take it that way.. just had your post quoted for a few days thinking about it and my thoughts pivoted
He was laughing and joking all the way through including at himself. And I listen to that pod regularly and apparently so does Mazzulla and/or his brother who apparently prepped PMT for the interview - he absolutely won them over.
Mazzulla was even onboard with their long running conspiracy theory that the NCAA discriminates against the Big East because they dislike Italian Americans. Even the 76ers fan amongst them became a Mazzulla fan after that. It was all in good fun and its telling that he gave that podcast access over others.
He is definitely a bit different however he comes off as self aware and he doesn't take himself too seriously. That seems like a healthy spot for most folks.
Mazzulla was even onboard with their long running conspiracy theory that the NCAA discriminates against the Big East because they dislike Italian Americans. Even the 76ers fan amongst them became a Mazzulla fan after that. It was all in good fun and its telling that he gave that podcast access over others.
He is definitely a bit different however he comes off as self aware and he doesn't take himself too seriously. That seems like a healthy spot for most folks.
Yeah Mazz was in on all of it. He is very likely a psycho but he’s a completely self aware and funny psycho. I have been a PMT listener since the beginning and they were very much laughing with him not at him.
Was surprised to see Celts up 20 with 2 min left and all the regulars out there. Sure enough, a scary collision nearly injured Tatum.
with last year’s Jaylen Brown injury and Tatum shoulder detailing the conf finals, I’d have thought they may try to limit risks for a deep run.
with last year’s Jaylen Brown injury and Tatum shoulder detailing the conf finals, I’d have thought they may try to limit risks for a deep run.
I haven't listened to the interview.. just most of his press conferences recently. I find him very enjoyable to listen to and I like that he thinks about basketball in a different way than I've heard most people speak about. He's usually self-deprecating and downplays his role in how good this team has been this year... the right mix of humble and confident. I gained a lot more respect for him listening to him speak.. I also don't mind that he doesn't suffer fools in press conferences.
I like how Tatum responded to it.. he's been very good in his career with not going after the player after a hard foul (at least as far as I remember).. feels like it deflates the situation and doesn't give the other player any advantage by getting into his head. Just goes and takes the FTs.
I've said it before, he reminds me of Phil Jackson, in that he's able to direct his own innate "weirdness" (a different weird than Jackson) into making successful basketball attainable, interesting and challenging for great players.
I have never seen a team better prepared to attack Spoelstra zones. That was masterful, and the approaches were extremely varied.
IIRC he actually called a timeout a minute or two before the run began, because he didn't like what he was seeing.
Edit: yep, at the 8:03 mark. Tatum hit a fadeaway the next possession to bump the lead from 29 to 31... then the run began. Joe then called timeout after the 18-2 run cut it to 103-88. White hit a 3 the next possession.
This seems incredibly normal and smart, at least to me.
They clearly have worked with Tatum on controlling his in-game frustration, and you don't get that many chances to practice it in such an intense situation.
Joe wouldn’t be top 15 crazy in any BJJ gym I’ve been in. Revolving door thing is the only weird part but @wade boggs chicken dinner bringing up A/C usage is like a std deviation crazier than what Crazy Joe said.
Remember in Lean on Me when Morgan Freeman has the bat and some reporter asks him “what’s with he bat?” He responds: you used to call me Crazy Joe, now you can call me Batman. Joe needs a line like that for when he accepts the trophy.
Ehh, people should use revolving doors. Saving energy is always a good thing; it's among the least we can do. Think of the children!
Obviously most of the credit goes to the player, but I can see why the coach would be happy that the player got an intense rep.
I get that bashing Mazz in the aftermath of one (albeit disastrous) playoff loss is a bit too gamethready for many on SOSH, but for those of us who wanted Mazz gone (and, in my case anyway, Nurse hired) after last year’s Miami debacle, this is starting to feel like it might be the “I told you so” series that none of us (we’re still Cs fans after all) wanted.
Mazz -again- appeared like a guy who doesn’t get the playoffs, rigidly sticking to strategy that may pay off over an 82 game schedule while failing to recognize that one game can end a season once the playoffs begin. And yet again he got played by Spo - who, as much as any coach ever, gets the importance of each game, heck, each play in the playoffs.
This is a far better team than than this Miami squad - just like last years team was better. And while some on this board can’t stand calls to “fire Joe” after “one game” I think it should be clear to everyone that crazy Joe’s career is on the line in this series. I don’t think even Brad is nice enough to keep him if he leads an all-time great regular season team to a first-round exit.
Mazz -again- appeared like a guy who doesn’t get the playoffs, rigidly sticking to strategy that may pay off over an 82 game schedule while failing to recognize that one game can end a season once the playoffs begin. And yet again he got played by Spo - who, as much as any coach ever, gets the importance of each game, heck, each play in the playoffs.
This is a far better team than than this Miami squad - just like last years team was better. And while some on this board can’t stand calls to “fire Joe” after “one game” I think it should be clear to everyone that crazy Joe’s career is on the line in this series. I don’t think even Brad is nice enough to keep him if he leads an all-time great regular season team to a first-round exit.
So let me ask you.... what would your adjustment be that he missed? And please don't say.. "he should have forced the players to ...."
Did you want him to switch all the Bam/Herro PnR? Did you want him to go deeper into the bench? Did you want more post-ups?
I ask because all too often we hear... "he got outcoached" about our coaches and the details on it are things like "the players went to ISO too much" which isn't really a coach issue, or "they walked it up". I'm curious what actual scheme or rotation changes you wanted.
I think strategically last night was fine. Joe didn't want Porzingis or Al covering Herro, so we played it the way we have all year, and the opponent drilled an outlier on 3s. On offense we ran mostly the same stuff we always do, and most of the problems came in execution and decision making by the players.
I think it's fair to lay some of the pace-of-play stuff on the coach. We very obviously have a game-management strategy where we start out playing fast early in games, and then slow it down as the game goes on. Didn't someone offer data a few weeks ago that we have one of the fastest paces of play in the 1st quarter, and 30th, the slowest in the league, in the 4th quarter? That is too dramatic a difference to not be coaching. It's either an intentional strategy, or if not, then it's something that the coach could change / influence if he wanted to.
I don't want to accentuate that too much just because Scal was harping on it like a dozen times in the second half last night. But it does strike me as a thing that's at least partly in the coach's domain.
I don't want to accentuate that too much just because Scal was harping on it like a dozen times in the second half last night. But it does strike me as a thing that's at least partly in the coach's domain.
Glad you’re able to make all of those conclusions after two games of a series.. must be fun hoping you get to say ‘I told you so’ after any big loss.
The yearlong numbers are very heavily influenced by the huge number of blowouts. The early POP is indicative that the gameplan is to run, the late is likely a case that we are winning many games by 20+ and just running clock late.
Pace is only somewhat in the coaches domain I'd say, we've had conversations for years about pace across 3 coaches and one constant is you often see the coach signalling to speed it up, and the players go right back to slow the next play. Scal is an idiot, but also every announcer ever want the team to run every play, Tommy Heinson screamed about it every game for like 30 years.
I think the coaching yesterday was fine, now, I would like to see what adjustments get made between games. I think getting more PnR action in if things get static is a potential solution, I'd also like to see KP get more touches at the top of the key if the elbow isn't working.
On D... I think Joe was right in his postgame that switching is not something they should do... I would like to see more emphasis on not leaving some of the mediocre shooters as much... if Herro cooks Jrue in the PnR 1st half you can go back to it, though I think late in last night's game Joe did go to that more (and MIA responded with Bam postups, but I'll live with that).
I began to respond and deleted three times. I’ll describe this post in two words….
No words
As many have mentioned, the strategy of the team playing off Martin/ Jacquez/Highsmith etc. was clearly not working and he struggled to adjust. He seems to have consistently bet that Caleb Martin can’t beat him even as that bet continues to fail to pay off.
Whatever. I specifically said that if he loses the series (which is longer than two games btw) his career with the Celtics is over, and then emphasized that no one wants to be in the position of saying “I told you so”. If you disagree with that point I’m happy to defend myself, but I’m not interested in debating stances I never took.
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You are perfectly capable of making a strong defense of Mazz’s coaching last night- and as long as you stick to basketball (and not snarky crap, like “no words”) it would be appreciated, even by me. The shaming of “gamethready” responses (which this is a great example of) after a brutal loss only works to stifle discussion.
I mean, Jesus, the Celtics are getting broadly criticized for last night’s brutal loss, and Mazz is a common target of that criticism. Why is pointing that out off the table? Honestly, I’m more interested in hearing this discussion play out than I am in pushing my view as there are some super knowledgable posters whose opinions on this subject would be interesting to read. That said, it’s hard to even generate such discussion if everyone has to pretend they are above the topic.
It’s pretty clear that Mazzulla’s career is on the line in this series. Considering that, we should probably be open to a lot of discussion about how he’s doing.
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“No words” had nothing to do with last nights coaching when the players on the floor did not show up for a playoff game. The “No words” had to do with suggesting Joe is fired if we lose this series. Hey, I tried 3x to give an actual repsonse but after reading that part of your post again I didn’t seem it worthy.
Edit: Ok I’ll try. If Joe wasn’t Brads guy then this would be a perfect excuse to get rid of him to bring in a guy who shares your vision. But you see Joe does share Brads vision which is why he was the one assistant that was going to be retained no matter who was brought in when Brad moved upstairs. Joe is Brads guy, players and some media people have raves about his process this year….one series isn’t going to chance that. Like absolute zero consideration….and you even doubled down on it at the end of this post. I want the last 3 obvious minutes of my life back.
Do you think he keeps his job if we lose this series? Man, I don't know. I think there would be some absolutely massive changes (pending everyone is healthy and they lose)“No words” had nothing to do with last nights coaching when the players on the floor did not show up for a playoff game. The “No words” had to do with suggesting Joe is fired if we lose this series. Hey, I tried 3x to give an actual repsonse but after reading that part of your post again I didn’t seem it worthy.
Firing will not even be a consideration. You guys are going to make be bets logs on this again aren’t you.
Fair enough about the averages and the blowouts. I do think we've seen enough anecdotal evidence that even when our team is in a real game, though, they do slow down as the game goes on. Perhaps once you adjust for single-digit game situations, though, it's not that different from the rest of the league. Or maybe it is. I wish I had the data!
On D, there's a constant tension, of course, between not leaving people open (= not helping), and being willing to give up drives. If you play too far off, you can't really contest the shots, but if you play right up on them, and you're not Jrue Holiday, they can probably get around you enough to get to the basket. So it's of course silly for anyone to suggest "hey, how about we cover these guys", since in reality it's a balancing act of what do we give up a bit more X in order to take away Y, and under what circumstances. That said, though, it appeared like our default positioning was a little too far into drop, particularly our wings, such that we couldn't really recover to contest a kick-out. There were a few times we fell asleep and they got a kick-out to an entirely open player, I'd have to watch the game again to pick some out and I'm not going to do that (because there will be youtube film studies available). But leaving aside the total breakdowns, a lot of the shots the Heat made were on at least halfway-decently contested 3s. We can tighten up some of the positioning, but we aren't going to commit to being touch-tight to everybody on the perimeter, nor should we. e.g. Jaquez hit 32% of his 3s this year, are we really more worried about that than his 8-footers and layups? Caleb Martin was below 35%, despite our PTSD with him. etc.
Regarding switching, Herro and some others are perfectly capable of running around a screen and hitting a 3, Steph Curry style, if you don't switch and fight through it every time. I don't think it's an option to just not switch ever. I don't think they're really matchup-hunting in order to then run iso, that probably won't work well for them unless they can pull Porzingis way out from the basket (and he got a block on one of those). Another problem with not switching is the extent to which they do blatant moving screens that don't get called (and we had guys take a defensive foul fighting around a screen, to try and make a point of that, unsuccessfully).
I will eat an Amazon Wild Harvest Log if they lose this series. Any conversation about firing Joe is entirely academic.
It is but if a loaded 64 win team loses to an 8 seed without its best player in embarrassing fashion, I think anything is on the table at that point. Would I bet on Joe getting fired? No. But Wyc would be apeshit and who knows what a pissed off owner under pressure to win would do, especially if some star grumbling accompanies it.
So, let’s just avoid that situation and beat the crap out of this team in 3 straight games.