For the most part of his rookie season, Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics appeared to be a player’s coach first and foremost. For the 35-year-old, who was given the temporary position just a few days before training camp due to Ime Udoka’s ban, it was a reasonable characteristic. Mazzulla needed the support of his stars if he wanted to be a title contender. In the end, he gained their confidence and the team’s collective, landing the full-time position halfway through the previous campaign.
Mazzulla spent much of last season catering to his stars on a variety of fronts even after he was given the full-time job. He left in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown for long stretches even in Boston blowout wins to help them pile up big numbers. A benching of either star or any top rotation player virtually never happened, whether it be for performance or effort. Mazzulla defended his players through thick and thin, sometimes to a fault during some ugly postseason stretches.
This season though, Mazzulla has looked far more comfortable with his role and we’ve seen some of that already with his coaching. He’s trying more things, getting more creative with defenses and becoming more unpredictable as a coach with his schemes. The net result has been positive for Boston through an 11-2 start.
On Sunday night, he took another important coaching step against the Grizzlies, showing a different side when it came to handling his top talent. After a sluggish start to the third quarter where Brown drew a technical foul for complaining to officials well after a play and Tatum was lacking hustle on a tranition defensive possessions, Mazzulla made a rarely seen move. He pulled his two stars together along with Jrue Holiday for the final 7:10 of the third quarter. That’s a move Mazzulla has rarely made in his career and certainly not one he’s done in a close game on the road ever.
“One, to develop a group, another identity, to be able to play some basketball without those guys,” Mazzulla told reporters about the reasoning for his choice. “I didn’t think we were playing very well so I wanted to find a lineup that could kind of go on a run for us. First night of a back-to-back so I didn’t want the minutes to be too high. …I thought it was an opportunity to find a better rhythm, find a better lineup and look to go on a little bit of a run there.”
“I think they played harder than us for sure,” Mazzulla said. “…We were undisciplined. We didn’t execute defensively. … We got lucky to win that game. I didn’t think we deserved to win the game because of a lot of stuff that we did.”
Mazzulla was also spotted getting fiery in the team huddle during the second half which left an impression on Kristaps Porzingis.
In the end, the seven unexpected minutes that Brown and Tatum shared on the bench during the third quarter with Holiday helped the Celtics defeat the Grizzlies. But Mazzulla’s decision was a significant step toward demonstrating his comfort level in his role as head coach this season. He’s going to have to get more imaginative and challenge his players more this year during off nights and this was a major start in that direction on Sunday night when it comes to accountability. Although they didn’t play well, the Celtics exerted significantly more effort in the fourth quarter after those benchings. Dramatically, Boston managed to win their sixth straight, but Mazzulla should benefit from these decisions he made throughout the game as he attempts to develop
