Tag: Joe Mazzulla

Mazzulla on no Celtics players in mix for full-season awards: ‘Why would you get an award for the past?’

I don’t think it’s important at all because we’re all focused on what we need to do as a team,” explained Mazzulla.

Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla doesn’t want regular season play to get in the way of the Celtics’ postseason aspirations to finally hang Banner 18. And it was evident by his response to a question about Boston players being snubbed by the league’s array of full season awards at a recent practice.

“Why would you get an award for the past?” asked Mazzulla via CLNS Media. “The great thing about this team is (that) I think from day one, we have appreciated the individual awards that we have gotten, from the Player of the Month, Staff of the Month, and whatnot.”

“But at the end of the day, I think one of the biggest strengths of this team is they haven’t had that agenda,” added the Celtics coach.

“And so none of the guys have brought it up, and I don’t think it’s important at all because we’re all focused on what we need to do as a team,” explained Mazzulla.

With the team focused on the bigger prize, it sets the baseline of expectations for play. And while the regular season may be behind us, carrying that mentality forward into the postseason should help Boston on their quest to win it all.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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NBA scout details how to break down the Boston Celtics

How can teams break down the Boston Celtics stellar defensive system?

The Boston Celtics ended the regular season with the second best defensive rating in the NBA. They illustrated their defensive dominance in game one of their playoff series against the Miami Heat on Sunday (April 21). Boston’s rearguard has been exceptional this season following the additions of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis during the offseason.

According to an NBA Scout who spoke with Jared Weiss and Jay King of The Athletic, the Celtics defense does have some weaknesses. However, beating Joe Mazzulla’s system requires some creativity in how teams approach their screening actions and the positioning of their players.

“Making their bigs move in pick-and-roll, setting your picks higher up the floor, setting pindown screens to make them follow the action,” The scout said. “You gotta move their size by putting your big in the strong side corner. Or run a spread pick-and-roll and set a pindown on Porzingis so he has to trail the action up to the pick-and-roll. It’s all in your setups and screening angles.”

The Heat don’t have a floor-spacing big man who can sit in the corner and space the low helpline of the defense. They’re also limited in who they can have setting angled screens. That leaves them some spread pick-and-roll (a pick-and-roll action in a five-out offense where no offensive player is in the paint) or running some pin-downs to get shooters open.

Boston has been fantastic when top-locking and denying pin-downs this season. Nevertheless, the Heat will need to get creative if they want to find some success against a Celtics defense that projects to be a major force throughout the postseason.

Listen to the “Green With Envy” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3DoLhYK

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Oj4dhD

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3K8Mbv

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Celtics could go undefeated en route to the NBA Finals

The Boston Celtics could go undefeated en route to the NBA Finals.

The Boston Celtics secured their first season win with a 114-94 win against the Miami Heat on Sunday (April 21). Joe Mazzulla’s team controlled the tempo from start to finish and tore through Erik Spoelstra’s zone defense like a Texan with a rib eye.

According to The Ringer’s Zach Kram, who put his whacky hat on for a fun article where he looked at potential reckless scenarios, we could witness the Celtics storm to the NBA Finals on an undefeated streak. Such has been Boston’s dominance throughout the regular season and in the opening game of their first round matchup.

“Because the Celtics led the league in 3-point attempt rate (a trend they continued in Game 1, with 49 3-point attempts out of 82 shots, or 60 percent), they’re vulnerable to a cold shooting night from deep,” Kram wrote. “But that seems like the only way Boston can realistically lose a game until it faces much better competition—which, given the draw, probably won’t come until the conference finals at the earliest.”

Boston’s path to the NBA Finals is unlikely to be easy. They will face either the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Orlando Magic if they progress to the second round. Then, there’s the Eastern Conference Finals to consider. 

It’s unlikely the Celtics will finish their postseason run undefeated. However, it’s not impossible to imagine such a feat occurring. If any team is capable of such a historic feat, it’s this Celtics team.

Listen to the “Green With Envy” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3DoLhYK

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Oj4dhD

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3K8Mbv

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Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla sounded bizarrely excited while describing his reaction to Jayson Tatum’s scary fall

What an extremely weird thing for Joe Mazzulla to say about Jayson Tatum’s scary fall.

The Boston Celtics opened their 2024 NBA playoffs by absolutely pummeling a shorthanded Miami Heat team, who beat them in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals. But in the late stages of a sure victory, the Celtics almost faced disaster during a key sequence between their franchise player Jayson Tatum and Miami’s Caleb Martin.

With Tatum trying to secure a harmless defensive rebound, Martin accidentally ran into Tatum in mid-air. That led to the Celtics’ star taking what looked like a serious fall on his back and neck.

Fortunately, Tatum got up immediately and appeared to be OK as Boston breathed a huge sigh of relief:

In the postgame, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla had a rather unexpected tenor about the play. Rather than simply saying he was just thankful Tatum was alright before moving on, a seemingly dead-serious Mazzulla almost sounded thrilled that Tatum had an opportunity to … show his toughness after potentially getting seriously injured?

I don’t know, man. That’s the most charitable interpretation I could come up with. This whole below sequence is just so weird to hear from a professional head coach:

Truly, what an irresponsible thing to say.

The Celtics almost saw their season go up in flames with a vulnerable Tatum in mid-air, and Mazzulla stated he barely expressed any concern in the heat of the moment because he wanted to see Tatum’s response. C’mon now. We should be way past this kind of fake tough-guy attitude in professional sports.

Biggest questions for the Celtics heading into the playoffs

What are the biggest questions for the Boston Celtics heading into the playoffs?

The Boston Celtics project to be one of the most complete teams in the NBA. They finished the regular season ranked first in offensive rating, first in Net Rating, and second in defensive rating. With the best record in the NBA and a sizeable lead atop the Eastern Conference, the Celtics are expected to surge to the NBA Finals.

However, no team is perfect. There’s always something that can be improved or tightened up. For example, in the season’s final weeks, the Celtics struggled to control the defensive glass, which rapidly became a point of emphasis for their opponents.

In the latest Green With Envy podcast episode, hosts Adam Taylor and Greg Meneikis were joined by Jason Timpf of The Volume’s “Hoops Tonight.” They broke down Boston’s clutch-time offense, Jaylen Brown’s free-throw struggles, and overall shooting mechanics before touching on some other potential areas of improvement for Joe Mazzulla’s team.

You can watch the full episode by clicking on the embedded link above.

Listen to the “Green With Envy” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3DoLhYK

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Oj4dhD

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3K8Mbv

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Joe Mazzulla breaks down the Boston Celtics’ playoff mentality

The Rhode Island native opened up a bit on his approach to coaching the Celtics up in preparation for the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

Joe Mazzulla, head coach of the Boston Celtics, recently made an appearance on WEEI’s “Zolak and Bertrand” show, where the Rhode Island native opened up a bit on his approach to coaching the Celtics up in preparation for the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

The hosts of the CLNS Media “How Bout Them Celtics!” podcast, Jack Simone and Sam LaFrance, broke down what Mazzulla had to say about Boston’s readiness for the postseason. They also got into the Maine Celtics being in the G League Finals, and the rest of the news making the rounds in the league this week.

To hear what they had to say about a busy Boston Celtics week, check out the clip embedded below.

If you enjoy this pod, check out the “How Bout Them Celtics,” “First to the Floor,” and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Boston’s Joe Mazzulla unflapped by Celtics’ loss to Bucks

“To me, that’s a good opportunity, to play through that, find different ways to create runs,” said Mazzulla.

The Boston Celtics did not seem especially perturbed by their low level of effort on defense for much of their 104-91 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night. And their historic paucity of free throws reflected the force most Celtics players deployed on offense, with Boston evidently allergic to attacking a packed paint.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla did not seem worried about it despite the loss, and even seemed to relish the adversity a bit in comments to the AP. “That was the first time where like the game wasn’t going our way since I don’t remember when, you know what I mean?,” asked Mazzulla.

“To me, that’s a good opportunity, to play through that, find different ways to create runs, find different ways to just build stuff on either end of the floor,” he added. “I thought it was a good situation for us to be in because we hadn’t seen it in a while.”

And while those words might sound borderline arrogant, the Celtics carried a five-game win streak and a 15-game lead over the Bucks in the East standings before the loss in a season they’ve never had more than 2 in a row.

Known for protecting players and rarely saying anything negative about his club in public, this was less that sort of posturing and, in our opinion, a moment of simple honesty in a game with no real stakes for the Celtics.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Is Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla ready for the pressure of the postseason?

Can he build on that and bring Boston back to the league’s biggest stage this season?

Is Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla ready for the pressure of the postseason? He has been to the precipice of making the 2023 NBA Finals, but he and his ball club cracked under pressure last time to fall to the Miami Heat in the 2o24 Eastern Conference Finals.

Can he build on that and bring Boston back to the league’s biggest stage this season? Will the Celtics’ big offseason acquisitions be enough to get the team their record 18th banner? On a recent episode of the CLNS Media “Bob Ryan, Jeff Goodman, and Gary Tanguay!” podcast, Ryan and Tanguay sat down to discuss the pressure that falls on Mazzulla to bring home a championship this year.

Plus, Bob and Gary take a look around the league at who may give the C’s some trouble out of the East, and who besides the Nuggets could meet them in the Finals. 

If you enjoy this pod, check out the “How Bout Them Celtics,” “First to the Floor,” and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network. Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla has praise for Jaylen Brown after his 10,000th career point

“It’s cool to be able to coach guys that get to those type of milestones and be a part of that,” said Mazzulla.

Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla had praise for Jaylen Brown after the Georgia native put up his 10,000th career point in the NBA in the Celtics’ 124-107 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on this past (April 7) Sunday evening at TD Garden.

“The type of guy that he is, the hard work that he puts in and the growth that he’s shown this year to become a complete player at both ends of the floor, I know he’s happy about that, but I know even when he achieves those things, he’s never satisfied,” offered Mazzulla on Brown’s career milestone.

“It’s cool to be able to coach guys that get to those type of milestones and be a part of that,” added the Celtics coach. “He deserves that because of the hard work that he puts in.”

Brown elevated his game after the league’s 2024 All-Star break, even vaulting himself into the voting for ESPN’s final 2024 Most Valuable Player award voting in the process.

 Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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PHOTOS: Boston vs. Portland – Celtics light up Blazers 124-107

Let’s take a look at some of the best moments captured in images in the Celtics’ 78th game of the 2023-24 NBA season vs. the Blazers.

The Boston Celtics defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 124-107 Sunday evening at TD Garden. With the win, the Celtics move to 62-16 with four games remaining for the regular season.

Portland played Boston even for much of the game. This was in part thanks to a dominant showing on the glass, and the Blazers secured 22 offensive rebounds. This more aggressive play kept things close, although the Celtics led for nearly the entire game. Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla once again opted to task his bench players with earning the win, and sat his starters for the entire fourth quarter. Boston’s second unit rose to the occasion, pushing the Celtics over the Blazers in the end.

Let’s take a look at some of the best moments captured in images in the Celtics’ 78th game of the 2023-24 NBA season vs. the Blazers.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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