How much upside does Joe have?

[SHAQATTACK]

I think the team was supposed to be WH ‘s if Udoka flopped .  Mazz might be thrown in a few years too early as head coach , but I guess he didn’t complain and is trying.  I personally think they need a more authoritative leader , but I’m not Brad or a GM   Nice only takes you so far in some jobs .

I’m a huge fan of nice. Not ashamed to say it. That doesn’t mean I’m not a big fan of clarity, expectations, role-modeling, hard work, learning, and stability.  Being a jerk can work. Just not my cup o tea. A good coach can be a taskmaster, a teacher, and an admired/trusted leader.  My guess is that Spoelstra, as an example, strikes that balance.

You said it better than me . 100% agree , I meant being tuff , but not Bobby Knight . I’m afraid that much of the above quality coaching traits you describe will not be acceptable to TODAYS diva star,  Bron and Kyrie types spoiled since 8 grade ….Ben Simmons .  These guys think a coach is not really  necessary and this unfortunate attitude  rubs off on the good unspoiled young men who look at these divas a idols.  Too soft mentally.

[Goldstar88]

57 wins. Not bad for a 1st year HC who doesn’t even know how to call timeouts. 

[ozgod]

57 wins. Not bad for a 1st year HC who doesn’t even know how to call timeouts. 

Yes if he’s this bad his first year you’d have to think he would figure out how to be good the next few years…he’s only 34 after all 

[slamtheking]

57 wins. Not bad for a 1st year HC who doesn’t even know how to call timeouts. 

Yes if he’s this bad his first year you’d have to think he would figure out how to be good the next few years…he’s only 34 after all 

I'm hoping he's figured out a lot of it now that we're going into the playoffs.  the last couple of weeks of the season he seems to have improved a bit, certainly with understanding taking timeouts to stem a run by the other team.   still don't care for his offensive philosophy. 

[aefgogreen]

57 wins. Not bad for a 1st year HC who doesn’t even know how to call timeouts. 

And the league's best record against over 500 teams - which is exactly who we'll face in the playoffs.

[Vermont Green]

At this point, I think Mazzulla has coached well enough.  The team is ready for a playoff run.  It is now up to the players.  So Joe's upside will be defined by the players.  Joe has 40 more wins this season than Pop.  What does that say about the two coaches?  A lot less than it says about the two teams.

I feel Mazzulla can coach well enough to give this team a chance to win a title this season.  I am not sure our chances would be any better with say Spoelstra or Kerr or whoever, if they had taken over at the start of the season, under the same circumstances.  Maybe a little, I don't know.

[liam]

Championship coach!

[SHAQATTACK]

COY 

Timeouts overrated in his book,  only slow thinkers need them 

[Roy H.]

I’m still not a fan, but I guess we will see how many times he forgets Derrick White is on his bench in the playoffs, or how many terrible plays he designs after timeouts.

[Big333223]

57 wins, 2nd best record in the league, 2nd in offense & 3rd in defense (according to basketball-reference). It's a good resume and when you take into consideration how this season started for Mazulla, I don't think there's anything more you could've reasonably asked for from the regular season.

[PAOBoston]

I’m still not a fan, but I guess we will see how many times he forgets Derrick White is on his bench in the playoffs, or how many terrible plays he designs after timeouts.

Yeah, but you can’t call terrible ATOs if you don’t call timeouts!

[bopna]

I’m still not a fan, but I guess we will see how many times he forgets Derrick White is on his bench in the playoffs, or how many terrible plays he designs after timeouts.

There was also the game we lost when he totally forgot Brogdon who led the team in scoring and put in Tatum and Smart who were both having a terrible game...
Im also not a fan of Mazulla tbh.
His no timeout policy and letting the players figure it out is just wrong for me.

[tenn_smoothie]

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“I just always liked Joe’s work ethic, his focus, his intelligence,” Ainge said. “I feel like Joe is one of those guys — one way that I’ve always measured greatness is how much a person can learn from mistakes they make. Joe’s going to learn from his mistakes, just like Will Hardy learns from his mistakes quickly. … The coaches that learn and move on, they become the legendary coaches.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

It's not that he doesn't learn from mistakes at times, I'm sure he does.

My problem with Mazzulla is the bad basketball that he considers to be good basketball and, thus, doesn't see a need to change.
His offense has been maddening. We played a beautiful brand of offensive basketball the first quarter of the season - off-ball movement, off-ball screening, moving the ball inside and out with the pass and not with the dribble, constantly pushing the pace.

Slowly, it has ground down into occasional glimpses of the early season offense, but predominately having Tatum or Smart walk the ball up, maybe some movement around the 3-point line that ends with Tatum or Brown calling for a screener or simply going into their multiple foot & dribble fakes followed by a step back 3 or a drive to the basket while the rest of the team stands and watches.

We have awful shot selection and jack up way too many 3's and Joe is fine with it, even to the point of criticizing the team when they don't put up enough 3's to suit him. He sees nothing to be learned from playing this way - other than to shoot more 3's.

[tenn_smoothie]

57 wins, 2nd best record in the league, 2nd in offense & 3rd in defense (according to basketball-reference). It's a good resume and when you take into consideration how this season started for Mazulla, I don't think there's anything more you could've reasonably asked for from the regular season.

Agreed, I don't either.

Problem being - that's not the point.

The point is that while he may have exceeded expectations in the regular season, he has also clearly demonstrated that he is not good enough to win the four playoff series in a row required to claim a title. Each round gets that much tougher than the previous one. Opponents now have plenty of time to focus just on your team and to create strategies to take advantage of your weaknesses.

I simply don't see Joe being nearly good enough to win that title and this isn't a training-wheels franchise.
We have now entered our title window clock. Fortunately, we are mostly young and should have a wide window of opportunity.

But Mazzulla is not the answer ....... and I personally do not think Brad Stevens is either.
Enough with the college guys - get some NBA-level personnel in the front office and on the coaching staff and let's hang some banners !!

[cman88]

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“I just always liked Joe’s work ethic, his focus, his intelligence,” Ainge said. “I feel like Joe is one of those guys — one way that I’ve always measured greatness is how much a person can learn from mistakes they make. Joe’s going to learn from his mistakes, just like Will Hardy learns from his mistakes quickly. … The coaches that learn and move on, they become the legendary coaches.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

It's not that he doesn't learn from mistakes at times, I'm sure he does.

My problem with Mazzulla is the bad basketball that he considers to be good basketball and, thus, doesn't see a need to change.
His offense has been maddening. We played a beautiful brand of offensive basketball the first quarter of the season - off-ball movement, off-ball screening, moving the ball inside and out with the pass and not with the dribble, constantly pushing the pace.

Slowly, it has ground down into occasional glimpses of the early season offense, but predominately having Tatum or Smart walk the ball up, maybe some movement around the 3-point line that ends with Tatum or Brown calling for a screener or simply going into their multiple foot & dribble fakes followed by a step back 3 or a drive to the basket while the rest of the team stands and watches.

We have awful shot selection and jack up way too many 3's and Joe is fine with it, even to the point of criticizing the team when they don't put up enough 3's to suit him. He sees nothing to be learned from playing this way - other than to shoot more 3's.

I have a feeling this was more the players effort than mazullas coaching or changing the offense. It's the same with the defense.

As soon as we played a good team then all of a sudden ball movement improved the defense improved. They got bored with the regular season and unfortunately let the #1 seed slip away.

Hopefully they can keep it on. And don't do the Jekyll Hyde they did in last year's playoffs "one game good, one game bad"