Fire Joe! ... or critique Joe ... or defend Joe... or worry about Joe's coaching

[green_bballers13]

And we are back! This team will never win with Joe as HC! 

Get him out of here!

also

The regular season doesn't matter. He will only be judged by the playoffs!

That's true.  And it's how it should be.  I don't care if we finish .500 this year, Joe will be celebrated if we win a title.  And, if we bounce back and win 65 games this season but lose early in the playoffs, Joe's seat will become hotter.

I know this seems to be a popular talking point, but do people really mean this? Everything will be ok if we limp into the playoffs as the 8th seed? As long as they get into the tourney and win?

My guess is that stress levels will elevate every time a team jumps them in the regular season standings. They are the third best team in the league right now. I'm ok with it. 

Also, I must have missed the Joe Mazz celebration. I did notice that people still call him an idiot.

[Roy H.]

And we are back! This team will never win with Joe as HC! 

Get him out of here!

also

The regular season doesn't matter. He will only be judged by the playoffs!

That's true.  And it's how it should be.  I don't care if we finish .500 this year, Joe will be celebrated if we win a title.  And, if we bounce back and win 65 games this season but lose early in the playoffs, Joe's seat will become hotter.

I know this seems to be a popular talking point, but do people really mean this? Everything will be ok if we limp into the playoffs as the 8th seed? As long as they get into the tourney and win?

My guess is that stress levels will elevate every time a team jumps them in the regular season standings. They are the third best team in the league right now. I'm ok with it. 

Also, I must have missed the Joe Mazz celebration. I did notice that people still call him an idiot.

Plenty of people congratulated Joe for helping lead the team to a title. 

And in the moment, fans will panic or get overly excited, but ultimately it's about if the team is prepared in the playoffs.  In 2023, they weren't.  In 2024, they were.  We have no idea about this year yet.

I see this regular season similarly to the 2010 team.  That year, we started 23-5.  We went .500 the rest of the season, finishing at 50-32.

There was a lot of angst, and fans were booing the team in late season games.  We were the 4th seed in the East.

And then, things clicked for the team, and we won a couple of road series in the playoffs and should have hung a banner (but didn't due to injuries, bad luck, and corrupt officiating). 

Do any of use care, in hindsight, that the team limped through the regular season?  I suppose playing better may have gotten us home court, but all anybody cared about was the team's playoff chances.  Doc had that team in a position to win, so nobody to any real extent was calling for his firing.  But, if that 2010 team had lost early on in the playoffs?  Doc would have had some serious heat.

[Donoghus]

And we are back! This team will never win with Joe as HC! 

Get him out of here!

also

The regular season doesn't matter. He will only be judged by the playoffs!

That's true.  And it's how it should be.  I don't care if we finish .500 this year, Joe will be celebrated if we win a title.  And, if we bounce back and win 65 games this season but lose early in the playoffs, Joe's seat will become hotter.

I know this seems to be a popular talking point, but do people really mean this? Everything will be ok if we limp into the playoffs as the 8th seed? As long as they get into the tourney and win?

My guess is that stress levels will elevate every time a team jumps them in the regular season standings. They are the third best team in the league right now. I'm ok with it. 

Also, I must have missed the Joe Mazz celebration. I did notice that people still call him an idiot.

The bar has been set.  Celtics are defending champions so the hope is that they are able to defend their title and repeat.  The regular season is really just a tune up.  Personally, I'm not putting much stock into the regular season and seeding. I just want them healthy and playing good basketball come late April.  This team should be contending for a title. Anything short of that is going to be a disappointment.  They might not repeat (repeating is really hard) but there is no reason that they shouldn't be in the thick of it in late May/early June. 

Mazz got plenty of praise last season on these boards. Especially during and after the playoffs.   Apparently, you're just choosing not to see it.

[green_bballers13]

And we are back! This team will never win with Joe as HC! 

Get him out of here!

also

The regular season doesn't matter. He will only be judged by the playoffs!

That's true.  And it's how it should be.  I don't care if we finish .500 this year, Joe will be celebrated if we win a title.  And, if we bounce back and win 65 games this season but lose early in the playoffs, Joe's seat will become hotter.

I know this seems to be a popular talking point, but do people really mean this? Everything will be ok if we limp into the playoffs as the 8th seed? As long as they get into the tourney and win?

My guess is that stress levels will elevate every time a team jumps them in the regular season standings. They are the third best team in the league right now. I'm ok with it. 

Also, I must have missed the Joe Mazz celebration. I did notice that people still call him an idiot.

The bar has been set.  Celtics are defending champions so the hope is that they are able to defend their title and repeat.  The regular season is really just a tune up.  Personally, I'm not putting much stock into the regular season and seeding. I just want them healthy and playing good basketball come late April.  This team should be contending for a title. Anything short of that is going to be a disappointment.  They might not repeat (repeating is really hard) but there is no reason that they shouldn't be in the thick of it in late May/early June. 

Mazz got plenty of praise last season on these boards. Especially during and after the playoffs.   Apparently, you're just choosing not to see it.

I disagree. I don't think he was appreciated nearly as much, considering how he was thrust into a bad situation in his rookie year.

Anything short of contending for a title is a disappointment? I think a first round exit will be different than losing Game 7 vs. Cleveland.

I think the Celtics are a good team, but I don't think they are the greatest team ever. I'm happy with last year's ring, and I definitely don't expect another one. The last 20 years have skewed the perspectives of many. Brady made it to the SB every other year, but no one could have reasonably expected that prospectively.

I'm happy that the Celtics have the most championships in NBA history and are the current reigning champs.  An inconsequential game in January isn't going to tip the canoe.

[ozgod]

So is Joe getting cashiered out on the weekend? 

[ozgod]

Playing .500 ball since December, offense revolving only on 3's, defense is nonexistent all year long, Jaylen Brown going MIA, White and Jrue suddenly lost their skills in basketball, Jayson doing his best Marcus Smart impression, going into OT against a garbage Clippers lineup and getting blown out by the nemesis Lakers and old man LeBron.

This head coach definitely won in spite of the team last year, and also had a very favorable playoff path. He really was outcoached by JJ here. It was only a matter of time before the fraudulent Joe Mazzulla is back to this seat again, and in my eyes, it's time he hit the road. Fire Joe. Bring in Mike Brown.

Sparz lives in LA?he must be taking a lot of abuse from gleeful Faker fans today 

[Roy H.]

Anything short of contending for a title is a disappointment? I think a first round exit will be different than losing Game 7 vs. Cleveland.

Apparently you don't know what "contend" means.

[SparzWizard]

The Celtics' worst loss of the season came at the worst time against the purple and gold. Did not prepare the team. The lineup adjustment has been questionable. ATO plays were clumsy. And it's not just last night; it's been pretty much since December including the close victories. Joe isn't doing much to get certain guys back in playing shape nor adjusting the offense. Literally what Shaq said...if the C's play more inside then they win more games.

How can we still be OK being .500 regular season and face possibly a Knicks or Bucks team in Round 1. Esp if the same core is still intact but do a lot worse than last season.

Once again, the C's played otherworldly last season after the 2023 collosal failure while masking Joe's struggles. Also, with a bit of help from other teams including key injuries and unexpected Finals matchup

[green_bballers13]

Anything short of contending for a title is a disappointment? I think a first round exit will be different than losing Game 7 vs. Cleveland.

Apparently you don't know what "contend" means.

It's true, I wasn't that great at vocab. It was never my strong point in school. I was always jealous of the smart kids that could tell me that I used a word incorrectly. Looks like I'm still just a big kid haha.

I looked it up. Contend: to engage in a competition or campaign in order to win or achieve (something). I looked at Reddit to see what sports fans think. One poster said to contend is to "have a legit, reasonable chance" to win.

By that logic, I would think contention would only occur in the Finals. Otherwise, you have a 0% chance of winning the Finals.

So contention=Finals Appearance

[Atzar]

Candidly I don't give a crap about the coach.  I've always been of the opinion that basketball is more about the guys on the court than the guys on the sideline anyway.  Joe proved that we can win a title with him last year - and comfortably, at that.  With that established, I have no interest in quibbling over substitution patterns or timeout usage or whatever else.

I've definitely become concerned about several of the players on this team though.  KP is generally fine, when he's on the court.  Everybody else is struggling.  Some are struggling so badly that I'm on the verge of discarding the term "slump" in favor of "down year".  We generally look old and slow in all phases.  Maybe we've just played a ton of basketball in the last calendar year and it's catching up to us.  Maybe we're fat and happy after a championship and the hunger isn't there anymore.  Or maybe it's just January doldrums and we'll snap out of it eventually.  I don't know. 

If there's one thing I want Joe to do right now, I want him to throw Springer in the rotation and see what happens.  Our biggest problem on defense is the fact that we can't guard the ball.  It leads to overhelping which allows the opponent far too many easy one-pass threes.  So let's see if Springer can find some consistency in that role.  If the guy can give us the point-of-attack defense and hustle that we sorely need, he may be worth some real minutes despite his lack of offense. 

[mobilija]

I agree with your post (Aztar 👆) for the most part. Particularly putting Springer in the game plan, or Walsh or heck even Sheireman (he?s looking better and GLeague and he?s worked on his NBA body). Give White a week or so off. Maybe Jrue again. Maybe even Houser or Brown or Tatum. If we are gonna be .500 team, get the bench guys some run, work them into being useful and get the dudes that have nagging injuries and/or been playing ball for a year straight some rest.

[Goldstar88]

Candidly I don't give a crap about the coach.  I've always been of the opinion that basketball is more about the guys on the court than the guys on the sideline anyway.  Joe proved that we can win a title with him last year - and comfortably, at that.  With that established, I have no interest in quibbling over substitution patterns or timeout usage or whatever else.

I've definitely become concerned about several of the players on this team though.  KP is generally fine, when he's on the court.  Everybody else is struggling.  Some are struggling so badly that I'm on the verge of discarding the term "slump" in favor of "down year".  We generally look old and slow in all phases.  Maybe we've just played a ton of basketball in the last calendar year and it's catching up to us.  Maybe we're fat and happy after a championship and the hunger isn't there anymore.  Or maybe it's just January doldrums and we'll snap out of it eventually.  I don't know. 

If there's one thing I want Joe to do right now, I want him to throw Springer in the rotation and see what happens.  Our biggest problem on defense is the fact that we can't guard the ball.  It leads to overhelping which allows the opponent far too many easy one-pass threes.  So let's see if Springer can find some consistency in that role.  If the guy can give us the point-of-attack defense and hustle that we sorely need, he may be worth some real minutes despite his lack of offense.

Amen, Brother! 

[ozgod]

Joe saved his job for another week I suppose 

[LatterDayCelticsfan]

Joe saved his job for another week I suppose 

Do they have fatal 'Votes of confidence from the board' in the NBA like in British soccer? 

[Roy H.]

If you had Ime and the Rockets with a better record than us at this point, raise your hand.