Joe Mazzulla returning for 2023-24 season

[DocomoCelts]

Will have to remind myself not to be too disappointed with the Playoffs Participation trophy.

This is quite a take. The last 20 years of Celtic basketball have been, all told, fantastic.

If we take 2008 as year zero, 75% of the league have not won a championship since our last ring - and that's before we get to James & Curry winning more than half the available rings in that span (until the close of Miami Nuggets, when they will have won exactly half). It's been slim pickings for anyone who isn't a frontrunner, but that's what two game-warping talents will do to the rest of the league.

3 Finals appearances in 15 years, after a total rebuild, is pretty great. It's a bit sad that people think it isn't.

What are you talking about, no one's said anything about the last 20 years of Celtic basketball?  I'm thinking about the team that we have now, and that they are good enough to contend but need a better, more experienced coach.  You might not agree with that take, if you think Joe's the man, but surely it's not that hard to comprehend.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Wow, when does Tatum demand a trade?

yeah if i am him i am outta here. dont want a clown coaching me. he might be fine with it. no accountability or responsibility. just jack step back threes in iso. mazz wants all threes. no balance. shot way more than brad did. stats were posted. more than  ime. that #2 d ranking is fools gold. we saw that in the playoffs. it was exposed. mazz is all offense. middle school offense at that.

Umm you guys do realize Mazzulla IS Tatum's guy, right? 

It's been well-documented. Probably also a reason they were okay in giving Mazzulla the job after Ime's incident.

Besides Tatum saying Ime was his favourite coach, then yeah.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Joe is the best fit for this team.

Players know him.

There has to be some continuity guys.

We can the flipping coaches and schemes every year.

And if not Joe who else is there??

Doc Rivers anyone?

are you serious bro? NURSE WAS AVAILABLE. NO we do not need any clown from the last staff. mazz shoulda been an interum and we shoulda had a backdoor deal done with nurse before the playoffs were over. brad is going to get himself fired vouching for his crap hire. brad is a moron. would love to have his email right now. dude needs to be blasted.

[TheReaLPuba]

Joe is the best fit for this team.

Players know him.

There has to be some continuity guys.

We can the flipping coaches and schemes every year.

And if not Joe who else is there??

Doc Rivers anyone?

are you serious bro? NURSE WAS AVAILABLE. NO we do not need any clown from the last staff. mazz shoulda been an interum and we shoulda had a backdoor deal done with nurse before the playoffs were over. brad is going to get himself fired vouching for his crap hire. brad is a moron. would love to have his email right now. dude needs to be blasted.

Nurse is white.

[obnoxiousmime]

What I would have asked Stevens:

1) Ime was hired due to his lengthy experience around the league with top teams and superstars. Furthermore, he was a hard-nosed, defensive coach which is what the players have said they want to base their identity on. Players also said that having a coach that played in the NBA was helpful since he could relate to a player's point of view. Joe doesn't appear to fulfill any of those qualities, in fact he's almost the direct opposite. How can it be possible that Ime was the right coach for the team last year, but now Joe is the right type of coach for the team only one year later with largely the same roster?

2) In 7-game series against a top coach in Spoelstra, do you think Joe's inexperience could have been the difference between winning and losing that series and missing a trip to the Finals, which everyone said was the team's goal this year?

3) The players have openly expressed their preference for a defense-first identity, while most of Joe's messaging and lineup decisions seemed to favor offense. If the team goes back to a defense-first approach, why would Joe be the ideal coach to implement that?

4) Are you going to help Joe with candidates to fill out the coaching staff since his only experience in the NBA is with this particular organization?

5) Considering the importance of Stoudamire's experience, why did you decide to make Joe the coach instead of Damon? (Obviously he's not going to answer this one)

6) Later in the playoffs it seemed like the players were doing more of the talking during time outs and openly advocating for this or that change in the media. Did the players take it upon themselves to self-coach instead of continuing to just rely on Joe? Do you think this kind of development is appropriate for a team in the 2nd and 3rd round of the playoffs? Why are players still talking about "finding their identity" when the playoffs have already started?

[Kernewek]

Will have to remind myself not to be too disappointed with the Playoffs Participation trophy.

This is quite a take. The last 20 years of Celtic basketball have been, all told, fantastic.

If we take 2008 as year zero, 75% of the league have not won a championship since our last ring - and that's before we get to James & Curry winning more than half the available rings in that span (until the close of Miami Nuggets, when they will have won exactly half). It's been slim pickings for anyone who isn't a frontrunner, but that's what two game-warping talents will do to the rest of the league.

3 Finals appearances in 15 years, after a total rebuild, is pretty great. It's a bit sad that people think it isn't.

What are you talking about, no one's said anything about the last 20 years of Celtic basketball?  I'm thinking about the team that we have now, and that they are good enough to contend but need a better, more experienced coach.  You might not agree with that take, if you think Joe's the man, but surely it's not that hard to comprehend.

Another poster has brought up the last championship, in 2008, and you very plainly referred to a non-ring year as a ‘Playoff Participation trophy’.

Which is, in my view, shortsighted. I’m not a huge Mazz fan but I find the title town mentality reductive.

[cman88]

I do think coaching was a large reason we didn't go as far as we had hoped this year. And I'm not a big mazzulla guy as I don't think we ran an offense. Look at what Denver is doing. Moving the ball attacking matchups. In game 7 we stood around and shot 3's. BUT I do see brads line of thinking.

Mazzulla had 2 weeks before training camp, losing Damon was huge as well as our play went downhill after he left. (Maybe he should've gotten the job). And the rest of our assistants were Ime guys.

So, maybe Brad feels you add a frank Vogel to the staff and then beef it up with other guys, give a whole offseason to instill an offensive system and see what happens.

[DocomoCelts]

Will have to remind myself not to be too disappointed with the Playoffs Participation trophy.

This is quite a take. The last 20 years of Celtic basketball have been, all told, fantastic.

If we take 2008 as year zero, 75% of the league have not won a championship since our last ring - and that's before we get to James & Curry winning more than half the available rings in that span (until the close of Miami Nuggets, when they will have won exactly half). It's been slim pickings for anyone who isn't a frontrunner, but that's what two game-warping talents will do to the rest of the league.

3 Finals appearances in 15 years, after a total rebuild, is pretty great. It's a bit sad that people think it isn't.

What are you talking about, no one's said anything about the last 20 years of Celtic basketball?  I'm thinking about the team that we have now, and that they are good enough to contend but need a better, more experienced coach.  You might not agree with that take, if you think Joe's the man, but surely it's not that hard to comprehend.

Another poster has brought up the last championship, in 2008, and you very plainly referred to a non-ring year as a ‘Playoff Participation trophy’.

Which is, in my view, shortsighted. I’m not a huge Mazz fan but I find the title town mentality reductive.

Okay, guess I need to try and spell it out "plainly" for you:

1. Please re-read my post. Did I quote anyone? I don't even know who mentioned the 2008 championship.

2. Again, I'm talking about this team that we have, and that I don't have faith in Joe in leading its challenge for a title.  Hence, my comment on the "Playoff Participation trophy", as what we WILL get if we stick with Joe.  It's fine if you don't agree with this view, but I cannot help it if you choose, on your own, to make an overblown interpretation of what I said and bring up some notion of a title town mentality.

[Kernewek]

The poster right above your original post. Conversations in forum threads have more than one direct point of participation, usually.

If you're not a championship-or-bust person, why the need for Playoff Participation Trophies?


Ah. I suppose it's possible you've never been in a conversation where one statement served as a starting point for another aspect of the discussion. Please accept my apology if that's the case.

[DocomoCelts]

Ah. I suppose it's possible you've never been in a conversation where one statement served as a starting point for another aspect of the discussion. Please accept my apology if that's the case.

As I've been doing with your posts, I would normally quote someone if my intent is to make reference to what had been said.  And no, I did not read what the person above me posted, as my point alluded specifically to Brad's intent to retain Joe and what I feel that means for this team.

[Kernewek]

Ah. I suppose it's possible you've never been in a conversation where one statement served as a starting point for another aspect of the discussion. Please accept my apology if that's the case.

As I've been doing with your posts, I would normally quote someone if my intent is to make reference to what had been said.  And no, I did not read what the person above me posted, as my point alluded specifically to Brad's intent to retain Joe and what I feel that means for this team.

Fair enough. It's the internet - easy to misread, and I apologise for misunderstanding.

Will have to remind myself not to be too disappointed with the Playoffs Participation trophy.

This is quite a take. The last 20 years of Celtic basketball have been, all told, fantastic.

If we take 2008 as year zero, 75% of the league have not won a championship since our last ring - and that's before we get to James & Curry winning more than half the available rings in that span (until the close of Miami Nuggets, when they will have won exactly half). It's been slim pickings for anyone who isn't a frontrunner, but that's what two game-warping talents will do to the rest of the league.

3 Finals appearances in 15 years, after a total rebuild, is pretty great. It's a bit sad that people think it isn't.

What you're saying, without saying it, is that what any team (including Boston) really needs, in order to win more than just one random title like the '03 Pistons or the '11 Mavericks, is a generational talent—Curry, LeBron, etc. Tatum is very good, but I don't think Tatum is a generational talent, so I don't think the Cs are going to have any sort of dynasty or even mini-dynasty with Tatum as their best player.

I think you can mitigate against the gravity of generational talent, but yeah, it's tricky. And I think the new CBA is going to make it trickier.

[Banner18now!]

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who knows. maybe brown and mazz and smart will get it when they turn 40!

i am done with brad. complete buffoon.

shoulda kept mazz on a temp basis and fired after last game. no let's make a dumb panic hire of a trash coach. we had nurse available.  unfrickingbelievable. zero self awareness in that building.

Yup, get ready for another year off chucking the 3 ball on offense without any emphasis on defense. Unbelievable they are trying to sell this crap to us for next season after what we just witnessed. Thanks Brad, you have now made me not care about Celtics basketball. Won’t be watching much next year.

[DocomoCelts]

Ah. I suppose it's possible you've never been in a conversation where one statement served as a starting point for another aspect of the discussion. Please accept my apology if that's the case.

As I've been doing with your posts, I would normally quote someone if my intent is to make reference to what had been said.  And no, I did not read what the person above me posted, as my point alluded specifically to Brad's intent to retain Joe and what I feel that means for this team.

Fair enough. It's the internet - easy to misread, and I apologise for misunderstanding.

Thank you. I just wanted to be clear about what I posted.

I know the probabilities for a title, but just feel we're not maximising our chances with Joe at the helm, especially with the clock ticking on this team.

[cman88]

I think it's Abit unfair to say already Tatum isn't a generational talent. Sometimes Boston fans are ridiculous especially after a heartbreaking loss. We need to step back and put things in perspective.

Sure he hasn't broken through yet, BUT he has upped his averages every year. Is already a top 5 player in The league and is only 25.

To put it in perspective none of Curry, Gianni's, Lebron, Jordan, Durant ever won a finals at that age..

Heck I remember people here arguing against trading Rondo for Curry. Or the narrative of Lebron in 2010 how he will never get over the hump and lacks that certain something.

Should we have one by now? Yes. But I'd say there's plenty of teams who would like to be in our situation

[Big333223]

There was not one single second where Joe was ever going to be fired this offseason. Not if they lost to Philly, not if they got swept by Miami. It was never going to happen. The degree to which this topic dominated the Discourse is testament to how removed from reality these conversations are.

The Celtics were never going to fire a caoch who didn't get to hire his own staff (a staff that apparently had one foot out the door), lost members of the staff mid-season, had to take the job under really difficult circumstances, and led the team to 57 wins despite all of that.

They also weren't going to have a 4th coach in 4 years.

Joe coming back was always what was going to happen.