Horrible loss but people are over-reacting (understandably). I can't explain it, and I am certainly not going to try and defend it, but I still see a good team.
People are correct that we lack an element of consistent killer instinct, as individual team leaders and collectively. There is no Kevin Garnett on the team who would bring that every day, every game, and make sure the whole team understood it. But the players have shown it most of the time, including last season in the playoffs. The leaders (Tatum and Brown primarily) seem to switch it on and off themselves and don't seem to be able to instill it consistently in the rest of the team. That they weren't able to focus in Washington on a Tuesday night doesn't mean they will play badly in the playoffs though. I would much rather see more consistency, but this does not necessarily mean they will play bad in the playoffs.
As to Coach Mazzulla, I don't know what to think. I look at Steve Kerr and the Warriors have won multiple championships. Kerr is not a big tough, in your face coach either. The truth is that our coaching situation is difficult. A totally unexpected change right before the season started and a young, untested coach thrown into it at the last minute. It would be a tough situation for any coach. Now this untested, very young coach, who was thrown into it at the last minute, needs to coach a team through the playoffs. Lots of headwinds, but I think the situation would have been tough on any coach, and on the team no matter who the coach was.
I still like the team though. Every team in the league has some problems, the Celtics are no different. I would be worried about MIL in any case, even if Red Auerbach was the coach. In the end, even though I have plenty of doubts about Mazzulla, I think the playoffs will be the most about Tatum.
Topic: Celtics (52-23) at Wizards (33-42) Game #76 3/28/23 (Read 9667 times)