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

[Vermont Green]

As has been mentioned, the single most important factor for an NBA coach is the buy-in of his players.  Ime had it.  Joe seemed to be lacking it last season, based upon the comments of a few players during and after the playoffs.

Now?  There seems to be complete, unequivocal buy-in and respect:

That trust has been reciprocated and it was exemplified in the Celtics? roller-coaster Game 3 win, putting them one victory from raising championship banner No. 18. ?I think Joe is a basketball genius,? White said. ?So whatever he says, I?m going to try to just do it to my highest capabilities.?

Jaylen Brown on the Celtics coaches: ?The coaching staff has been fantastic all season long? it?s just been super organized, we walk through all different types of scenarios, we?re overly prepared.? On Joe Mazzulla: ?He?s been coaching his ass off.?

This has been my main point all along.  Last season, the players got the rug pulled out from under them just before the season started.  Udoka out, Mazzulla in.  Boom.  You go to practice one day Udoka is your coach, the next day it's Mazzulla.  Same for the assistants.  One day Udoka is your boss, the next day it is Mazzulla.  What exactly would you expect under those circumstances?  Total buy in?

This year, the players have had a chance to accept what happened and move on from Udoka.  All of Udoka's assistants moved on and were replaced by people who wanted to be here.  Mazzulla is not a perfect coach.  I think it is fair to say that he is "ahead of schedule" as they say.  But his team is probably going to win a title, in his second season as the head coach.  I see that as establishing a pretty high floor under Mazzulla.

I don't know where to rank Mazzulla.  Is the worst coach in the NBA still able to coach a really good team to a title?  How about a top 20 coach, can a top 20 coach get a team toa title?  A top 10 coach?  Unless you don't think the coach matters at all, you have to acknowledge this as a pretty good indication of Mazzulla's coaching ability.

[SparzWizard]

Fire up the grill. Who's responsibility was it to prepare these guys tonight? And who's responsibility for putting Payton Pritchard on Luka?

What a miserable joke

[green_bballers13]

Fire up the grill. Who's responsibility was it to prepare these guys tonight? And who's responsibility for putting Payton Pritchard on Luka?

What a miserable joke

Yup. Joe is the worst coach ever.

[Goldstar88]

Fire up the grill. Who's responsibility was it to prepare these guys tonight? And who's responsibility for putting Payton Pritchard on Luka?

What a miserable joke

Yeah, Joe must have forgotten to tell the team to play with effort tonight. He clearly didn?t have them practicing their  layups either. That?s for sure.  Stupid Joe! 

[DocomoCelts]

It'll really be something if Joe blows the 3-0 series lead.

[jpotter33]

Fire up the grill. Who's responsibility was it to prepare these guys tonight? And who's responsibility for putting Payton Pritchard on Luka?

What a miserable joke

Yeah, Joe must have forgotten to tell the team to play with effort tonight. He clearly didn?t have them practicing their  layups either. That?s for sure.  Stupid Joe! 

On the same page tonight, Goldy!

I honestly don't really put this loss on anyone on the C's but rather Dallas just being dominant and playing like the desperate team they are. Good game, Mavs. Enjoy your last win of the season.

[SparzWizard]

It'll really be something if Joe blows the 3-0 series lead.

Start a series down 0-3 against a #8 seed, and blow a 3-0 series lead to a #5 seed...should not make it out of Boston alive if really blowing a 3-0 happens

[SHAQATTACK]

Is Joe getting the pink slip from Stevens ?

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Fire up the grill. Who's responsibility was it to prepare these guys tonight? And who's responsibility for putting Payton Pritchard on Luka?

What a miserable joke

And also, why was Hauser repeatedly "guarding" Luka?

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

It'll really be something if Joe blows the 3-0 series lead.

a moron with this talent cannot do that.

shouldnt anyway

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Fire up the grill. Who's responsibility was it to prepare these guys tonight? And who's responsibility for putting Payton Pritchard on Luka?

What a miserable joke

NOT JOE BLOW! HURR DURR!

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Fire up the grill. Who's responsibility was it to prepare these guys tonight? And who's responsibility for putting Payton Pritchard on Luka?

What a miserable joke

Yup. Joe is the worst coach ever.

JOE IS THE GOAT COULD OUITCOACH ANYBODY even with biddy players!

[ozgod]

Is Joe getting the pink slip from Stevens ?

Still getting the pink slip from Wyc, this time it will be at the end of Game 5, not Game 4, BEFORE he gets his grubby hands on the trophy 

[Roy H.]

Joe did a great job today of reminding us that it?s OK to smile during wars,? Tatum said. ?It?s OK to have fun during high-pressure moments. We would love to win tomorrow, more than anything. But if it doesn?t happen, it?s not the end of the world. We have more opportunities. So just setting that (mindset) of ?Don?t surrender to that idea that we have to win tomorrow.? We would love to, absolutely. But Game 5 is the biggest game of the season because it?s the next game on the schedule. So (it?s) going with that mindset and just have fun. That?s really what we talked about today. Get back to having fun and being a team and how special we are and the team that got us here.? 2 mins ago ? via New York Times

[Kernewek]

Seems perfectly reasonable, tbh. The worst thing they can do is tighten up and get beaten by the stress & expectations - which every iteration of this team has tended to do, especially when shots aren't falling.