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

[BringToughnessBack]

Well, here are Joe's numbers and it appears he is improving in his 2nd year. 

He is currently the youngest coach in the NBA at 35 years of age. Is it possible, maybe we have our coach of the future now and he will only improve over time? The players seem to love him and after hearing how he kept them motivated and focused in the 2nd half of last nights miracle comeback, he deserves some praise. Nothing matters but a title but I think we get just that this year.

121 wins
43 losses
.738 regular season win percentage

22-11 playoff record,
11-2 this year in playoffs and missing Porzingis as well.

[ozgod]

Tillman actually looked like a smooth, smart defensive player out there. Good on the switches, tough defense inside, made life difficult for the Pacers even when they hit their shots (I mean at times Nembhard, McConnell and others were just automatic, not much you can do).

Even though he only finished with 1 rebound, a lot of those rebounds were collected by other players while Tillman did his all in defending the shot and forcing a miss. I still think that's very valuable.

As we all know 7 game series are about adjustments and I think Joe has made some decent adjustments. His first big rotation move was forced on him with the injury to Kornet, and he decided to go small with Brissett as a small ball 5 when the Pacers were probably expecting him to replace Kornet with Tillman. It worked well and Brissett was a +18 in 12 mins despite only scoring 2 points. The Pacers were ready for it in Game 3 so he went to Tillman who was a +12 in 13 mins to combat the Pacers going inside a lot more to take advantage of our small ball lineup (Pacers scored 61% of their points in the paint in Game 3 vs 32% in Game 1). Game 4 the Pacers will probably react to, and game plan for, Tillman to be playing more minutes so it will be interesting to see if Joe goes back to small ball, stays with X, or does something completely different.

It was the same on the defensive end where he said it took them a while to adjust to Haliburton:

“It took us a little while to figure out how we were going to match up with them in order to slow them down and put us in the best position,” Mazzulla explained. “Without Haliburton, they went to some of their different stuff, and they had a lot of speed. So I never felt like it was our offense, I felt like it was our defense, and I thought we took it to another level in the second half.”

https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-celtics/2024/05/26/jayson-tatum-joe-mazzulla-celtics-pacers-game-3/?p1=hp_featurestack

So it appears he's actually doing something, even if it isn't immediately apparent...not just a pretty face on the sideline 

[ozgod]

His team (doubtless knowing Joe will be fired after the next loss) has come out with more praise for him while they still can (as @goldstar88 mentioned earlier):

Jayson Tatum credited Joe Mazzulla for game-changing message that sparked Celtics’ comeback in Game 3 win
The Celtics trailed by as many as 18 points in the second half before turning it around to take a 3-0 series lead.

As Jaylen Brown later remarked that “some of those guys turned into [expletive] Michael Jordan or whatever” after the game, Jayson Tatum shared Joe Mazzulla’s message to the team in a timeout prior to McConnell’s consecutive makes helped spark the turnaround.

“One of those timeouts in the third quarter, Joe just kind of told us to stop feeling sorry for ourselves,” Tatum told reporters. “Whatever situation we’re in, that’s the situation that we’re in. It’s on us to figure it out.

“Things weren’t going our way. We weren’t hitting shots at the time. It seemed like they were coming out and scoring every single time. Maybe we were slow to bring the ball up the court. When we get scored on, we might put our head down. It felt like [expletive] wasn’t going our way. Joe always talks about how it’s not always going to go how we want it to or we expect it to. That’s OK. It’s OK to be down 15 or 17 on the road and still have an opportunity to win the game.”

During a mic’d up segment on ABC’s broadcast of Saturday’s game, Mazzulla was heard telling his Celtics team during a timeout to play one possession at a time, focusing on getting stops, and disregard what the score said.

Derrick White credited Mazzulla for helping the team be prepared for moments like Saturday’s Game 3 as they’re on the precipice of advancing.

“This year, he’s just been connected,” White said. “His communication’s really good and the trust. We’ve gone through a lot of these situations in practices. He’s talked about it. So, we all feel locked in, connected, and I love playing for Joe. He’s been great for us.”

https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-celtics/2024/05/26/jayson-tatum-joe-mazzulla-celtics-pacers-game-3/?p1=hp_featurestack

They really do seem to enjoy playing for him...maybe they're just being nice because end of season 360 reviews are coming up 

[radiohead]

Well, here are Joe's numbers and it appears he is improving in his 2nd year. 

He is currently the youngest coach in the NBA at 35 years of age. Is it possible, maybe we have our coach of the future now and he will only improve over time? The players seem to love him and after hearing how he kept them motivated and focused in the 2nd half of last nights miracle comeback, he deserves some praise. Nothing matters but a title but I think we get just that this year.

121 wins
43 losses
.738 regular season win percentage

22-11 playoff record,
11-2 this year in playoffs and missing Porzingis as well.

The .738 winning percentage is insane. I believe I saw a post saying it’s the best ever by an NBA coach. Of course the sample size is just for 2 years but still.

[green_bballers13]

He’s flawed but he still has a better record than anyone on this board.

Are there any legit Fire Joe arguments that make sense?

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

He’s flawed but he still has a better record than anyone on this board.

Are there any legit Fire Joe arguments that make sense?

so you think he is a top 5 coach? how much of these results are from his coaching or the players? You think we can do no better? Show me joes resume versus others. Because we are not NBA coaches does not make him infallible or beyond criticism. so you would take nobody else in the NBA right now over joe if offered?

Let me tell you something. There was  aguy named leslie miles who won a natty and played for another. he rode talent and some assistant coaches. he himself could not coach his way out a paper sack. it showed per performances, lack of adjustments, player and game management, etc. no differentthan what we see with joe now.

send joe to college and lets see what he can really do. or send him to a rebuilding team. not a team LOADED with stars.

do it and tell me the results.

i will be patiently waiting

[SparzWizard]

He’s flawed but he still has a better record than anyone on this board.

Are there any legit Fire Joe arguments that make sense?

so you think he is a top 5 coach? how much of these results are from his coaching or the players? You think we can do no better? Show me joes resume versus others. Because we are not NBA coaches does not make him infallible or beyond criticism. so you would take nobody else in the NBA right now over joe if offered?

Let me tell you something. There was  aguy named leslie miles who won a natty and played for another. he rode talent and some assistant coaches. he himself could not coach his way out a paper sack. it showed per performances, lack of adjustments, player and game management, etc. no differentthan what we see with joe now.

send joe to college and lets see what he can really do. or send him to a rebuilding team. not a team LOADED with stars.

do it and tell me the results.

i will be patiently waiting

TP, well said

[Goldstar88]

He’s flawed but he still has a better record than anyone on this board.

Are there any legit Fire Joe arguments that make sense?

so you think he is a top 5 coach? how much of these results are from his coaching or the players? You think we can do no better? Show me joes resume versus others. Because we are not NBA coaches does not make him infallible or beyond criticism. so you would take nobody else in the NBA right now over joe if offered?

Let me tell you something. There was  aguy named leslie miles who won a natty and played for another. he rode talent and some assistant coaches. he himself could not coach his way out a paper sack. it showed per performances, lack of adjustments, player and game management, etc. no differentthan what we see with joe now.

send joe to college and lets see what he can really do. or send him to a rebuilding team. not a team LOADED with stars.

do it and tell me the results.

i will be patiently waiting

He probably isn’t a top 5 coach, but neither is Jason Kidd and the Mavs are more than likely headed to the Finals. Then you have coaches like Frank Vogel, Nick Nurse and Mike Malone who have championship rings. Are they top 5 coaches? I don’t think so. The players are the ones on the court deciding the games. Not the coach.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Well, here are Joe's numbers and it appears he is improving in his 2nd year. 

He is currently the youngest coach in the NBA at 35 years of age. Is it possible, maybe we have our coach of the future now and he will only improve over time? The players seem to love him and after hearing how he kept them motivated and focused in the 2nd half of last nights miracle comeback, he deserves some praise. Nothing matters but a title but I think we get just that this year.

121 wins
43 losses
.738 regular season win percentage

22-11 playoff record,
11-2 this year in playoffs and missing Porzingis as well.

his numbers or the players numbers? lol

[BitterJim]

He’s flawed but he still has a better record than anyone on this board.

Are there any legit Fire Joe arguments that make sense?

so you think he is a top 5 coach? how much of these results are from his coaching or the players? You think we can do no better? Show me joes resume versus others. Because we are not NBA coaches does not make him infallible or beyond criticism. so you would take nobody else in the NBA right now over joe if offered?

Let me tell you something. There was  aguy named leslie miles who won a natty and played for another. he rode talent and some assistant coaches. he himself could not coach his way out a paper sack. it showed per performances, lack of adjustments, player and game management, etc. no differentthan what we see with joe now.

send joe to college and lets see what he can really do. or send him to a rebuilding team. not a team LOADED with stars.

do it and tell me the results.

i will be patiently waiting

Are the top 5 coaches the only guys that shouldn't be immediately fired to bring in someone new? No one is saying he's beyond criticism, but criticizing someone and saying they should be fired aren't the same thing.

[Goldstar88]

Fire him now! Before it’s too late!! 

[Roy H.]

Congrats, Joe.  You could see during the trophy ceremony that the players love him.  12-2 in the playoffs, 76-20 overall this year.

[ozgod]

Fire him now! Before it’s too late!! 

I guess he saved his job for at least the next game…he’s on a game to game basis, the pink slip has been signed, just needs to be dated 

[mobilija]

How about the move to take out Tatum w 5 fouls for a defensive sequence and insert Tillman? Then a timeout. Tatum went on to influence every possession down the stretch w either buckets, rebounds or defense.

Quality in game management from Joe. Growing up right before our eyes 

[Redz]

Congrats, Joe.  You could see during the trophy ceremony that the players love him.  12-2 in the playoffs, 76-20 overall this year.

Greatest winning percentage in the history of the league.  With a “good coach” we’d probably be undefeated during his tenure.