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

[Kernewek]

I understand the calls for a coaching change mainly because it is the easiest solution in sports.  It is a lot more challenging to change the players and in reality I just do not think the Cs are talented enough to win it all.  It does not mean they cannot but they would need some things to go their way and they need to shoot really well from 3 to overcome the talent issues they have especially with Tatum still not 100% although he has looked great.  This team is in my opinion worse than last year even factoring in all the injuries the team had last year. 

Should they win this series?  Sure and I think talent wise they are equal to or slightly more talented than the Sixers.  The Knicks though I do think are more talented. 

I am fine with a coaching change because then I can convince myself next year may be different when in reality I think this team needs more high end talent and I do not see that happening this offseason.

This was written before G7, but I think you've more or less summed up my feelings afterwards as well.

[Moranis]

Yeah, Philly had the best player and 4 of the 5 best players on the floor last night.   The Celtics just lacked the talent of the Sixers.  I've said it all year, Boston lost a lot of talent from last year.  They far out performed their talent level in the regular season and it caught up to them in the playoffs.  Maybe Mazz needs to go, but to truly compete significant roster changes need to be made regardless of who is coaching.   The talent just isn't good enough.   I think we like to pretend that last year's 2nd round loss was a fluke, bjt it wasn't and then they got worse.  Sure I thought they'd beat the Sixers, but I also didn't think Embiid would be back and certainly not back and fully healthy.  That may have changed my calculus of the series. 

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

First time in franchise history to blow a 3-1 lead.

Joe Mazzulla is the first coach in NBA history to lose 3 series with a 90% win probability.

The Celtics 3 series losses have come within the first 4 years of his coaching tenure.

Game Breaking and Historical.


 


https://x.com/pranavsriraman/status/2050759281008337193?s=46

[Birdman]

Can?t blame Joe for Tatum being out and others players missing shots.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Can?t blame Joe for Tatum being out and others players missing shots.

one more time man Jeeeez

so you agree with NO INSIDE GAME?

you agree with hating HIGH % shots?

you agree with just chucking threes?

contested?

uncontested?

even if not falling?

even if only down 1 to 3 points?

refuse to drive?

did you hear the announcers rake this idiotic coach over the coals? over what i just listed above?

This moron would make a team of 5 SHACKS shoot 3 ball non stop. 

[No Nickname]

I keep wavering back and forth on Joe. 

On one hand, I see this idiotic starting lineup (sure if he tried it out earlier in the season and saw something, great.  But that wasn't the case).

And I'm looking at all of this three-point chucking, especially D. White.  I don't mind White shooting in rhythm, even when contested.  But his take two steps backward chucks are absolute TRASH!  Why hasn't a coach told him to NEVER shoot those again???

But then we're down only one with a few minutes left, and we miss four wide open shots that could have put the C's in the lead.  And I'm thinking, gosh if they had played a more traditional strategy would they have even been in this position?  Or still down 10?  Was Joe right?

It's so hard to figure out with this guy.

[angryguy77]

https://x.com/i/status/2050956938284826908

This is what happens to a team only looks for 3's.
This ended up being a kickoff to PP that he missed.
Brown hits Q there and we get a dunk putting us up by 1.

[angryguy77]

Dp

[flybono]

Can?t blame Joe for Tatum being out and others players missing shots.

one more time man Jeeeez

so you agree with NO INSIDE GAME?

you agree with hating HIGH % shots?

you agree with just chucking threes?

contested?

uncontested?

even if not falling?

even if only down 1 to 3 points?

refuse to drive?

did you hear the announcers rake this idiotic coach over the coals? over what i just listed above?

This moron would make a team of 5 SHACKS shoot 3 ball non stop.

It all starts in practice, making adjustments for both Coaches and players

I?d fire Joe Monday and move on, but again if the organizational philosophy is what we see game after game ?your screwed?

His only value right now is, reports are Giannis likes him!

[Indocelts]

Joe is a great motivator but not a great strategist/analyst. If I were to build a strong sales team I would hire him in a heartbeat. His team will work hard but not smart. You may achieve your target but not the maximum output you can get.

[jpotter33]

https://x.com/briantrobb/status/2051739217961607679?s=46

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2026/05/joe-mazzulla-shows-troubling-pattern-after-celtics-collapse-to-76ers.html

[Csfan1984]

Im chalking up game seven lineup madness to a psychotic break due to Tatum pulling a Kyrie. But regardless I feel Joe is going to take at least another year to reach a good coaching level. You can see his growth

[jambr380]

Im chalking up game seven lineup madness to a psychotic break due to Tatum pulling a Kyrie. But regardless I feel Joe is going to take at least another year to reach a good coaching level. You can see his growth

I honestly feel like people are overreacting to the game 7 starting lineup (not saying you are in your comment). Those 3 played incredibly hard in the 4th quarter of game 6 and at least made it a little more respectable. I believe he was rewarding them for their effort, while showing the others (Queta and Hauser mostly) that their spots are not guaranteed.

It obviously didn't work in the short term, but that's because Philly came out on fire from 3 and we were left in a daze missing all of ours. But I do believe it helped Queta. He had his best game of the series in game 7. We also had every opportunity to win down the stretch and just decided to blow it per usual.

I'm not a huge proponent of Joe, but I don't think he lost that game for us. In fact, it was probably the game in which he made the most adjustments all season. Not just the starters, but going zone, using Hugo at Center to shift energy, and then riding the lineup in the 4th - especially Brown and White - that was getting us there.

[jpotter33]

Im chalking up game seven lineup madness to a psychotic break due to Tatum pulling a Kyrie. But regardless I feel Joe is going to take at least another year to reach a good coaching level. You can see his growth

I honestly feel like people are overreacting to the game 7 starting lineup (not saying you are in your comment). Those 3 played incredibly hard in the 4th quarter of game 6 and at least made it a little more respectable. I believe he was rewarding them for their effort, while showing the others (Queta and Hauser mostly) that their spots are not guaranteed.

It obviously didn't work in the short term, but that's because Philly came out on fire from 3 and we were left in a daze missing all of ours. But I do believe it helped Queta. He had his best game of the series in game 7. We also had every opportunity to win down the stretch and just decided to blow it per usual.

I'm not a huge proponent of Joe, but I don't think he lost that game for us. In fact, it was probably the game in which he made the most adjustments all season. Not just the starters, but going zone, using Hugo at Center to shift energy, and then riding the lineup in the 4th - especially Brown and White - that was getting us there.

But I think that's the root of the problem - he's dogmatic in his ways to the point of harming his team. As the article I shared above highlights, he's stuck to his extreme three point philosophy all along, and it has absolutely screwed us three out of four years, with the only exception being the year we simply out-talented everyone else.

While this analytics approach may work out over the course of an 82 game season when the numbers will average out over time in terms of shot quality versus expected field goal percentage, as we saw this year and 2023 and 2024 that doesn't necessarily equate to the playoffs and the shorter seven game series where a short-term shooting variance can lose you a series.

If after four years he's not changed and is just as entrenched now as he was then, what makes anyone think he's going to change, especially given his extreme, eccentric personality and character that enjoys being the outsider and fringe guy?

[Roy H.]

Im chalking up game seven lineup madness to a psychotic break due to Tatum pulling a Kyrie. But regardless I feel Joe is going to take at least another year to reach a good coaching level. You can see his growth

I honestly feel like people are overreacting to the game 7 starting lineup (not saying you are in your comment). Those 3 played incredibly hard in the 4th quarter of game 6 and at least made it a little more respectable. I believe he was rewarding them for their effort, while showing the others (Queta and Hauser mostly) that their spots are not guaranteed.

It obviously didn't work in the short term, but that's because Philly came out on fire from 3 and we were left in a daze missing all of ours. But I do believe it helped Queta. He had his best game of the series in game 7. We also had every opportunity to win down the stretch and just decided to blow it per usual.

I'm not a huge proponent of Joe, but I don't think he lost that game for us. In fact, it was probably the game in which he made the most adjustments all season. Not just the starters, but going zone, using Hugo at Center to shift energy, and then riding the lineup in the 4th - especially Brown and White - that was getting us there.

Counterpoint:  Game 7 isn't the time to put out a lineup that has played *zero* minutes together all year.