Joe Mazzulla officially named head coach
- Thread starter Beale13
- Start date
For all of my minor game thread complaints, I’m fully in favor. He has been in the org for a bit already and has mostly had the team humming even while playing with less than their full deck. And you don’t want anything hanging over his head while trying to win a title.
Absolutely. Any complaints I have at this point are minor. Slam dunk move to name him by President Stevens. Now hopefully Joe feels secure enough to lose a few games down the stretch by forcing Tatum to sit out
I believe he is now officially the Anti-Coach, and Wikipedia should have an article soon.
That was certainly my first thought, since no one expects Joe to be replaced after the season he's put together so far.
Yeah doesn't seem like you can be "suspended" from a position that's been permanently filled by someone that just signed a multi-year contract.
No one expected Ime back, but they lawyers probably got together and came up with whatever parting package/terminology (resign, fired, mutual agreement, etc) was acceptable.
Least surprising news ever.
Do we know what Ime’s contract term was? It would be sort of funny if Joe was hired as the official head coach for 2023-24, but still had to ride out this season with the interim tag. (But that is not what they announcement said).
Do we know what Ime’s contract term was? It would be sort of funny if Joe was hired as the official head coach for 2023-24, but still had to ride out this season with the interim tag. (But that is not what they announcement said).
He signed a 4 year deal and in theory had 2 more years after this current one.
Have a feeling the Ime closure news will be coming shortly and he officially will not be a part of the organization.
Good timing as Coach Joe gets ready to lead Team Giannis.
I assume there will be a quiet press release about Ime after the All Star game.
I assume there will be a quiet press release about Ime after the All Star game.
I'm sure there are plenty of NBA teams interested in IME.
He broke team rules, lost a coveted role, and now should be able to find a new opening on other teams
This is a good thing during a wonderful season.
This news also has to feel good for the team as it eliminates off the court noise.
Now there's only one thing left to do...
This news also has to feel good for the team as it eliminates off the court noise.
Now there's only one thing left to do...
Meh. I know he was Brad's prized intern or whatever, but I bet ownership will dump him if they don't at least make it back to the ECF.
How many coaches can they really churn through in a year? I’m very skeptical they’d fire him for a semifinal round exit or something unless it’s a total shitshow, ie, the team visibly quits in a series.
A rebuilder like Houston could use IME's no-nonsense approach.
Yikes they took off early for ASB yesterday
4-26 over their last 30 games
Don't love all of his in game coaching, but I've never liked all of the in game coaching of any coach ever.
So long as he, like the players, kick it up in the playoffs, I could give two shits about him blowing a game over not calling a timeout in February.
IMO, the most important thing to take from this is that the real leadership of the Celtics, Tatum/Smart/Brown/Al, etc. were undoubtedly part of this decision making and if they like him, that's good enough for me. The NBA is a player's league, and keeping them happy is step #1 for a coach. It appears that Joe keeps them happy.
So long as he, like the players, kick it up in the playoffs, I could give two shits about him blowing a game over not calling a timeout in February.
IMO, the most important thing to take from this is that the real leadership of the Celtics, Tatum/Smart/Brown/Al, etc. were undoubtedly part of this decision making and if they like him, that's good enough for me. The NBA is a player's league, and keeping them happy is step #1 for a coach. It appears that Joe keeps them happy.
They would not have signed him for multiple years if there was any chance they would cut him loose after this season.
Has anyone had a better last four months than Joe Mazzulla? Found out he was going to be a head coach like a week before the season started, led his team to the best record in the league at the ASB, and now the official title and a contract extension. The players like him and the locker room appears to be in fantastic shape. Happy Brad was able to make if official before the end of the season.
Best record at the break, and he had his starting lineup from last season for a grand total of one game.
Joe deserved the interim tag being removed. I like almost everything I have seen from him this season. I do think he will get a bit better as a late game manager as he gets more seasoned, but he has checked all the other coaching boxes (culture, togetherness, playing hard all the time, attention to detail, accountability, and winning)
Joe deserved the interim tag being removed. I like almost everything I have seen from him this season. I do think he will get a bit better as a late game manager as he gets more seasoned, but he has checked all the other coaching boxes (culture, togetherness, playing hard all the time, attention to detail, accountability, and winning)
Like others, I wonder about some of Mazzulla's in game moves and non-moves. But I like his level of conviction, and that he has reasons for what he does that seem well considered, even if they are not always compelling in my view. I see real leadership skills in this guy and player buy in. And I see a lot of self-confidence and willingness to do whatever he thinks is right, regardless of conventional wisdom.
I do hope he is able to learn from his mistakes and my take is that he can.
To think that they went from where they were as an organization on the day that the Ime news was revealed to signing a 34-year old guy who has guided his team to the best record in the NBA at the break and got signed to a 4-year extension is pretty remarkable.
This does fit in nicely with the emerging story of the 2022-23 season. And will even better if they achieve their goal, to state the obvious.
I do hope he is able to learn from his mistakes and my take is that he can.
To think that they went from where they were as an organization on the day that the Ime news was revealed to signing a 34-year old guy who has guided his team to the best record in the NBA at the break and got signed to a 4-year extension is pretty remarkable.
This does fit in nicely with the emerging story of the 2022-23 season. And will even better if they achieve their goal, to state the obvious.
True. Supported apparently by the Council of Brooklyn where they hope to set up a new seat for his Anti-Coachness.
"Conviction" is a good word. (Better than "stubborn," anyway). I thought of the time out issue when van Gundy correctly anticipated that Budenholzer wouldn't foul before the 3 at the end of regulation the other night "because he just doesn't do that." I suspect that Bud has reasons that he's considered that a lot of people dont agree with. Mazzulla is a little reticent to expand on his thought process sometimes, but he doesn't owe me an explanation.
I wonder if this improves Scal's chance of making him laugh during the pregame TV interview.
The 2020-21 Celtics, and the pre-lightswitch 2021-22 Celtics would frequently have entire quarters or halves where it looked like they had just forgotten how to give effort on both ends.
The Mazzulla Celtics don't have that at all, or only very rarely (the OKC game). They give up runs, and they take their foot off the gas at times, but that's everyone.
They consistently focus, especially on the offensive end. It's very impressive, is reflected in their record, and goes beyond nitpicking re timeout usage.
Mazzulla also seems like a strong schemer, and imo his offense looks significantly better than Ime's did.
I'm very on board, and it seems like Brad and the players are too.
The Mazzulla Celtics don't have that at all, or only very rarely (the OKC game). They give up runs, and they take their foot off the gas at times, but that's everyone.
They consistently focus, especially on the offensive end. It's very impressive, is reflected in their record, and goes beyond nitpicking re timeout usage.
Mazzulla also seems like a strong schemer, and imo his offense looks significantly better than Ime's did.
I'm very on board, and it seems like Brad and the players are too.
Can't wait 'til he moves to Avignon and starts picking quasi-assistant coach-nephews...
Yes, and if he and Ime Udoka ever come together in the future, it would create a thermonuclear reaction.
Thank God I’m not the only one whose mind immediately jumped to this.
Who is the true Vicar of Basketball on Earth?
Nope. This is news he has to figure out on his own. To better prepare him for future newses.
(I'm guessing he looks forward to talking about his new deal with the national media this weekend even less than he seems to enjoy talking about everything else.)
According to twitter and this Glob article - https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/02/16/sports/joe-mazzulla-celtics-coach/?event=event25 - Cs parted ways with Ime.
Believe they said last night that JMazz would be first interim head coach to coach in the All Star Game. Not anymore!
If a good playoff coach is the one who makes adjustments as the series goes on, seems comfortable mixing rotations on the fly to solve problems, and has his guys playing hard, you have to give Mazzulla some serious props in this series so far. The gameplan on Embiid has been top notch, for starters.
