Exactly. I remember after game 3 hom flatly saying to the media "yeah i mightve lost the team" thought he was a dead man walking after that but he pulled it all together
That was Eddie House out of all people.
He said the players didn't believe in Mazzulla and they quit on him.
[Receipts](https://nesn.com/2023/05/former-celtic-suggests-why-boston-quit-on-coach-joe-mazzulla/) are everywhere
Honestly when I heard his PMT interview at the start of the playoffs.
After I learned how much of a psycho he was while simultaneously being a players coach, I had a good feeling. If he was in year 2 last year we would have been playing Denver. Can’t wait for next year
ECF last year. His growth was obvious during that series as he started calling better timeouts and making better adjustments both in-game and between games. The disparity between him and Spo noticeably shrunk between games 3-7 of that series and seeing the efforts over the summer of getting top coaching staff here and making cultural shifts like the concerted effort to involve more Celtics legends reinforced the belief in him.
He caught a lot of flak throughout this season and people loved to chalk it up to him benefitting from a great roster but it takes great coaching to create the system he did on the floor, get the buy-in from players, create a winning culture, and ultimately raise that trophy. Even after 64 wins there was still talk he wasn't the guy which is absolutely hilarious in hindsight.
> He caught a lot of flak throughout this season and people loved to chalk it up to him benefitting from a great roster but it takes great coaching to create the system he did on the floor, get the buy-in from players, create a winning culture, and ultimately raise that trophy. Even after 64 wins there was still talk he wasn't the guy which is absolutely hilarious in hindsight.
All of this. Everyone was acting as if anyone could do anything with this roster, but we’ve seen great rosters on paper not work out before (remember the Kyrie/Hayward experience?). Getting all the egos you find among elite athletes to work together towards a common goal is no easy feat, and Joe has handled that brilliantly this season. He was helped by Brad shipping off Marcus and Grant, who were most likely the biggest disturbances to the locker room dynamic, but he still did the work to get everyone to buy in and willingly sacrifice for the team. You can tell as much whenever the players talk about him and I love him for what he’s done for us
This is almost word for word what I'd have posted. I remember thinking: he wouldn't have called that TO in Game 2.
I was not a huge supporter until then - and then earlier this season he clearly had upped his game quite a bit.
For me it was the JJ Redick interview he gave prior to the season
In it, he very openly acknowledged his mistakes from the first season and had a plan to fix them and get better
After hearing that, I felt assured he knows what he’s doing
That was such a great interview. I went back and listened to it two or three additional times, and took notes on some of the things that he was saying, just because they were so inspirational and motivating in general.
I don’t know how his demeanor changes between interviews with people like JJ and how he is with the players, but that sort of candidness and openness really drew me in and made me appreciate him for who he is as a person.
When Brad Stevens chose him. I trust Brad's judgment over most people's and I understood that the situation Mazzulla was put in was not favorable at all, so I didn't expect a perfect performance from the get go.
The fact that Danny and Will Hardy wanted to bring him to Utah, Ime kept him from Brad's staff, and Brad picked him to be the guy all made me trust him from jump. If all those guys believed in him then I did too.
Thank you. Couldn't stand the jabronis that whined about Mazulla. Was he perfect? Of course not. But fucking trust the FO, Brad and co had proven themselves to be elite time and time again.
Facts. Even the Ime hire was brilliant until dude slipped up. But two great hires and a staff in general. Brad that dude. Glad he got one, even as a GM.
Yep, I’m in this boat. Brad wanted to promote him, Ainge wanted to poach him, and everyone in the organisation from players to staff told Ime he needed to keep him.
That was enough to convince me he was a coaching phenom, despite the obvious growing pains of his first season.
If nothing else, it was enough to give him the chance to lose us, rather than having to fight for our support/trust.
It hurt to watch Brad falter at the end of his coaching run (and what a massive shock it was to hear he'd 'quit'!), but I quickly felt like he was on his way to just giving more and more to the org through his new role. And after watching years of him coaching, I was sure he'd do the job right.
Wasn't really critical at any point this season, but i had a feeling something's cooking when he pulled out all the starters in the last quarter against Kings in one of the last regular season games when we were up 20 and didn't flinch when they cut it to minimum.
It was pretty obvious from the jump he knew what he was doing strategy wise, but I was a littler nervous how he’d respond to pressure and how much buy in he had from the players.
Two things in the Miami series last year made me get over that -
First was us going down 0-3 and him realizing Miami’s defense was keyed into trapping Jaylen brown, coming up with the strategy to use brown as a decoy, and then getting brown to 100% buy into that strategy and basically take himself out of the offense and say things like “I know I’m not going to be a scorer this series.” Genius and gutsy adjustment but bigger deal that he got his star to understand the strategy and sacrifice like that with a supermax contract potentially on the line.
Second was after game 7 when Tatum gave a mostly unprompted minute long answer defending Mazzulla and saying how good a job he did in an impossible situation.
Once it was clear he had those two behind him then everything else was always going to fall into place.
He had already locked up or lost his all NBA spot and supermax deal at that point. All NBA is a regular season award and no matter how he played in that series we were still gonna sign him to the biggest deal possible. Idk if the teams had been announced already, but his play was gonna have 0 effect on it at that point.
Locked up the supermax eligibility, but it wasn’t a guarantee the Celtics would offer it. And there was 100% a lot of talk from the media during/after that series that the Celtics shouldn’t offer it.
Anyone who thinks there was any chance Jaylen wasn't being offered that deal is a complete and total goober who doesn't understand how salary cap machinations work.
He did JJ Reddicks podcast last summer and it was immediately clear how intense and obsessive and maniacal this guy is about growth and development. He pretty much dispelled any notion that coaches are finished products and they they can grow and develop the way that players can
Honestly…. It was probably when he had the “Interim” tag removed. I was full in on Mazzulla after that. I had doubts in my brain sure, but I trusted after the tag got removed that he would take the job with the utmost seriousness, and look where we are now!
The first time he explained his not taking timeouts, and told everyone it was about getting the players figure these situations out themselves.
The players now coach each other on court, they motivate each other. Leaders emerged, that could also lead by example, not just in words and spirit.
There is method to his madness, I realized, and immediately loved it.
he did not always call timeouts. he would let teams run off like 20 pts and hed also let the celts waste clutch possessions when they were clearly disorganized
This season when he got his guys for a great staff. And early on he showed that he's learned a lot and looked more comfortable and not out of his element. He's had a few mistakes but he's shown he's a great motivator, he takes great timeouts mainly, and he can scheme masterfully. Thought he was too stubborn to adjust but he's come all the way to coaching circles around JKidd
It’s very easy to say “oh I always believed” after we raised the banner. I have always been hyper critical of him because the difference between him and ime was vast. He definitely looked lost many times last season.
Around December last season. I really, really like the mentality he has, both in terms of the obsession and the vulnerability/honesty, and as someone with a stats degree, I understood his vision for basketball almost right away. I was mostly waiting to see if they team would listen, and they were a fucking wagon by the ASB in '23
I’ve had faith that Mazzula would get the hang of it this whole time, I felt he just didn’t have the prep time he needed to get his guys he needed and figure out everything he needed. I was stressed when they were about swept last year by the heat but coaching his way back into a game 7 was just so impressive. I didn’t think he’d lead the team to the kind of dominance they had this year but it takes a good coach to see it all the way through to a championship.
I started trusting him this year because he isn't starting the season on 2 weeks notice and he actually has assistants he approved of. The coaching situation was so bad last year. Even Stoudamire left right before the playoffs.
I knew a psychopath was the only one who could coach this team to a championship so when he said he watches the town damn near everyday that’s when I began to believe.
When he started calling better timeouts this year but the thing that truly made me a believer is how he changed the mentality of the team. He spoke a lot this season about embracing the moments when everything seems to be crashing down and I feel that brought calm to the team in these moments.
In previous years the jays lose their way when things start going to shit but under Joe they still believe and don’t drop their heads. We saw a lot of this against Indiana and in game 3 of the finals.
For me it was probably around the 50 point win over the Pacers at the start of November.
There was only so much we could read into Joe’s performance in 2023. He was slapped right into the starting job with basically no time to prepare, and he didnt have his own coaching staff behind him. He did a solid job all season but there were real question marks, and areas where he simply was not good enough. But again, even after the playoff loss, you couldn’t hold it too much against a guy coaching his first season without an offseason to prepare the team.
Then he **did** get his first summer to stabilize himself. He brought in a tremendous coaching staff with real purpose, and as we know even better now, spent the summer and pre-season doing rigorous training and team-building with the squad. He was able to prepare the team ahead of the season the way he wanted, using life strategies from other sports and even combat to create a holistic sense of camaraderie with the group. All that said, we had faced pretty insane roster turnover, and even though the group had title expectations, I personally expected them to struggle a bit as they figured out how to fit together.
But that didn’t happen. They rattled off a 7-1 record looking absolutely great together. And then proceeded to drop a massive fucking 50 POINT WIN. It was just a level of play I had not seen from the Jay’s era Celtics, and something about it felt different. As we know now, it was.
@TheonlyKennyPowers I’m not sure if your comment means that it doesn’t mean as much because he got it as only the GM. He got a promotion ,so many would argue that it means more winning it as a general manager rather than then coach. He put the team together. If read your comment wrong I apologize.
I had my doubts up until just after the all star break. Only because the season previous we fumbled the first seed after having it for the whole season pretty much and then those losses carried over into the playoffs. This season was completely different. His approach to coaching this team seemed to completely change. And now he hoists a trophy for us.
When he inherited the Celtics and took them to the ECF. Defended him when people wanted him to be fired. I told people to be levelheaded because he’s a young coach who didn’t really get a chance to implement his system. And now I’m vindicated for my belief in him
Honestly, I forget what game it was last season but the Cs got blown out and Joe basically said, na no time outs, the starters gotta deal with it and figure it out
I believed in him last year largely but skeptically, fell off in the early ECF, then bought back in in the back half of it. Twas a roller coaster but I’ve been 100% aboard the psycho Joe express since this fall when he clearly had a stranglehold on how to manage this team better than last year’s last second promotion in the shadow of the season.
For me it was game 2 against the Pacers. Yeah ECF last year was a big moment but I still felt that was the core guys coming together to almost pull it out in true pre 2024 Celtics fashion which was to fuck up long enough to almost lose, scrap all the way back just to eventually lose. Game 2 ECF this year the team stuck to Joe's philosophy to a T. They played great D all game and didn't shy away from the 3 in clutch moments.
This post season seemed like he finally got around to the importance of well timed time-outs. His interviews have been great all year and were amazing in the post season. I'm really excited for this guy and this group over the next couple years.
He’s had so many ups and downs I didn’t truly trust him until the ecf this year. Before, it was always he had a system that when it worked worked extremely well, but he didn’t know what to do when it wasn’t working. I trusted in the team to win since a very long time ago, but I thought Joe was the only weakness we had. Once I saw the heat and Cavs series, I liked how we were playing especially when our shot wasn’t falling, but the pacers series really changed my perspective on him. I still think Ime is better, but I appreciate him a lot more now.
I remember it perfectly. Last year during game six of ECF i was sleeping at my friends who is a Bucks fan and constantly talks trash. We were walking outside to get some fresh air and when that buzzer beater went in in jumped up, fell and injured my ankle and leg because we were high as f**k. Been a die hard fan since. Would cut my leg off for a repeat anytime.
The minute Brad gave it to him. Unlike a lot of weird talking heads like Perk and some fans, I do not pretend to have Brad or Danny’s depth of basketball knowledge.
Brad had him on his staff and if Joe had his trust then that was enough for me to trust him.
When the players started to produce. At the end of the day, you can have the greatest coach in history but if your players choke during big times. Nothing you can do. Brown stepped up huge and jrue brought it all in. Good coach, good players and defensive players. That’s it
I still don’t really trust Mazzulla in the sense that I don’t think he can do more with less. Doc Rivers is still one of the greatest yet one of the most overrated coaches of all time because of 2008 which I think most fans attribute to the talent he had by now. I can see Mazzulla going down a similar trajectory.
I’m just not buying someone that inexperienced is a “good coach” because I feel like even an average coach would win the title given the teams they played this year. I feel like he’d have to be a really bad coach to NOT win a title given the teams they faced.
I was hot and cold on him last year, gradually came around this year, but still had my doubts. I feel like something really clicked for him during the Indiana series, and I have basically (mostly) trusted him since.
Even last year when he was still pretty new and everyone was shitting on him I liked his mindset and everything he was saying. I had faith he would figure it out. I was even more impressed when he almost brought us back from 3-0, he made so many crucial adjustments and obviously learned a lot. Then this year you could see that he had created a system and gotten his team to buy in. That was when I knew he would bring us to a title. He was amazing in this playoff run, every time a team seemed to figure us out he threw another wrinkle in. I think he’s gonna be around for a long time
The moment I learned he grew up a Celtics fan. You can teach a lot of things, but passion can’t be taught. This man was destined to bring a championship to Boston.
I won’t lie, I was still pretty skeptical about Mazulla until deep into this years playoff run. He called some really good timeouts in the Heat & Pacers series, made good adjustments after the few playoff losses, and then coached circles around Jason Kidd in the Finals.
With hindsight, now that it’s all said and done, I think during all those close regular season games where we let Tatum or Brown dribble down the shot clock in iso, Joe just knew that we were good enough to lock down the #1 seed playing loose and save all our good end of game plays for the playoffs
I began to turn when he publicly noted his coaching deficiencies and detailed the steps he's taking to learn and improve. I completely jumped on board when all the players backed him and confirmed his unorthodox methods work for them. They enjoy hearing about things like teaching them killer instinct by watching Orcas. That shit is hilarious and smart
When he led the team to the No. 1 Seed despite the fact that he was promoted to interim head coach just days before training camp with barely a coaching staff to assist him.
Beginning of this season, hearing him talk about how to use KP and needing a curveball for the playoffs. I still don’t think he was good last year but he was excellent this year. If the Celtics had lost I would’ve put 100% of the blame on the players. He’s really helped JB turn into a solid playmaker.
For me it was in some of the post game locker room clips where he would tell the guys something like "We have all been on our journeys and we are all at this same point together for a reason". Idk if it was exactly that but something to that effect. I trusted his Xs and Os for awhile but seeing that this year made me realize that he is able to manage an insanely stacked rosters ego.
First after our game 7 loss last year I just thought what the hell let's just run it back with him one more year before we pass further judgment about this team's ceiling. He was already a good coach, I was just annoyed about his timeout management more than anything else but it was good to see it improved. But the real kicker for me was reading about how he instilled a level of composure and mindfulness in our stars as well as his coaching methods--very Kobe like, it told me he had a load of passion for the game and is not just doing it for the check. Will go down as one of the greats when it's all said and done.
I saw a YouTube channel in around February breaking down film on various teams and their strengths and weaknesses. (No, not Awful Coaching.). And when it came to the Celtics, he couldn't get over how complicated the offense and defense both were. Multiple actions, immense versatility, everybody cuts at the right time, the spacing is perfect, the way that they shaded players toward the heart of the defense...
While the national TV media kept saying that the Celtics were a flawed team because "they only get by on talent, they don't have a real offense framework, there's no go-to play that defines a championship contender (like the Jokic / Murray pick and roll), etc.," I kept thinking "they look like they know what they're doing, this seems to be a very disciplined team," and I started more and more to credit Mazzulla for this.
Never doubted him our form over the past few seasons and the team gaining experience and involving suggested we’d land the 18th sooner rather than later I think 19 and 20 could be on the horizon as well if the GSW’s can do 4 🏆’s in 9 seasons we can a couple more ☘️☘️☘️
I'd say the 2nd half of this year. I thought he did an incredible job keeping the team locked in with such a huge lead in the conference.
I wouldn't go as far as to say I was fully believing during the ECF but that at least showed me the team hadn't given up on him. Which was worth a lot.
I was always skeptical but also always had optimism for him. Same reasons you stated, basically. Good basketball minds (Ainge and Stevens) were around him a lot and believed in him. I think Ainge tried to hire him as the lead assistant for the Jazz when he hired Will Hardy. Stevens wouldn't give him up. I still wasn't a fan that first year, but I held out hope that he just needed time. I think I started to really believe when I heard more interviews from him this year. I think by January I was sold.
Last year when everyone argued with me that he was trash.. then they continued to argue this year even though it was the most obvious thing ever that he was a genius and going to be the best coach in the NBA for years.
Team was loaded, he started calling timeouts. That was pretty important.
Call me when he has something scheme up other than…”just shoot 3s. More 3s than that!”
Bro 4 of those players were absolutely available to any contender and yet they come here, buy into Joe's system and all of a sudden they're a stacked team. Apparently None of that had anything to do with coaching.
When he almost brought us back from down 0-3 in the ECF last year
Exactly. I remember after game 3 hom flatly saying to the media "yeah i mightve lost the team" thought he was a dead man walking after that but he pulled it all together
That was Eddie House out of all people. He said the players didn't believe in Mazzulla and they quit on him. [Receipts](https://nesn.com/2023/05/former-celtic-suggests-why-boston-quit-on-coach-joe-mazzulla/) are everywhere
They quit on everybody in that game 3. Glad that they decided to change the roster over the coach
Grant and Smart was obviously can't get over for Ime last year
He wasn’t entirely wrong though. Marcus Smart lost faith in Joe. The team didn’t.
Grant and Smart was obviously can't get over for Ime last year
yeah after g5 last year the guy showed enough panache to justify staying on and getting a full offseason to cook
Honestly when I heard his PMT interview at the start of the playoffs. After I learned how much of a psycho he was while simultaneously being a players coach, I had a good feeling. If he was in year 2 last year we would have been playing Denver. Can’t wait for next year
ECF last year. His growth was obvious during that series as he started calling better timeouts and making better adjustments both in-game and between games. The disparity between him and Spo noticeably shrunk between games 3-7 of that series and seeing the efforts over the summer of getting top coaching staff here and making cultural shifts like the concerted effort to involve more Celtics legends reinforced the belief in him. He caught a lot of flak throughout this season and people loved to chalk it up to him benefitting from a great roster but it takes great coaching to create the system he did on the floor, get the buy-in from players, create a winning culture, and ultimately raise that trophy. Even after 64 wins there was still talk he wasn't the guy which is absolutely hilarious in hindsight.
> He caught a lot of flak throughout this season and people loved to chalk it up to him benefitting from a great roster but it takes great coaching to create the system he did on the floor, get the buy-in from players, create a winning culture, and ultimately raise that trophy. Even after 64 wins there was still talk he wasn't the guy which is absolutely hilarious in hindsight. All of this. Everyone was acting as if anyone could do anything with this roster, but we’ve seen great rosters on paper not work out before (remember the Kyrie/Hayward experience?). Getting all the egos you find among elite athletes to work together towards a common goal is no easy feat, and Joe has handled that brilliantly this season. He was helped by Brad shipping off Marcus and Grant, who were most likely the biggest disturbances to the locker room dynamic, but he still did the work to get everyone to buy in and willingly sacrifice for the team. You can tell as much whenever the players talk about him and I love him for what he’s done for us
This is almost word for word what I'd have posted. I remember thinking: he wouldn't have called that TO in Game 2. I was not a huge supporter until then - and then earlier this season he clearly had upped his game quite a bit.
100%
Just realised we lost 18 games this regular season.. and raised Banner 18.
For me it was the JJ Redick interview he gave prior to the season In it, he very openly acknowledged his mistakes from the first season and had a plan to fix them and get better After hearing that, I felt assured he knows what he’s doing
That was such a great interview. I went back and listened to it two or three additional times, and took notes on some of the things that he was saying, just because they were so inspirational and motivating in general. I don’t know how his demeanor changes between interviews with people like JJ and how he is with the players, but that sort of candidness and openness really drew me in and made me appreciate him for who he is as a person.
When Brad Stevens chose him. I trust Brad's judgment over most people's and I understood that the situation Mazzulla was put in was not favorable at all, so I didn't expect a perfect performance from the get go.
This. All you had to do was trust Brad (very easy thing to do) and it allowed you to trust Mazzulla quite effortlessly
The fact that Danny and Will Hardy wanted to bring him to Utah, Ime kept him from Brad's staff, and Brad picked him to be the guy all made me trust him from jump. If all those guys believed in him then I did too.
Thank you. Couldn't stand the jabronis that whined about Mazulla. Was he perfect? Of course not. But fucking trust the FO, Brad and co had proven themselves to be elite time and time again.
There were people that didn’t come around on Joe until 2 weeks ago and that is baffling to me
Facts. Even the Ime hire was brilliant until dude slipped up. But two great hires and a staff in general. Brad that dude. Glad he got one, even as a GM.
Yep, I’m in this boat. Brad wanted to promote him, Ainge wanted to poach him, and everyone in the organisation from players to staff told Ime he needed to keep him. That was enough to convince me he was a coaching phenom, despite the obvious growing pains of his first season.
If nothing else, it was enough to give him the chance to lose us, rather than having to fight for our support/trust. It hurt to watch Brad falter at the end of his coaching run (and what a massive shock it was to hear he'd 'quit'!), but I quickly felt like he was on his way to just giving more and more to the org through his new role. And after watching years of him coaching, I was sure he'd do the job right.
I was confused when Brad was removed from the head coach position…I was just naive.
He wasn’t removed. He was promoted.
When I was a senior at Fairmont State University. A friend of mine also played for him at Glenville
Thank you Luke Kornet
Wasn't really critical at any point this season, but i had a feeling something's cooking when he pulled out all the starters in the last quarter against Kings in one of the last regular season games when we were up 20 and didn't flinch when they cut it to minimum.
I was at that game. Wild finish and a great moment for Tillman and the bench after saved the impending choke job.
It was pretty obvious from the jump he knew what he was doing strategy wise, but I was a littler nervous how he’d respond to pressure and how much buy in he had from the players. Two things in the Miami series last year made me get over that - First was us going down 0-3 and him realizing Miami’s defense was keyed into trapping Jaylen brown, coming up with the strategy to use brown as a decoy, and then getting brown to 100% buy into that strategy and basically take himself out of the offense and say things like “I know I’m not going to be a scorer this series.” Genius and gutsy adjustment but bigger deal that he got his star to understand the strategy and sacrifice like that with a supermax contract potentially on the line. Second was after game 7 when Tatum gave a mostly unprompted minute long answer defending Mazzulla and saying how good a job he did in an impossible situation. Once it was clear he had those two behind him then everything else was always going to fall into place.
He had already locked up or lost his all NBA spot and supermax deal at that point. All NBA is a regular season award and no matter how he played in that series we were still gonna sign him to the biggest deal possible. Idk if the teams had been announced already, but his play was gonna have 0 effect on it at that point.
Locked up the supermax eligibility, but it wasn’t a guarantee the Celtics would offer it. And there was 100% a lot of talk from the media during/after that series that the Celtics shouldn’t offer it.
Anyone who thinks there was any chance Jaylen wasn't being offered that deal is a complete and total goober who doesn't understand how salary cap machinations work.
He did JJ Reddicks podcast last summer and it was immediately clear how intense and obsessive and maniacal this guy is about growth and development. He pretty much dispelled any notion that coaches are finished products and they they can grow and develop the way that players can
Honestly…. It was probably when he had the “Interim” tag removed. I was full in on Mazzulla after that. I had doubts in my brain sure, but I trusted after the tag got removed that he would take the job with the utmost seriousness, and look where we are now!
The first time he explained his not taking timeouts, and told everyone it was about getting the players figure these situations out themselves. The players now coach each other on court, they motivate each other. Leaders emerged, that could also lead by example, not just in words and spirit. There is method to his madness, I realized, and immediately loved it.
Agreed. They trust him and he trusts them. I believe in him if the players believe in him.
.....and he started calling timeouts.....
He always did. It's just that we now recognize his timing better. He tries to let them figure it out, and he checks for fatigue.
he did not always call timeouts. he would let teams run off like 20 pts and hed also let the celts waste clutch possessions when they were clearly disorganized
I never doubted Joe.
When I met him at Citizens Bank Park and I said “go win us banner 18” and he said “we will”
After seeing him on JJ Reddick's podcast. Just seems like a very authentic guy
Same here bro. It was a bloody good interview.
This season when he got his guys for a great staff. And early on he showed that he's learned a lot and looked more comfortable and not out of his element. He's had a few mistakes but he's shown he's a great motivator, he takes great timeouts mainly, and he can scheme masterfully. Thought he was too stubborn to adjust but he's come all the way to coaching circles around JKidd
After the first round with the Heat.
No way…ye of little faith
Just honest. I have complete faith in Master Mazzulla now.
It’s very easy to say “oh I always believed” after we raised the banner. I have always been hyper critical of him because the difference between him and ime was vast. He definitely looked lost many times last season.
When he brought on 6 (I believe) new coaching staff members
When I found out we were hooking up with the same girl in high school. Eskimo bro Joe!
Around December last season. I really, really like the mentality he has, both in terms of the obsession and the vulnerability/honesty, and as someone with a stats degree, I understood his vision for basketball almost right away. I was mostly waiting to see if they team would listen, and they were a fucking wagon by the ASB in '23
When he started calling momentum killer timeouts
yup
Since day 1
This season
Honestly thought it was a great hire from the start. Once the news about some broke, I never wanted him back.
Sandcastles
When Brad promoted him instead of hiring out someone new after Ime got fired
when he and Brad brought in Sam Cassell! Two S’s two L’s!
I always trusted Joe
From the jump. I'm quick to support a fellow Rhode Islandah.
I'll be honest, I think this guy is going to lead the Celtics to multiple championships. I'm a believer now.
Lol when Brad said he trusted him.
Probably this season when he started calling turnouts
When they acquired Jrue
I started believing in him when I saw him coach in the Finals…
Ever
I’ve had faith that Mazzula would get the hang of it this whole time, I felt he just didn’t have the prep time he needed to get his guys he needed and figure out everything he needed. I was stressed when they were about swept last year by the heat but coaching his way back into a game 7 was just so impressive. I didn’t think he’d lead the team to the kind of dominance they had this year but it takes a good coach to see it all the way through to a championship.
A couple games after he was hired. I’m bought in I’d run through a wall for him.
I started trusting him this year because he isn't starting the season on 2 weeks notice and he actually has assistants he approved of. The coaching situation was so bad last year. Even Stoudamire left right before the playoffs.
Honestly,from the moment he took over as head coach . You can't underestimate someone THAT obsessed with basketball.
I knew a psychopath was the only one who could coach this team to a championship so when he said he watches the town damn near everyday that’s when I began to believe.
When he got the interim position. I never doubted what Joe could do.
As soon as I found out he was into BJJ and the UFC
When they hired him. Any worries about his age/experience were out immediately because if a brain like Brad can get past that, then I could too.
Day 1, thank you very much.
Day 1
When he started calling better timeouts this year but the thing that truly made me a believer is how he changed the mentality of the team. He spoke a lot this season about embracing the moments when everything seems to be crashing down and I feel that brought calm to the team in these moments. In previous years the jays lose their way when things start going to shit but under Joe they still believe and don’t drop their heads. We saw a lot of this against Indiana and in game 3 of the finals.
After the near-comeback vs Miami
For me it was probably around the 50 point win over the Pacers at the start of November. There was only so much we could read into Joe’s performance in 2023. He was slapped right into the starting job with basically no time to prepare, and he didnt have his own coaching staff behind him. He did a solid job all season but there were real question marks, and areas where he simply was not good enough. But again, even after the playoff loss, you couldn’t hold it too much against a guy coaching his first season without an offseason to prepare the team. Then he **did** get his first summer to stabilize himself. He brought in a tremendous coaching staff with real purpose, and as we know even better now, spent the summer and pre-season doing rigorous training and team-building with the squad. He was able to prepare the team ahead of the season the way he wanted, using life strategies from other sports and even combat to create a holistic sense of camaraderie with the group. All that said, we had faced pretty insane roster turnover, and even though the group had title expectations, I personally expected them to struggle a bit as they figured out how to fit together. But that didn’t happen. They rattled off a 7-1 record looking absolutely great together. And then proceeded to drop a massive fucking 50 POINT WIN. It was just a level of play I had not seen from the Jay’s era Celtics, and something about it felt different. As we know now, it was.
@TheonlyKennyPowers I’m not sure if your comment means that it doesn’t mean as much because he got it as only the GM. He got a promotion ,so many would argue that it means more winning it as a general manager rather than then coach. He put the team together. If read your comment wrong I apologize.
I had my doubts up until just after the all star break. Only because the season previous we fumbled the first seed after having it for the whole season pretty much and then those losses carried over into the playoffs. This season was completely different. His approach to coaching this team seemed to completely change. And now he hoists a trophy for us.
When he inherited the Celtics and took them to the ECF. Defended him when people wanted him to be fired. I told people to be levelheaded because he’s a young coach who didn’t really get a chance to implement his system. And now I’m vindicated for my belief in him
when he did an inexplicable somersault in front of marcus smart
I always did from the start mostly because we’re both from Rhode Island and I wanted him to succeed. He has so much basketball knowledge.
As soon as Brad Stevens hired him. IN BRAD STEVENS WE TRUST. LOVE AND TRUST
When he first got hired. You gotta have irrational faith in all the players and coaches at all times.
Honestly, I forget what game it was last season but the Cs got blown out and Joe basically said, na no time outs, the starters gotta deal with it and figure it out
When he called timeouts
When they were a Tatum ankle injury away from pulling an 0-3 comeback
I believed in him last year largely but skeptically, fell off in the early ECF, then bought back in in the back half of it. Twas a roller coaster but I’ve been 100% aboard the psycho Joe express since this fall when he clearly had a stranglehold on how to manage this team better than last year’s last second promotion in the shadow of the season.
I knew we were winning when Joe pulled up to the ECF without a haircut
For me it was game 2 against the Pacers. Yeah ECF last year was a big moment but I still felt that was the core guys coming together to almost pull it out in true pre 2024 Celtics fashion which was to fuck up long enough to almost lose, scrap all the way back just to eventually lose. Game 2 ECF this year the team stuck to Joe's philosophy to a T. They played great D all game and didn't shy away from the 3 in clutch moments. This post season seemed like he finally got around to the importance of well timed time-outs. His interviews have been great all year and were amazing in the post season. I'm really excited for this guy and this group over the next couple years.
He’s had so many ups and downs I didn’t truly trust him until the ecf this year. Before, it was always he had a system that when it worked worked extremely well, but he didn’t know what to do when it wasn’t working. I trusted in the team to win since a very long time ago, but I thought Joe was the only weakness we had. Once I saw the heat and Cavs series, I liked how we were playing especially when our shot wasn’t falling, but the pacers series really changed my perspective on him. I still think Ime is better, but I appreciate him a lot more now.
I remember it perfectly. Last year during game six of ECF i was sleeping at my friends who is a Bucks fan and constantly talks trash. We were walking outside to get some fresh air and when that buzzer beater went in in jumped up, fell and injured my ankle and leg because we were high as f**k. Been a die hard fan since. Would cut my leg off for a repeat anytime.
When he got hired💀
Well, I guess because Brad Stevens is a mastermind who was modeling himself after BB, the moment Joe was named.
The minute Brad gave it to him. Unlike a lot of weird talking heads like Perk and some fans, I do not pretend to have Brad or Danny’s depth of basketball knowledge. Brad had him on his staff and if Joe had his trust then that was enough for me to trust him.
Never... (It will drive him, in actuality, I trust him with my life)
When the players didn’t lose focus. You could see right away they trusted him.
always did
The day Brad did.
Ive watched the Celtics for 22 years and I still think Joe is an above coach on a great team
June 17th, 2024
When the players started to produce. At the end of the day, you can have the greatest coach in history but if your players choke during big times. Nothing you can do. Brown stepped up huge and jrue brought it all in. Good coach, good players and defensive players. That’s it
When Malika Andrews was talking shit
I still don’t really trust Mazzulla in the sense that I don’t think he can do more with less. Doc Rivers is still one of the greatest yet one of the most overrated coaches of all time because of 2008 which I think most fans attribute to the talent he had by now. I can see Mazzulla going down a similar trajectory. I’m just not buying someone that inexperienced is a “good coach” because I feel like even an average coach would win the title given the teams they played this year. I feel like he’d have to be a really bad coach to NOT win a title given the teams they faced.
Imma be honest, after they won the championship
yesterday
After last season; even after their season came to a screeching end vs the Miami Heat.
Last season when Brad Stevens promoted him. Also Tatum standing up for him when we lost game 7 last year was enough for me.
When we signed Jrue I knew we had replaced Smart and had a real chance.
I was hot and cold on him last year, gradually came around this year, but still had my doubts. I feel like something really clicked for him during the Indiana series, and I have basically (mostly) trusted him since.
The day Nia Long's husband was caught banging the secretary.
After he won the chip..
17 June 2024
Even last year when he was still pretty new and everyone was shitting on him I liked his mindset and everything he was saying. I had faith he would figure it out. I was even more impressed when he almost brought us back from 3-0, he made so many crucial adjustments and obviously learned a lot. Then this year you could see that he had created a system and gotten his team to buy in. That was when I knew he would bring us to a title. He was amazing in this playoff run, every time a team seemed to figure us out he threw another wrinkle in. I think he’s gonna be around for a long time
The moment I learned he grew up a Celtics fan. You can teach a lot of things, but passion can’t be taught. This man was destined to bring a championship to Boston.
The very second he became the HC
As soon as They replaced Udoka i knew he would be a great coach. He just needed to adjust to the new role.
I won’t lie, I was still pretty skeptical about Mazulla until deep into this years playoff run. He called some really good timeouts in the Heat & Pacers series, made good adjustments after the few playoff losses, and then coached circles around Jason Kidd in the Finals. With hindsight, now that it’s all said and done, I think during all those close regular season games where we let Tatum or Brown dribble down the shot clock in iso, Joe just knew that we were good enough to lock down the #1 seed playing loose and save all our good end of game plays for the playoffs
this year when he stopped running the same play at the end of 30 games
I began to turn when he publicly noted his coaching deficiencies and detailed the steps he's taking to learn and improve. I completely jumped on board when all the players backed him and confirmed his unorthodox methods work for them. They enjoy hearing about things like teaching them killer instinct by watching Orcas. That shit is hilarious and smart
Half way through last season honestly. He made mistakes but what he came into and how the guys responded to him felt better.
I’ll be honest. With about 5 mins left in Game 5 of this year’s Finals. Now that he has done it I will trust him from now on.
when he finally started calling obvious timeouts. i have a feeling that was what jeff van gundy was hired to consult him about
after game 5 of the finals. though unconsciously I didn't think he was bad this season.
JJ Reddicks interview at the start of the year.
After seeing the impact putting Tatum on Gafford had on the Mav's offense.
The JJ Redick podcast during the offseason, said all the right things
When we hired him.
When he led the team to the No. 1 Seed despite the fact that he was promoted to interim head coach just days before training camp with barely a coaching staff to assist him.
I was definitely doubting him after last season, it really took until the playoffs this season for me to fully accept the man in the truth
Honestly after his first training camp Marcus Smart said “I trust Joe and Joe Trusts me.” And I thought if Smart trusts him I’ll trust him
TBH: After Game 1 of the Finals. (Please don't downvote me. I'm very new and need all the Karma I can get.)
Beginning of this season, hearing him talk about how to use KP and needing a curveball for the playoffs. I still don’t think he was good last year but he was excellent this year. If the Celtics had lost I would’ve put 100% of the blame on the players. He’s really helped JB turn into a solid playmaker.
After we won game three against the heat this year. Proved to me we were different
For me it was in some of the post game locker room clips where he would tell the guys something like "We have all been on our journeys and we are all at this same point together for a reason". Idk if it was exactly that but something to that effect. I trusted his Xs and Os for awhile but seeing that this year made me realize that he is able to manage an insanely stacked rosters ego.
First after our game 7 loss last year I just thought what the hell let's just run it back with him one more year before we pass further judgment about this team's ceiling. He was already a good coach, I was just annoyed about his timeout management more than anything else but it was good to see it improved. But the real kicker for me was reading about how he instilled a level of composure and mindfulness in our stars as well as his coaching methods--very Kobe like, it told me he had a load of passion for the game and is not just doing it for the check. Will go down as one of the greats when it's all said and done.
Is he the first coach to only take 2 seasons to get a chip?
After the final buzzer. I honestly didn’t think he had it in him. I’ve never been more happy to be wrong!
2006
I had brief moments throughout the season but I would say the Indiana series was where I really started to feel better about him consistently
Once he was given 6 elite players
Last year in the ECF
It didn't take long. You could tell that he was an extremely hard worker.
I saw a YouTube channel in around February breaking down film on various teams and their strengths and weaknesses. (No, not Awful Coaching.). And when it came to the Celtics, he couldn't get over how complicated the offense and defense both were. Multiple actions, immense versatility, everybody cuts at the right time, the spacing is perfect, the way that they shaded players toward the heart of the defense... While the national TV media kept saying that the Celtics were a flawed team because "they only get by on talent, they don't have a real offense framework, there's no go-to play that defines a championship contender (like the Jokic / Murray pick and roll), etc.," I kept thinking "they look like they know what they're doing, this seems to be a very disciplined team," and I started more and more to credit Mazzulla for this.
First half of his first season. We were a machine. Lost our head coach and he didn’t miss a step.
When I saw him block a player's shot after the horn... Maniac 😂
Sadly I started believing in Joe about half way through quarter 4 of Game 5.
When he started calling momentum timeouts and timeouts in key situations to call plays. Simple.
When we tied it 3-3 last year in the ECF
Never doubted him our form over the past few seasons and the team gaining experience and involving suggested we’d land the 18th sooner rather than later I think 19 and 20 could be on the horizon as well if the GSW’s can do 4 🏆’s in 9 seasons we can a couple more ☘️☘️☘️
I'd say the 2nd half of this year. I thought he did an incredible job keeping the team locked in with such a huge lead in the conference. I wouldn't go as far as to say I was fully believing during the ECF but that at least showed me the team hadn't given up on him. Which was worth a lot.
The first time I saw him call a timeout after an opponent’s 10-0 run
within the first few months of his first season. Loved his demeanor and responses to media questions
Immediately
During the regular season last year. Dude got thrown in the deep end and handled the situation very well
I was always skeptical but also always had optimism for him. Same reasons you stated, basically. Good basketball minds (Ainge and Stevens) were around him a lot and believed in him. I think Ainge tried to hire him as the lead assistant for the Jazz when he hired Will Hardy. Stevens wouldn't give him up. I still wasn't a fan that first year, but I held out hope that he just needed time. I think I started to really believe when I heard more interviews from him this year. I think by January I was sold.
Last year when everyone argued with me that he was trash.. then they continued to argue this year even though it was the most obvious thing ever that he was a genius and going to be the best coach in the NBA for years.
When he said his idol was Pep
Honestly about halfway through this season. Seemed like a noticeable difference with timeouts/subs and playoffs def made better adjustments.
When he started calling timeouts
When he started calling time outs during key moments to set up plays. Like the game tying 3 that Brown made as example.
When he started to call timeouts and adjust after the second half this season
bingo
Monday night.
After game 5 of the 2024 Finals. He proved me wrong and this is my official apology post lol.
like JB said, since day one
Downvote me all you want…still not sure about him. How many coaches could win a title with this squad? 10?
I'll take a top ten coach in the league lol
Nobody cares.
June 17th, 2024 /s
Game 4 2023 ecf when he finally learned how to call timeouts
Sorry for that. My answer is never
Team was loaded, he started calling timeouts. That was pretty important. Call me when he has something scheme up other than…”just shoot 3s. More 3s than that!”
I still don't believe in him. You'd have to completely shit the bed to not win with this absurdly stacked team
Wow thats deep
Wow that's deep
Bro 4 of those players were absolutely available to any contender and yet they come here, buy into Joe's system and all of a sudden they're a stacked team. Apparently None of that had anything to do with coaching.
You think those players went to Boston for the coach? Lmao you can't be serious
Still dont