There’s no easy path forward for Celtics, Joe Mazzulla

The Boston Celtics have a big decision regarding head coach Joe Mazzulla. 

Even though the season ended with them on the brink of making history, the Boston Celtics have a lot to be proud of despite failing to become the first team in NBA history to come back from a 0-3 deficit in a playoff series.

The Celtics were one victory away from making consecutive NBA Finals appearances but they will now have to instead regroup and try again next season. More than likely this team will still be a favorite and in position to win the championship again next season but there is work to do and decisions to be made.

One of the most important decisions for the Celtics’ front office is whether they see head coach Joe Mazzulla as a long-term fixture. Mazzulla is a young head coach who could have a bright future ahead of him. He was one win away from trying to be in the company of coaches such as Nick Nurse, Tyronn Lue, Pat Riley, and Paul Westhead as first-year head coaches who have won a title.

What did the Boston Celtics learn about Joe Mazzulla?

But that will have to wait as the Celtics were eliminated in an exciting 7-game series that told us a lot about Mazzulla. Many first-year head coaches don’t easily find or have the success that Mazzulla had but many first-year head coaches won’t have the fortune of inheriting a roster with the amount of talent the Celtics have.

Many questioned whether Mazzulla was the right man for the job and many thought that Brad Stevens, the Celtics’ former head coach and President of Basketball Operations, should have gone and hired a veteran coach to lead this talented group.

It was an unfortunate situation with Ime Udoka and that led to him being let go. Mazzulla was hired as an assistant coach back in 2019. The Celtics announced that Udoka would be suspended for the season in September 2022, basically giving Stevens very little time to find a viable replacement. He chose Mazzulla who already had familiarity and chemistry with the players and hoped that he could continue to guide the Celtics in the right direction.

And while he did lead the Celtics to the 2nd best record in the NBA’s regular season, he ended up getting “exposed” once the playoffs began. Mazzulla still has a lot to learn as far as making adjustments on the fly and making counter-moves against his rival coaches in order to put his team in the best position to win.

He also has to realize that talent isn’t always going to get you but so far. Somehow the Celtics deviated from their game plan allowing them to win three straight in order for them to get back in the series. In the three wins they had in the ECF, the Celtics actually moved the ball around fluidly, attacked the paint, and played great defense.

During those three wins the Celtics also shot a combined 33.6 percent from downtown. In Games 4 and 5 their percentage from downtown was 40 percent or better. In Game 6 they shot their worst percentage of the series from behind the arc shooting an awful 20 percent. Luckily for the Celtics, Derrick White was able to save the day with his heroics or the series ends in Miami.

However, a head coach in Mazzulla’s position, regardless if it’s their first year being a head coach, must make adjustments during key situations. Even though he was outcoached, Mazzulla did a heck of a job but everyone isn’t going to see it that way.

Offense won’t win you a championship but defense most definitely will. That’s a proven fact and if Mazzulla should have learned anything from their exit from the playoffs, it’s learning that you can’t remain dormant and that it’s important to make adjustments especially when the team is failing.

It’s also unfortunate that Jayson Tatum was injured very early in the game and even though he tried to push and play through the pain he just wasn’t the same player we are used to seeing. White tried to carry the Celtics by being more assertive in the 2nd half but it wasn’t enough. Jaylen Brown tried to pick up the slack but ended up with eight of the Celtics’ 15 turnovers.

Mazzulla has to understand that one or two star players won’t get you to the NBA Finals by themselves. It takes a team effort in the playoffs regardless of how much talent a team has on its roster. The Celtics may have been able to get by using that strategy during the regular season against the lesser talented teams but the Heat is too defensively inclined and well coached.

Mazzulla should have also allowed Robert Williams III more playing time. Twenty-five minutes was the most he played in one game in the entire series as he should have gotten an opportunity to play more due to his defensive presence alone. If the Celtics do decide to retain Mazzulla, all they can hope is that he gained something from the experience and that he will do a much better job in the future.

The expectations in Boston are through the roof and the fan base desperately wants to hang championship banner number 18 from the rafters at TD Garden.