New-Look Boston Celtics Won't Change Joe Mazzulla's Approach To Coaching

Things are always changing in the NBA.

Teams almost never stay exactly the same from year to year. There's always a trade, a signing, or at the very least a draft pick, that changes the dynamic of a locker room. The rookies from the year before get to tell a new crop of guys to go get donuts for the team flight, or whatever other ritual a team might have.

Guys who were great at roles one year head into the summer to add to their games and can come back itching to do more. Some might return fighting for a contract. Others might have gotten theirs and don’t feel quite the same urgency. Some might have started new relationships or have family issues that distract them. A few might have new brand partners or agents who are in their ears about doing certain things.

That list can go on for a while because rosters are full of human beings, and those humans can be influenced in positive and negative ways, changing who they were as players and people from one year to the next.

And a coach has to figure out how to make sense of it all.

Joe Mazzulla and his staff have a tremendous challenge in front of them this season. The Jaylen Brown trade has fundamentally changed how the Boston Celtics will play for long stretches of games, and it will require new contributions from new players, and maybe some different contributions than some players might have expected.

His first challenge will be determining the starting lineup and bench rotation. Training camp will help suss out some of those challenges, but in my opinion, Mitchell Robinson should start games because that prevents any “hack-a” scenario. Even if that's a minimal risk in the regular season, getting used to a certain rotation cadence will be important from the beginning.

That would mean Mazzulla convincing Neemias Queta that the starting job he worked hard to earn last season will turn into a bench role. That's not to say Queta will lose minutes or opportunities, but some players believe starting or coming off the bench is important. To be fair, Queta has never expressed that, and he just got a big contract extension, so a reserve role now doesn’t hurt him in any kind of business sense.

Stylistically, the Celtics should look pretty similar as they have in the past. Robinson and Queta put enough pressure on the rim offensively that teams will have to collapse on their rolls to protect the rim. That should open up wing shooters in a way that Boston didn’t create at the beginning of last season. Starting with a solid, consistent center rotation will give the Celtics a consistent ability to create drive-and-kick opportunities.

One question from this point would be whether Mazzulla adds an emphasis on secondary attacks. Brad Stevens was pretty clear that he wanted Boston to get to the rim more, and driving again off those kick-outs is a good way to do it. A pick-and-roll with Robinson and Jayson Tatum that leads to a kick-out to Derrick White could lead to a wide-open three, but White can also attack again, maybe finding a lane to rim or dumping it off to Robinson on the baseline.

In reality, Mazzulla has always preached making the right read, which is often where people misinterpret Boston’s offensive philosophy. The purpose of Mazzulla’s offense is to create advantages and then make the right read off of how the defense reacts. Because the Celtics have had Tatum and Brown attracting defensive attention, the passes have often led to open three or secondary assists to another shooter. The emphasis is never to just take threes, even though that's a shot they get very often.

Passing up good looks for the sake of driving is an easy way to make mistakes.

“An open kickout three is a good shot. And those are the ones we would like to get,” Stevens said back in May. “There are times where even a pull up contested shot, if it's a two-for-one, or if it's a situation where you’ve got a guy backtracking on his heels, whatever the case may be, your person has the right amount of talent, but each shot should be evaluated for what were your other options on that possession.”

The Celtics offense will very likely look very similar to the one we’ve always seen. It’s also hard to argue with a style that has led to a perennial top-five offense. Where Mazzulla has to rein his guys in is the five or so forced shots per game that drive people nuts. It’s impossible to stop every bad shot in the world, but there can be an emphasis on limiting some of the more audacious attempts.

Some of that might naturally happen with the new center rotation and higher expectations from supporting players. Some of these bad shots might be a result of inflated egos, but better teammates creates better opportunities and more willingness to explore those. Queta or Robinson streaking down the lane can be seen as viable offensive threats, not just rebounders coming into the picture to rebound for someone. Baylor Scheierman in the corner is a great option for a swing pass if a defender is closing out hard.

The concept of making “the next right play” is talked about often, but the concept of what’s “right” being subjective isn’t. Two players involved in the same sequence might see different options as the right thing to do. Avoiding that is partly on Mazzulla to hammer home in film sessions, and it’s also partly on the players to trust each other enough to be on the same page.

“I just want to win,” Stevens said. “I don't think play style comes before roster. You got to figure out who you have and then play to the strengths of your team. But that's on both ends of the court. … Play style should be dependent on who's on your team.”

This team is built to do what Mazzulla has always wanted to do. He has spent time with each of his players this summer, traveling all over the world to spend personal time with them in familiar settings, training with them from time-to-time, and doing who knows how many other things that will never be revealed, but endear him to his players.

There are misconceptions about him floating about the ether, but he doesn’t care about that. In fact, he might have intentionally played into a few of them just to throw some people off the scent. Mazzulla doesn’t want to let anyone into his team’s fortress.

Inside, the goal is to learn about each other, learn about the game, and become one hive mind working towards the same thing. If they can do that, they can win, and winning is all that matters.

Add us as a preferred source on Google