Inside The Celtics

Picks 'n Pops: Joe Mazzulla's zingers, more film study, and a possessed player


Every week, I’ll be gathering random, leftover thoughts about the Celtics, NBA, and beyond and dumping them here. This week, it included trying to get answers out of Joe Mazzulla, Jayson Tatum's workout, Derrick White being called an All-Star, and one player suddenly playing out of his mind.
John Karalis|
Jan 3, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla at press conference at the Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Jan 3, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla at press conference at the Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Boston Celtics

Every week, I’ll be gathering random, leftover thoughts about the Celtics, NBA, and beyond and dumping them here. Because I want to annoy a whole new audience.

→ It’s always a challenge trying to figure out how to ask Joe Mazzulla a question in order to get an answer. After Jayson Tatum’s workout last weekend, I wanted to get Mazzulla’s take on what that might mean for the team. Since Joe doesn’t play along, I tried to frame a question that he could answer. It didn’t work.

Sometimes you have to be the first one through the door so Joe can take you out, then another reporter later can follow up when he doesn’t have another zinger ready. So we eventually got an answer. 

“I don't know where he's at. I mean, again, I just trust the strength staff, trust the Sports Science staff. I don't know where he's at, but I trust those guys, and I know they're working really hard to put him in position to be successful and just get better every day.”

I don’t know which of Mazzulla’s approaches to not answering the question is preferable. I think I’m going with the zinger, which allows for more creativity. If you’re gonna stonewall me, at least make me laugh while it’s happening. 

→ And since this is probably a new audience that doesn’t know me, I’m totally fine with the stonewalling tactics. It’s not Mazzulla’s job to give me the answers I want, it’s my job to as the questions in a way to get real answers. If Mazzulla wants to be a moving target, then I have to be better at hitting it.

→ Tatum’s very public workout was on purpose. He didn’t have to put all that out there. I don’t think he’s coming back tomorrow, but I haven't changed my mind about him coming back this season. I’ve said March is a target for his return and I stand by that. I’m so confident that he’ll be back by March, that I’ll give you your money back if he’s not. 

→ Unprompted, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said “Derrick White is an All-Star. He’s an All-Star player. The guy is eighth in the league in blocks, and he’s such an important part of their team.” 

All-Star is about stats, and White has a habit of going into slumps right about this time of year, which allows voters to rule him out of a reserve role. Jaylen Brown thinks All-Star is just one thing White should win.

"Yeah, D-White has been a two-way player all year,” he said after the Pacers game. “I know we live in an era where that doesn't get as much praise or respect. That contributes to winning a lot. I think D-White has been playing at all All-Star level because he plays both sides of the ball, and that's no disrespect to some of the other guys that are maybe in All-Star contention. But it's a clear difference. I think Derrick is first-team All-Defensive type of ballot or maybe even Defensive Player of the Year.”

At some point, he’s going to get the Mike Conley treatment of getting a lifetime achievement All-Star. 

→ Sam Hauser explains the difference between this year’s team preparation and teams past: "It’s been a lot more film study and walkthroughs than it has in the past, just because we have a few guys that don't have much playing time in the NBA. And the last years, we had 15, 16, 17-year vets on our team that are gonna be in the Hall of Fame, a couple of those guys. So I think Joe is really trying to harp on the aspect of learning the game and trying to be the smartest team that we can be, to try to outthink our opponents and try to give us an advantage in that aspect. When you don't have, I guess, quote, unquote, as much talent as we've had, you have to try to make up for it in other ways.”

I think Joe Mazzulla’s job with this team gets more and more obvious whenever we hear something new about them. He may not win Coach of the Year, but he deserves it. The “Mazzulla sucks!” crowd has gotten incredibly quiet. 

→ Neemias Queta on becoming a better shot blocker: “Timing, positioning, knowing when to go, when not to go without giving up offensive rebounds. I feel like the game is just slowing down and becoming way easier for me to figure that stuff out. I'm just trying to stay like that and keeping on improving all that.”

Not chasing blocks is a big deal. Understanding when a teammate’s challenge is enough and you’re more important as a rebounder is incredibly important. 

Queta’s improvement is one of the biggest reasons why the Celtics are as good as they are. He was unplayable for large portions of the season last year. Now he’s a big part of the Celtics’ success. It’s a testament to the work he’s put in to get better. 

→ Jaylen Brown on Anfernee Simons: “Yeah, that boy nice. I've seen him even since he's gotten ... I knew he was good when he got here, but he's even better than I thought he was. He can really score the ball. He's really talented. And then he has made a conscious effort to play winning basketball. So that makes it all the better. Certain guys around the league can score the ball or whatever the case may be, but here we talk about being a two-way player. Here we talk about playing winning basketball. So it's much harder to do that than it is to go somewhere else and play losing basketball and put up 20 points or 30 points or whatever. So I give him all the respect in the world. He's adjusted well. And he seems like he's finding his footing, and he looks good. He's probably better than the role that he's in. He's more talented and he's taking the next steps and the next stages. He has been good. I've been enjoying it. I've been enjoying watching him, so he's just got to keep it up.”

The more I think about it, the more I think keeping him makes sense. It would probably have to be on a mid-level deal, which is about $15 million per year. If he’s open to that and probably still coming off the bench next season, then keeping him makes a whole lot of sense. 

→ Is there an Al Horford curse? He’s left the Celtics twice to avoid what everyone thought would be a tough situation, only to go to something that completely blew up in his face. 

It’s not his fault that Joel Embiid was a terrible teammate, or that Steve Kerr and Jonathan Kuminga can’t get along, or that Jimmy Butler tore his ACL. But that's what a curse is, isn’t it? 

→ I don’t ACTUALLY believe in curses, but you have to think Horford is throwing his hands up, asking himself what the heck (he’s probably using stronger language) is going on here?

→ Draymond Green saying he doesn’t do anything dirty is like me telling my doctor I don’t drink. 

This is either the least self-aware statement a player has made or Green is trolling. Either way, he’s an idiot. 

→ Draymond Green says Jaylen Brown should be in top three in MVP voting. 

Draymond is clearly an astute observer of the NBA and he presents a well-reasoned argument. He’s brilliant.

→ The LeBron James era in Los Angeles is just about over. Just go to Cleveland on a minimum deal next season, do your farewell tour, and be done with it. I think it’s time. 

→ I’ve loved the Giannis Antetokounmpo era in Milwaukee, but he has to cut the crap and just ask for the trade. No more of this publicly trashing your team and then saying you’re never going to be the one to break up. He’s trying to get the Bucks to break up with him so his hands can be clean, but that's not how this works. 

- Things might not be as bad in New York as their recent stretch suggests, but also, the problems they have with Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns on the floor are real, especially defensively. They can make a deep run if they get their act together, but they’ll never play championship defense. 

→ Shout out to this fan for taking free throw distraction to another level. 

→ I saw a car service with a sign for Scott Boras at Logan Airport when I got back from Detroit. I thought to myself, “what’s he doing here?”

→ What is going on with Jusuf Nurkic? He has put up back-to-back triple-doubles, making him the first member of the Utah Jazz to do that since Pete Maravich. Maybe he’s showing off so he can be traded. Maybe somethings clicking. I don’t know for sure, but I DO know that Nurk is my WINNER OF THE WEEK!

→ Here’s my latest podcast, if you’re bored. 

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John Karalis
JOHN KARALIS

John Karalis was born and raised in Pawtucket, RI. He graduated from Shea High School in Pawtucket, where he played football, soccer, baseball, and basketball and was captain of the baseball and basketball teams. John graduated from Emerson College in Boston with a Bachelor of Science degree in Broadcast Journalism and was a member of their Gold Key Honor Society. He was a four-year starter and two-year captain of the Men’s Basketball team, and remains one of the school's top all-time scorers, and Emerson's all-time leading rebounder. He is also the first Emerson College player to play professional basketball (Greece). John started his career in television, producing and creating shows since 1997. He spent nine years at WBZ, launching two different news and lifestyle shows before ascending to Executive Producer and Managing Editor. He then went to New York, where he was a producer and reporter until 2018. John is one of Boston’s original Celtics bloggers, creating RedsArmy.com in 2006. In 2018, John joined the Celtics beat full-time for MassLive.com and then went to Boston Sports Journal in 2021, where he covered the Celtics for five years. He has hosted the Locked On Celtics podcast since 2016, and it currently ranks as the #1 Boston Celtics podcast on iTunes and Spotify rankings. He is also one of the co-hosts of the Locked on NBA podcast.

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