Joe Mazzulla on being a finalist for NBA Coach of the Year: ‘I haven’t made one basket all year’
“I would like that to be changed to staff or organization [of the year], for sure,” Mazzulla said. “I think those things are important."
Though he called the award stupid and said he didn’t want to be asked about it, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla is one of three finalists for NBA Coach of the Year.
The NBA announced Sunday that Mazzulla, Detroit’s J.B. Bickerstaff, and San Antonio’s Mitch Johnson are the top three candidates for the award.
Mazzulla said coaching talented players who care about winning is the “greatest gift” of showing up to work for the Celtics. He’d prefer if entire coaching staffs were recognized for the award instead of just one coach, but he also said that no one impacts an organization’s success more than the players.
“I would like that to be changed to staff or organization [of the year], for sure,” Mazzulla said. “I think those things are important. Again, I think if it were Staff of the Year it’s different than if it were Organization of the Year, but at the end of the day I haven’t made one basket all year.”
“Our staff hasn’t made a basket. We haven’t made one block. We haven’t ran back on defense. We didn’t play a back-to-back. We didn’t have to play hurt. We haven’t really done [expletive]. If you don’t have the guys to put you in position, it doesn’t really matter.”
Mazzulla’s efforts to deflect attention from the recognition he is getting are no surprise to Derrick White, who said it’s just part of who the coach is.
“I don’t think he’s changed much since I met him,” White said. ”I think he doesn’t like the attention on him, and he doesn’t make it about himself. Obviously he’s done an amazing job this year and when he wins it will definitely be well deserved.”
Payton Pritchard said Mazzulla’s impact is felt throughout the organization. He sets the tone for how the team prepares.
“I think Joe just does an excellent job of holding everybody to a high standard of work ethic and showing up to work every day and just putting that time in,” Pritchard said. “I’ve talked about it before, but everybody just comes in. It doesn’t matter if it’s training staff, weight room.
“It definitely starts with Joe and the expectations that he has and the standards that he holds people to.”
Staying sharp
After a 32-point blowout win, nothing guarantees the avoidance of a Game 2 letdown. Mazzulla said the process for winning remains the same as it was during the regular season and preseason.
Focusing on winning the margins and maintaining a high effort level will be key as the Celtics attempt to take a 2-0 series lead Tuesday night.
“There’s a humility aspect of what it looks like when we’re at our best playing a certain type of way,” Mazzulla said. “From a physicality standpoint, an effort standpoint, which we try to bring every single night and then there’s just possessions that you have to get better at regardless of whether you win or not.”
White said the energy feels different now that the playoffs are here, especially with other Boston sporting events contributing to the atmosphere this week.
“You go to the arena and they’ve got the pictures of you on the streets and saying it’s playoffs everywhere,” White said. “You definitely feel it, and I think every game it just kind of goes up a little bit more.”
“It’s something that you look forward to, and I think the fans have been looking forward to it. There’s that energy around the whole city at the time of the playoffs, so it’s a pretty exciting time around here and we’ll go out there and perform our best.”
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