Joe Mazzulla appears to have maximized his offseason. He capitalized on his first opportunity to build a coaching staff, assembling one of the best in the NBA, bringing in Sam Cassell and Charles Lee, two of the league's top assistant coaches.
The Boston Celtics' bench boss returned calmer, more comfortable in the spotlight, and with a firm understanding of how to stay in tune with the team's extended rotation.
"I probably lost the touch with eight through 15 and, kind of, missed and didn't manage some of those relationships as well as I could have, as well as I did as an assistant," Mazzulla shared during training camp.
"And then I think just like being on the court every day, you have a tendency as a head coach, you get stuck in your office sometimes because you're worried about the next game plan or the next thing like that.
"But getting back to, like, being on the court early and getting your meetings and stuff out of the way so you could be out there. And so, that's another reason (as to) why I feel a little bit more comfortable because that's where I was at my best as an assistant, was being down there with the guys."
He's also putting more of his imprint on how the Celtics are playing, including crucial changes that are helping Boston do a better job of winning on the margins.
The C's are embracing a selfless approach and "win the day" mantra that has allowed their top six and reconfigured core to quickly mesh while building a 26-6 record that has them atop the NBA standings. That has Mazzulla in line to be a head coach in the All-Star Game again.
So, when asked for his assessment of his head coach's performance to this point in the season, Celtics' owner Wyc Grousbeck conveyed the following in an appearance on the Greg Hill Show on WEEI.
"These next couple of months will say a lot. But right now, you have to give this team an A, gotta give Joe an A for coaching. He's inspirational," continued Grousbeck. "Joe is a guy that you just instinctively when you meet him and spend time with him, and I'd imagine if you were a player and he's coaching you, you would feel like you want to make him proud of you. He's one of those guys, his opinion counts."
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