Joe Mazzulla Discusses His Growth and Handling Celtics' Championship Expectations: 'Swing for the Fences'

Joe Mazzulla's putting more of his imprint on the Celtics in his second season. As Jayson Tatum shared, his team's buying into their head coach's vision.

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After getting thrown in the fire last season, Joe Mazzulla's calmer, he's more comfortable, and he's put more of his imprint on the Boston Celtics in the early stages of his second year at the helm.

One way he's done so is through his first opportunity to fill out the coaching staff as he saw fit. That included adding two of the NBA's top assistants, Charles Lee and Sam Cassell.

Another way is adjusting how he manages himself to be the best at his job.

"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 conveyed 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."

Following Boston's 123-110 exhibition win over its opening night opponent, the New York Knicks, Jayson Tatum praised his head coach's impact on the Celtics' culture and environment. He also voiced that the team has bought into his vision.

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Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla talks with forward Jayson Tatum (0) from the sideline.

Regarding placing his stamp on the culture of one of the most storied franchises in sports, Monday at the Auerbach Center, the Johnston, Rhode Island native expressed the following.

"I think that was, for me personally, one of my most important goals this offseason was to just kind of enhance, not necessarily change, more enhance it. It's the Celtics, and there's ultimate alignment from top to bottom, from ownership to front office to staff to players to (the) people that work here. And so just looking for ways to enhance that, I think, is something that we should be doing every single year. And our guys have done a good job of carrying that forward, of really buying into what that mindset is, and that's going to be important for us."

The former West Virginia Mountaineers floor general also shared another area that time and experience have translated to progress: Handling the enormity of this season and the pressure on his team to win a championship.

"You definitely embrace them. You can't ignore them. If you ignore them, you're lying to yourself. So, I think that's another area of growth for me as a coach from year one to year two is this idea of surrender. You have to get rid of the fact that this is the situation that you're in. You've got to swing for the fences, do the absolute best that you can, go balls to the wall, and surrender the result of what may happen. 

"And so there was a process for me internally of, 'Hey, I have this opportunity to coach one of the greatest organizations, my hometown organization, (and) at the end of the day, I can't really control what's going to happen to me other than what I can do every single day. There was even some of that this offseason, this idea of surrendering to that whatever may happen and just say, '[expletive], we're gonna just go for this thing.'"

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Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla against the Philadelphia 76ers during the fourth quarter of game three of the 2023 NBA playoff at Wells Fargo Center.

As Mazzulla and the Celtics pursue Banner 18, he knows he must keep this team grounded and focused, with people, from the fan base to media members and former players, so bullish on what they've put together, adding Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis as Tatum and Jaylen Brown prepare for their first season where both are in their primes.

"Yeah, I mean, a lot of people have heard you try to treat praise and criticism the same because they both can be detrimental and obviously, it's easier to do one and not the other. At the end of the day, I think it goes back to understanding that we have a responsibility to each other. We have a responsibility to the brand. We have a responsibility to the organization to do the absolute best that we can and do it together. And I think it's more about who are we going to be when it's going well and who are we going to be when it's going bad. That will say more about us throughout the season than how we are right now when everything's kind of going our way."

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Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) celebrates with guard Jaylen Brown (7) during the fourth quarter of game five of the 2022 eastern conference finals against the Miami Heat.

And while lifting the Larry O'Brien Trophy at the end of the season is the ultimate goal, the Celtics don't want that to take away from their daily focus. They've prioritized maximizing each day, a refreshing and more beneficial approach than the 2022-23 campaign, when there was, at times, a sense they were looking ahead to the playoffs.

The commitment to a different mindset has led to a training camp earning rave reviews from players and coaches.

"Training camp is a process, (and) we've gotten everything out of our guys that we needed to from a training camp perspective on philosophies and things that we want to get done," Mazzulla stated on Monday. "And you know, it's that balance of like everybody wants to play really well on opening night, and so doing that and at the same time knowing it's a long year and we have to just continue to chop away at it every day."

Further Reading

Jrue Holiday Discusses Celtics Opening Night, Teaming with Rajon Rondo, and Uplifting Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown

Jaylen Brown Teams with Johnny Cupcakes to Give Back to Boston

Rajon Rondo Latest Former Celtic to Spend Time with C's

Here's What Stood Out in Celtics' Win vs. Hornets: Boston's Ready for Regular Season

Celtics Embracing Sacrifice in Championship Pursuit: 'Have to Buy into That'

The Latest on Celtics' Extension Talks with Derrick White

Al Horford Shares Where Kristaps Porzingis Has Impressed Him Most

Under Joe Mazzulla, Celtics Rebuilding Brotherhood Between Past and Present

Candace Parker on Celtics Trading Marcus Smart, Maximizing Tatum-Brown Tandem, Pat Summitt, and the Sports Matter Initiative

Here's What to Know About Celtics' 2023-24 Schedule

Dwyane Wade Discusses Jayson Tatum's Next Step, Him and Jaylen Brown's Challenge, Heat Culture, Pat Riley, Damian Lillard, and Life After Basketball