Joe Mazzulla on the criticism he and his staff received after the Celtics’ first round exit: “That’s deserved criticism. One, you don’t end your season on a loss. Two, you’re up three games to one. You have to be able to win a game, and we don’t. So that starts with me.”
The reality is that the Jaylen Brown trade came on the heels of a season that ended in undeniable disappointment. The Celtics held a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Philadelphia 76ers, but lost three straight games, becoming the first group in franchise history to blow a 3-1 lead.
As such, he and his coaching staff have been handily criticized all summer.
When I ask about that flood of criticism — a sharp departure from the flowers they received during an unexpected 56-win campaign — Mazzulla interrupts me.
“As we should be,” Mazzulla said. “That’s deserved criticism. One, you don’t end your season on a loss. Two, you’re up three games to one. You have to be able to win a game, and we don’t. So that starts with me.”
The Celtics notably have the exact same coaching staff back for a third consecutive year. That staff, headlined by coaches like Sam Cassell, Dobbins, DJ MacLeay, Matt Reynolds, and others, has been working tirelessly this summer to figure out where things went wrong in the playoffs, and how they can grow from there. It’s a process that began almost immediately after the playoff exit.
“It starts with me,” Mazzulla said. “Where can I get better? Where did I fail in the last two postseasons? Where do I have to be better? And then it trickles down to asking them the same questions.”
“You have to be honest with yourself. You have to have people who are honest around you, and I don’t think I’ve ever been around a group of guys who are more honest with each other. And we argue constantly. The most important thing is getting to the right answer.“