Reason #3 to fire Mazzulla: This season didn’t meet expectations, so something has to change
Why it’s wrong: Impulsiveness doesn’t win championships
Firing a coach is easy. To some people, NBA coaches are like the paint in a Jackson Pollack painting. There doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason as to why something looks good or not, so just chuck different colors of paint at a wall until something seems like it looks right. If it doesn’t, there’s always more paint.
This is a moronic way to look at head coaches. NBA teams are not swimming pools that you just drop babies into to see if they swim, but rather complex webs of skill sets and interpersonal relationships, both on and off the court. As mentioned before, building a culture is not something that happens overnight, and just grabbing a new coach is equally likely to make things worse than it is to help.
It’s also the first thought fans have because the prospect of rebuilding a roster seems way harder than just swapping out one person. And it is, but that doesn’t mean swapping out a coach is generally that helpful either. In Boston, the Celtics have seen three coaches in three years, so has anyone actually asked the players if they’re ready for another administration?
I, for one, have heard nothing from the players saying they want a new coach. Maybe a more robust coaching staff is in order, but seeing as Udoka is intent on continuing to spread his ruin all over Boston, it seems he will be poaching more assistants for his less-than-a-year-long comeback tour in Houston. Thankfully for Mazzulla, Stevens is a veteran of the NBA’s coaching world and can assist in building a staff to make his life easier.
The best organizations—sports or otherwise—are goal-driven, not crisis-driven. If Stevens and the players believe there is something to build here, it’s worth keeping things together for the sake of the goals. Continuity is king.