Celtics' change in coaching style has allowed players to flourish

It’s easy to forget the twists of fate needed for Joe Mazzulla to end up the head coach of the Boston Celtics. Ime Udoka had an incredible first season as the team’s coach, leading them to an improbable in-season turnaround and Finals appearance in 2022. It appeared as if Udoka was here to stay, the coach of the present and future.

But we all know what happened next, and now we’re in year four of Mazzulla, who has a championship ring in his pocket, and is among the favorites to win this season’s Coach of the Year Award, as he has the Cs in 2nd place in the East at 33-18 despite playing zero games with Jayson Tatum and losing Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, Al Horfor, and Luke Kornet in the offseason.

Udoka landed on his feet in Houston and quickly turned around a Rockets team that was stuck in irrelevance. But the Rockets entered this season with title aspirations after trading for Kevin Durant, and it’s safe to say the team hasn’t quite met their expectations.

Udoka’s style wears on players

There’s no question that Ime was a great motivator, and his tough, old-school approach inspired some of the Cs star players and got them to another level. But at a certain point, all of that tough love and calling out players publicly has to start to grate on guys.

We’re seeing it this season again as Udoka is constantly calling out his players to the media, and blaming them for the team’s failures, lamenting all the things they need to do better. Sure, it works with some guys, and I can see how it would get the most out of superstar-type players, but for young players and fringe rotation guys, it has to be a lot.

On top of that, Udoka is as stubborn as they come and stuck to his ways, for better or worse. We’re seeing that play out with the Rockets’ second-year point guard, Reed Sheppard, who was drafted third overall. The Rox desperately need more shooting, scoring, and ball-handling, and with Fred VanVleet injured, the expectation was that the team would need to lean on him even more.

Instead, Sheppard has seen his minutes yanked around, and Udoka constantly leans more on his trusted vets like Josh Okogie, Aaron Holiday, and even former Celtics G League legend, JD Davison. Sheppard has his flaws, but he’s never going to get better without consistent minutes. He’s already perhaps the Rockets’ best shooter and creator outside of KD, and the fact that they aren’t giving him all these reps in the regular season when he’s clearly the one guy who can get them to the next level is nuts.

Joe Mazzulla preaches love and accountability

Now, contrast that with the Mazzulla approach, which seems entirely based on loving and trusting his players. He’s constantly empowering them, and when things don’t go well, he’s always the first one to take accountability.

And it’s clear that these methods work as he has the buy-in of every guy on the roster and constantly gets the most out of every player he has to work with. Just look at what he’s done with guys like Luka Garza, Neemias Queta, and Luke Kornet. 

Those guys had zero value and couldn’t crack rotations around the league, but they came to Boston, and rather than worry about their flaws or fit, Joe put them in positions to succeed and helped them all become valuable players.

We’ve also seen it with young players. Obviously, Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser have thrived, but even late picks like Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheierman, and now Huge Gonzalez have all become important parts of the rotation.

Both coaching styles can be effective, but what Mazzulla has brought to Boston in recent years cannot be understated. Boston fans have long appreciated Joe, and the whole NBA is coming around to what a great young coach he is this season. But things easily could have gone differently, and Celtics fans should be counting their lucky stars every day that things worked out the way they did.