Joe Mazzulla may well win the Coach of the Year Award this season, and rightfully so. He did incredible work with this Celtics team all season long, constantly tinkering with the rotation, experimenting with different styles and lineup combinations, not being afraid to try new and unorthodox strategies, and though it all, he constantly pushed the right buttons over and over again.
It felt like he had the Midas Touch at times and could almost do no wrong. It seemed odd when he went away from Josh Minott, and it seemed odd, but we quickly realized why when Jordan Walsh emerged. Walsh started to play less, which seemed odd, but then Hugo Gonzalez emerged.Â
And on and on it went. We saw breakouts from Baylor Scheierman, Luka Garza, and even Ron Harper Jr. It truly felt like Joe had an almost cosmic feel for the roster and the flow of games, and could do no wrong.
That’s what makes it all the more frustrating and baffling that now that the playoffs have started, Mazzulla has gone away from everything that worked and reverted to some bad habits. He has shortened the rotation, he’s running the Jays into the ground, not playing matchups or the hot hand, and he’s basically given up on a few of the guys that have played a major role in getting them here.
Mazzulla has abandoned one of the team’s biggest strengths
A massive edge the Celtics held over their competition all season was their depth, which was rivaled only by the Thunder this season. But in the playoffs, Joe is stubbornly sticking with his starters and very basic rotations, even when they’re not working, and make little sense given matchups and what the games and specific situations have called for.
This Sixers team is shallow and old; the Celtics should be using that to their advantage, constantly cycling through players to make sure their opponents are worn out by the third quarter.
Celtics should be leaning on their depth
Baylor Scheierman should be playing more. Payton Pritchard should be playing more. Derrick White and Sam Hauser should be playing less. The three centers should all be rotating to exhaust Joel Embiid. Even guys like Harper Jr. and Gonzalez should get consideration for some spot minutes.
There are plenty of things the team can try, and Joe should trust his instincts to be able to push the right buttons. What he’s doing now is very bland and vanilla, and it’s allowing the inferior 76ers to make this a series.
We’ve seen Joe shrink in playoff series’ in the past, but after this regular season, I was ready to believe that he had grown as a coach. But through five games, he seems to have reverted, and it’s costing the team. There’s still time to change, but we need to see a different game plan and some different rotations, and we need to see it soon.
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