Why Joe Mazzulla is the perfect fit

After an NBA Finals appearance in his first season as Celtics head coach, it was thought that Ime Udoka would be the Celtics head man for many years to come. However, after a series of unfortunate events in a tumultuous offseason, the reigning Eastern Conference champions were left without any sort of a coach less than a week prior to the start of training camp. Many people questioned if there was anyone out there who could keep the Celtics momentum going from the 2nd half of last season into the new campaign. The Celtics weren't looking elsewhere though, as their man was already inside their walls.
Enter Joe Mazzulla, a former player at West Virginia University and an Assistant Coach with Boston since 2019, Mazzulla had no previous head coaching experience in the NBA and only spent 2 seasons coaching at the college level with Fairmont State. Why would the Celtics give him the keys? The answer was simple, the front office trusted him to get the job done. While Joe could only be given the interim tag at the time, the promotion made him the youngest head coach in the NBA at 34 years old. He was met with quite the task, being in charge of a team whose only thought is about raising banner 18 this season after falling 2 games short last June. Joe has taken these high expectations in stride, he knows that his path to being the head coach of the most storied franchise in the NBA wasn't exactly normal, but he's taking it day by day and excelling. He's added his own flair to this Celtics squad, increasing their offensive rating by over 3 points this year, up to 3rd in the NBA in a category they ranked 9th in last season. This has resulted in the Celtics being the only team in the entire league with a top 5 offense and defense in the NBA.  
Joe has faced questions for certain coaching tendencies that include his restrained use of timeouts. When asked about why he is so against using a timeout in the middle of a run, he explained how he likes that the team has to execute through the run instead of calling a timeout. While people on social media will often times criticize this strategy, the players love how much trust their coach has in them to figure it out and know that it will only help them down the road when the playoffs come around. No matter how he got here, Celtics fans should be happy to have a coach who is calm, composed, and has the trust of his entire locker room. With a 42-17 record and the current #1 overall seed at the All-Star break, head coach is an honor that is truly well-deserved. Congratulations Joe!
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Celtics diehard who enjoys basketball, golf, and hanging out with my family