With the Boston Celtics about to kick off a new season on Wednesday, Joe Mazzulla has been doing everything he can to prepare them for a challenging campaign with Jayson Tatum sidelined.
Given a younger, less experienced roster this season, Mazzulla has pushed them hard to improve throughout the preseason, especially on defense.
While his intense leadership style may come off as unusual at times, Jaylen Brown believes it’s exactly what this team needs.
“I think Joe’s done a great job of setting the tone, the pace, the energy, the style that we need to survive, the style that we need to play every single night,” Brown told reporters at Monday’s practice. “Obviously, we’re less talented than we have been before, less experienced than we have been before, so this is the style of basketball we have to play. We gotta double down on it if we wanna be successful.”
Without the star-studded roster they’ve had the last few seasons, the Celtics can’t rely on their talent and depth to beat teams this year. They’ll have to outplay, outrebound and outhustle opponents with more effort and a tougher, grittier brand of basketball.
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Brown believes Mazzulla has done a good job of motivating his players and getting them to play hard and push themselves, even if some of his methods and tactics seem a bit unorthodox.
“I think Joe has done a good job of that. He’s like, maybe been a little crazy, but a little crazy is needed at times. I’m okay with that,” Brown said. “You gotta be a little crazy if you wanna win or outperform people’s expectations, so I think Joe has done a great job.”
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Mazzulla will need to squeeze every ounce of talent from his roster this year if Boston wants to be competitive, so it helps that the team’s best and longest-tenured player has already bought in.
