Mazzulla: Tatum & Brown need more credit for their leadership skills
On Wednesday’s Zolak & Bertrand program, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla called in to discuss the current state of the Boston Celtics.
THE CONVERSATION
Parts of conversation abbreviated for clarity.
Hardy: It wasn’t going well for Porzingis last night at the beginning of the game. I want to get to something that you addressed after the game, Joe. You said that Tatum and Brown both trusted Porzingis enough to get him the ball again in the second half when he finally started hitting some shots.
Between the timely shots from both him and Tatum, it just seemed like it was a really well executed plan. It was a great example of teammates trusting a player.
Porzingis obviously didn’t start well last night and didn’t have things going early, but he stuck with it. And Brown and Tatum stuck with it and trusted Porzingis to to find his groove at the end.
Joe Mazzulla: Yeah, if we want to get to where we’re going you have to have that level of trust. You have to know that you need the player standing next to you. And I think that’s what separates great teams and that’s something that we’re learning to build. So, you’re exactly right.
I thought Tatum and Brown, in their own way, dominated the game on both ends of the floor with their presence and their execution. And at times, their success, unfortunately, by the outside world, is always defined by points. And the two of them are really growing. Both of them are great teammates.
We’re setting screens so guys can get wide open and taking cuts so to open up gaps for another drive. Also, scoring in transition, scoring on defense, and offensive rebounds are all important. Then, in critical moments, throwing the ball down to Porzingis is important. We don’t want teams to switch us or make us have to change the dynamic of our late game offense.
And so, in the last six minutes, we ran back-to-back plays for Porzingis. We ran the same play twice. He missed one and then made the other one.
Tatum called the play for him both times. That’s the trust that we’re going to develop. Tatum and Brown should get credit for that kind of leadership.
SEGMENT AUDIO
Ryan Beaton is a producer for 985thesportshub.com. You can follow Ryan at @ry_beaton on Twitter.
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Celtics overcome slow start to beat Cleveland Cavaliers 120-113
On Tuesday night the (16-5) Boston Celtics welcomed the (13-10) Cleveland Cavaliers to Boston off an unusual 3 days without a game for the Celtics. Boston headed into this one at full strength with all 5 regular starters while Cleveland was on the second night of a back to back and missing a few key pieces. Early on it looked like the rest vs. rust debate was going to be an issue for the Celtics but Jaylen Brown kept them in the game early.
First Quarter
The first quarter was an abysmal one for the Celtics, it was as bad as they’ve looked at home all season. They were missing shots making bad passes and failing to rotate on defense. The only Celtic doing anything early on was Jaylen Brown as he racked up 10 of Boston’s first twelve points. Outside of Brown the Celtics were 0-8 shooting to start the game and were a mess defensively. However things started to turn at the end of the quarter as the defensive intensity picked up and the rest of the offense started to hit shots ending the quarter only trailing 31-21 after what felt like a 20 point deficit was possible.
Second Quarter
The second quarter was a different story for the Celtics as Derrick White picked up right where he left off on Friday night getting Boston back into this one. White had 10 points 1 block and 1 steal in the first 4 minutes of the second and cut the Cleveland lead to two with a trio of three pointers in a row. After trailing 29-15 Boston would come back to tie the game with a pair of Brown free throws with 3:52 to go in the half. A Donovan Mitchell technical late in the quarter would give Jayson Tatum a free throw to tie the game on a controversial out of bounds call that Mitchell was upset about. Cleveland would escape the first half with a very narrow 1 point lead after leading by double digits for most of the half, heading into the locker room leading 60-59.
Ryan Beaton is a producer and content creator for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Ryan was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts in 2021, studying Broadcast Journalism. Ryan started his radio career in college as a play-by-play announcer/producer for WMUA 91.1 FM. He produces multiple weekend shows, including: 98.5 Over/Under, Hockey Show, and Sunday Kickoff. He is also a part of the Celtics, Bruins, and Patriots Radio Network. His favorite sports are Mixed Martial Arts, Football, and Basketball. Ryan enjoys playing golf but is NOT good at it. Ryan writes about all New England sports from Patriots football to Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins.
