Joe Mazzulla on Banner Night: “It was much better than I could’ve imagined”
On Wednesday’s edition of Zolak & Bertrand, Celtics Head Coach Joe Mazzulla discussed how special Banner Night was for him and the rest of the team.
Everything last season happened so fast…
Marc Bertrand:
You still riding the high from last night and everything that happened?
Joe Mazzulla:
Yeah. It was much better than I could’ve imagined. Just top to bottom, I think to me, when you accomplish something like last year, everything happened so fast. But last night was more of a culmination of really taking it all in and being back in the arena with the fans and the teammates and everybody from the organization. So, I just love the guys’ mindset and kind of taking the intangibles from the ceremony right into the game and I thought we got off to a great start, you know, mindset wise and the guys performed well.
Scott Zolak:
Are you surprised how well they played? Meaning you coached this team, you know them inside and out, but they’re human and there’s a lot of distractions from the night. I remember Bill Belichick talking about, yeah, it’s great that we recognize it, but I’ve been ready to turn the page, and I’m sure you’ve been ready to turn the page. But were you surprised how well they played on that night?
Joe Mazzulla:
No, I’m not surprised because of the way we’ve prepared and practiced throughout training camp. And again, I think you know for me during the summer and during preseason when people are talking about banner night, that is a distraction because you have practice the next day. But you know the night before and the day of, it’s not a distraction because, you know, I wanted the guys to focus on all of the intangibles and the little things that go into the process of winning. Then can we quickly transfer those into the current thing because you know, it’s about being able to replicate those things. The attention to detail, the effort, the toughness, the physicality, the mindset, that togetherness, and so those things all go into the process of winning. So, I thought it was great that the guys were able to see that from this is what we accomplish, and then how do we replicate those intangibles to, you know, continue to try to sustain success. So, I’m not surprised at all by the guys because they bring it every day in practice.
Listen to the full segment!
