Joe Mazzulla addresses Celtics backcourt’s early struggles

The Boston Celtics backcourt, led by guards Derrick White and Payton Pritchard haven’t had the stellar start to the season that many believed they could be capable of. 

In fact, they both have had dreadful starts to the campaign on the offensive end, especially from beyond-the-arc. 

White is 20-for-76 shooting from three, good for 26.3%. Pritchard is actually worse, hitting at a 21.3% clip from three. 

Joe Mazzulla joined Zolak and Bertrand on Wednesday to discuss the state of his team, including the performance of his starting guards. 

The Celtics head coach believes the two will eventually find their shots, considering how well they have shot the ball in recent years. 

“I think it's a combination of both, because at the end of the day, you empower especially the great shooters that we have who have consistently made shots over a much longer sample of years,” Mazzulla said. “We just have to have an understanding of  just playing the way we need to stick to the process of winning.” 

Mazzulla actually blames himself for White’s inability to get things going on the offensive end. 

“I think that’s definitely 100% on me,” Mazzulla said. “(I have) to do a better job of helping him get going. It's getting him downhill to his right hand. It's getting him out early in transition. I have to do a better job of getting him going into half court with some different actions.” 

With a downgraded roster compared to last season, White is getting a lot more attention from opponents as Boston’s clear second scoring option. That could be a clear correlation to why the guard hasn’t provided the same spark that he did in recent seasons. 

“I think it's an adjustment to the defensive system that we're playing, and I think it takes a little bit of time to get your wind, your legs, your mind up to speed,” Mazzulla said “All those things play a part in that adjustment. And they put the work in every day. I think it's just the adjustment period of the new system that we're playing.”

Pritchard has probably been the most affected by the new defenses that the Celtics are playing. The former Sixth Man of the Year has been in the starting rotation in all eight games this season. 

Mazzulla believes Pritchard is still providing valuable minutes to the lineup. 

“He's not uncomfortable at all,” Mazzulla said. “He is in a different role. But when you change your role, expectations change, and he's not defined by scoring. I always tell him that I think he's doing a lot of other great things. He had 11 assists one game. He had 10 rebounds one game. And you know, his ball pressure and his defense is one of the reasons why we're second in our pickup points this year.

“His role has changed, but he’s becoming a complete player, where you can impact winning in different ways. He’ll make shots, but it's making sure, even when he does make shots, that he's consistently doing the other things that give us a chance every night.” 

Currently sitting at 3-5 as of publication, Mazzulla believes that the Celtics have yet to put together a complete game, but if White and Pritchard can find their shots, the results will be a lot different. 

“The obvious is, we missed a ton of shots,” Mazzulla said. “But if you're looking at the process of what goes into a winning game, we've done a really good job of playing Celtic basketball for 24 to 36 minutes.”