Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla says "you have to adjust based on the roster that you have and the personalities that you have."
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla says "you have to adjust based on the roster that you have and the personalities that you have."Michael Dwyer/Associated Press
Just minutes after yielding 21 offensive rebounds in a 31-point win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was in an ornery mood, impatient about yet another question regarding his team’s 3-point heavy offensive philosophy but yet open to more inquiries about his approach in this unconventional season.
The Celtics are expected to slip considerably without the injured Jayson Tatum, who sat on the bench in sweats as the Celtics coasted to a 138-107 preseason win Sunday at TD Garden. Boston’s best player is months from returning from a torn Achilles’ tendon.
And president of basketball operations Brad Stevens was forced to trade veterans Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis while allowing two more, Al Horford and Luke Kornet, to leave via free agency to reduce payroll to avoid considerable luxury taxes.
The result has been several new faces and virtual NBA unknowns filling the roster, and Mazzulla has had to adjust his style to teach new players new things. And it’s obvious, still 10 days from the season opener, that he’s tired of 3-point questions and concerns about whether this new roster will adapt to his long-range style.
Mazzulla explained his stance as if he was only going to say it one more time. Ask again at your own risk.
“I’ve answered that question 100 times, find the 2-on-1 [matchup] and make the right play against the 2-on-1,” he said tersely. “It’s that simple. Could be a three. Could be a layup. I’ve answered that for two years now.
“Find the 2-on-1. What does the 2-on-1 present? If there’s two shooters on the 2-on-1, you pass, pass and get an open shot. If there’s not two shooters on a 2-on-1, you cut [to the basket], create a 2-on-1 in a different way. I’ve answered that for three years. Why do you keep asking that?”
And Mazzulla answered it again.
“Create 2-on-1s, find the 2-on-1. Everybody should be able to answer that question verbatim based on my answers to that question for almost three years now,” he said. “I’ve said it for three years. Why do you keep ignoring what I said? Find the 2-on-1, make the right play against the 2-on-1. For ever long I’m here, that will be the offensive philosophy.”
Mazzulla then finally admitted that because the Celtics lack the 3-point shooters from last season, they’ll likely have to find other ways to create these coveted 2-on-1 matchups. And that’s his ultimate challenge, to stress that message to a new crop of players, youngsters that are foreign to his bizarre personality and style.
Mazzulla is an acquired taste. Once the current crew of veterans became accustomed to his uncanny style, his fiery personality and his relishing of awkward moments, they would run to the dentist to get double root canals for him. They were that loyal.
So the goal is to procure that same loyalty from new players, many of whom have only heard Mazzulla stories or watched his clashes with media members on YouTube videos. Getting to know the man and getting to trust the man is a process, one he’s willing to execute on a meticulous step-by-step basis.
But what he’s making immediately clear to his newer players is what he demands, which is 100 percent effort and precise execution.
“I think you have to adjust based on the roster that you have and the personalities that you have,” Mazzulla said. “But also the type of personality that you want your team to have. Everyone is different so you have to treat everyone different but at the same time you have to have a collective personality in what you’re trying to do. You have to be able to spend time and understand what makes each person ticks but your team has to tick at a certain level.
“You have to coach the individual personality but you also have to coach a collective personality about what a group of people have to be able to do when they come together.”
Mazzulla already impressed and endeared first-year big man Chris Boucher by attending his Baptism in Montreal last month. He began talking to new guard Anfernee Simons moments after he was acquired from the Portland Trail Blazers for Holiday.
While it appeared Simons was treated like a trade chip most of the summer, not introduced to the media until 2½ months after the trade, Mazzulla reached out to make the shy Simons feel more comfortable after being traded for the first time.
“Being in constant communication and trying to get to know each other,” Simons said when asked the key to knowing a new coach. “I think we’ve been building a great relationship. I know a lot about his family and he knows a lot about mine. It’s been good. Every day we continue to build that relationship and it’s been good for me because it helps on the court when he’s trying to hold me accountable and push me to be the best version of myself.”
Those relationships haven’t been cemented yet but they eventually will be. But what the players and media do know is exactly what Mazzulla is seeking from this team, and he made it clear Sunday that if you’ve watched his teams play the past three years, his ideology should be obvious.
He may change the way he deals with his players, but he won’t change the way he coaches the game. That is a constant.
Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.