Mazzulla Ball.
Just reading that, you have a picture in your mind. I’m guessing it’s someone shooting a 3-pointer.
Okay. Now forget whatever it was you were thinking.
Because THIS is Mazzulla Ball.
What we saw against the Cavs is the closest thing we’ve actually seen to how Joe Mazzulla wants to play.
“What we’re starting to see is when we play faster on the offensive end, and it’s equal opportunity, guys get into better situations, they get into transition,” Mazzulla said after the game. “We’re finding a good balance … we’re doing a good job of executing, and that changes because of the matchups. We’ve done a good job of slowing down, exploiting matchups, and executing. We’ve just got to continue to do that.”
One of the hardest things to do in life is shake a first impression. Mazzulla made his under bizarre circumstances last season. He was flying by the seat of his pants, trying all he could to win at all costs. As a believer in math and percentages, he encouraged his team to take the good shots that presented themselves, most of which were 3-pointers.
The math and percentages haven't changed this year, but the approach toward the game has evolved.
Boston is crashing the offensive glass a lot more, something that resulted in 13 offensive rebounds against the Cavs. Six of those games in the fourth quarter, leading to 23 shots overall and eight second-chance points.
It’s moving the ball, which led to assists on half of Boston’s baskets, and on five of nine in the closeout quarter.
It’s holding onto the lead when guys like Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland are making incredible plays all over the floor and cutting into the deficit.
“I think it’s just growth,” Mazzulla said. “Just being open-minded to adjustments, managing the game tactically but also emotionally, not getting - whether it’s down, or not getting caught up in the emotion of the game because they are making tough shots, and I’ve seen over the last few games our guys just kind of stay at a certain level, and really work to execute and play together and keep our defensive identity.”
Mazzulla loves to use the phrase “open-minded.” When it comes to coaching in the NBA, that's perhaps the toughest thing to get out of a team.
“We always talk about, we acquired a bunch of people, people like to say ‘just be yourself,’” he said. “And it’s like, nah, that’s not how that works. You have to be whatever the team needs you to be.”
The team needed Al Horford to come off the bench, and he’s doing it with more than just grace. He’s constantly in the running for “most important player on the floor” when he’s out there.
The team needed Jaylen Brown to give up just going for his own offense all the time, and he’s responded over the past few weeks with some of his most fluid basketball of his life.
“I’ve emphasized me to not skip any steps this year,” Brown said. “Success is earned every single day, so that means every shootaround, every film session, every time we’re together, we need to be aware of what’s going on and aware of the mission in total. I think that our mindset has been a lot better in that regard this season.”
The team needs certain guys to sit on the bench, be ready, and not play in games they probably think they should be playing in. And guys are doing it without going through the motions.
“I like it because I feel like it's forcing me to up my game and be a lot better and learn a lot,” Lamar Stevens said after a late Luke Kornet scratch opened up some playing time. “I would rather be on the 18-5 team because it's a little bit harder, But I think it's a lot more rewarding and a lot more growth opportunities in terms of just learning from these guys, learning from the staff and really having to up my game to get on the floor and I'm up for the challenge.”
Guys moved and cut. They made quicker decisions. They defended and they forced 16 turnovers. Boston won on all of the margins Mazzulla values. But don’t look at the box score every night thinking that Mazzulla Ball is always going to look the same.
That's the last thing he wants. As he says almost every day, success looks different in every game, so 36 3-point attempts in this game doesn’t mean 50 won’t go up soon.
Mazzulla Ball isn’t a style or a quota. It’s a philosophy aimed at getting guys to put conventional wisdom aside, buy into always making the best decision possible regardless of who you are, and then capitalizing on whatever advantages that presents. Some days it’ll be a 3. Others it’ll be a post-up.
Mazzulla Ball is about everyone working towards a collective goal, and figuring out how to achieve it on any given night. Each win can look very different, but the approach is always the same.
“We all got to do a little bit less to achieve more, in a way,” Jayson Tatum said in his walkoff interview. “It might not always be scoring for everybody. We got to spread the wealth and do other things to keep winning. We’ve had a hell of a year so far, undefeated at home, and we can get a lot better. That's the scary part.”
