Danny Ainge, former #1 Front Office Boston Celtics, recently spoke to the Globe of the season of Joe Mazzulla’s team.
It starts right from the coach, much discussed in the environment but confirmed by Brad Stevens.
“I don’t think the team has let Joe down… Overall confidence has dropped after the comeback win against Philadelphia, which was perhaps the highlight of the season.
“No manager can go on a series without making mistakes like the players do, but we have seen flashes of games with too many isolations, and periods without making threes. It’s not just a problem with this group, we’ve seen it all over the NBA. It happens to everyone that the ball doesn’t go in, obviously the energy level is higher when making a basket, the Celtics are not unique in this sense.
“I understand that something has to change, but even knowing all the players as I know them, from the outside it’s difficult to identify what. You have to understand what went wrong, difficult to tell if you are not present every day. If you asked every player and every coach, they would probably all say something different. And it’s Brad Stevens’ job to figure out what needs to be changed.
“This team has found joy throughout the season, they were all rooting for each other. Everyone was defending Joe to the media.
“You see Joe’s toughness and stubbornness. He is a tireless worker. He has a real passion for learning. Joe is a leader and I think this has been a difficult situation due to the high expectations the team had at the start. But I don’t think there is anyone who doesn’t think Joe is better than Ime Udoka as a coach.
“When it comes to this point, you point fingers at someone, but Miami played really well. To win you have to play very well. People forget that Grant Williams hit eight threes last year to win Game 7. When we won in 2008, Rondo had a horrible final series, but in Game 6 he was the best player in the world….”
The million dollar question, should the Celtics move forward with this group?
“The people who deal with it know what to do. I think they have all the elements to establish what needs to be changed. It’s not always about players or coaches. Sometimes it’s about different ways of playing, or simply about changing some habits of the group.
“But I don’t know the answer. It will be up to Brad Stevens and his staff to understand what are the real reasons behind the elimination ”.