(Los Angeles) In two seasons, the young American head coach of the Boston Celtics, Joe Mazzulla, went from complete unknown to NBA champion, a triumph for this game theorist with claimed affiliation with the Spaniard Pep Guardiola, master tactician of soccer.
“Joe (Mazzulla) is a basketball genius,” summarized point guard Derrick White after Game 3 of the final brilliantly won by the Boston Celtics against the Dallas Mavericks, four victories to one.
At only 35 years old (36 on June 30), Mazzulla was able to build a high-quality squad that crushed the NBA, during the regular season (64 wins-18 losses), then during the playoffs, with 16 wins and 3 setbacks only.
This former university player at West Virginia, coach since leaving school in 2011 due to lack of opportunity, has become the second youngest crowned coach in history, a few months older than the legendary Bill Russell, titled in 1967 in as a player-coach with the same Celtics.
PHOTO CHARLES KRUPA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Joe Mazzulla with the champions trophy.
The historic Massachusetts franchise surprised in the fall of 2022 by trusting this unknown to the general public, who joined the “C’s” staff in 2019, assistant coach at the time of the ousting of Ime Udoka.
Confirmed as a starter a few months later, Joe Mazzulla imposed a vision of the game and a refreshing management style praised by his players, even the oldest like interior player Al Horford… two years his senior.
Guardiola’s ‘influence’
“My favorite part of the job is seeing the game with an artist’s eye. To give the guys a white board, full of possibilities. Let’s explore them together,” he explained at the start of the year to The Athletic website.
This basketball theorist admires the work of another great brain of world sport, Pep Guardiola, brilliant with FC Barcelona then Bayern Munich and Manchester City since 2016, present at the edge of the field during the first match of the finals.
“I study Manchester City and Pep a lot. I think he is the best coach in the world, all sports and all levels combined. He has a big influence on me,” says Mazzulla.
“We developed a great relationship. I wish I could say we are making each other better. He helped me greatly with space management. »
Mazzulla visited Manchester in February for an exchange of ideas and jerseys. A photo of the two makers of “champions”, each showing off the tunics of the two teams, published Monday on the Citizens’ X account, attests to their complicity.
“We study your playing systems, your transitions, and the way you defend transitions,” explained the American to a small group of players (Ruben Dias, Jeremy Doku, Phil Foden…) captivated on the sidelines of a training, as seen in a video from the Premier League club.
” A crazy ”
“Football and basketball, from a tactical point of view, are similar, you have to learn to create an advantage,” further explains this son of a former university player then high school coach in Rhode Island.
Black hooded jacket, dark look, Mazzulla fights throughout press conferences the idea of two distinct phases, offensive and defensive, for a continuity made of transitions, all with an ultra-fast delivery and without any punctuation.
PHOTO CHARLES KRUPA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Joe Mazzulla addresses his players during the last match of the final.
To transmit his principles to the players, the technician, who passed through the universities of Glenville State and Fairmont State and the G-League with the Maine Red Claws, tries to surprise these professionals who play nearly a hundred games per year.
“He talks to us about football, but also about ancient whale hunters, about their way of finding their prey, and connects that to basketball, it’s quite unique,” laughs Payton Pritchard.
Obsessed by the relaxation that awaits teams that have taken the advantage, Mazzulla broadcasts to his players excerpts from mixed martial arts fights, including one where a strangled fighter ends up knocking down his opponent who has become too passive.
In Game 3, the Celtics almost let a 21-point advantage disappear in 5 minutes.
“Joe is probably happy that this happened to us so he can continue to lecture us about it. He’s crazy, he probably appreciated the return of the Mavericks, smiled Derrick White.
So Mazzulla was right, as his NBA title proved.