Boston Celtics Begin Their Preseason

By: Steve Atkinson

The Boston Celtics began the preseason on Sunday after a crazy offseason. Between the suspension of Ime Udoka and the hiring of Joe Mazzulla they’ve been through a lot. The Celtics singed Blake Griffin on Friday who’s been around the league quite a bit in his career. Head Coach Joe Mazzulla really hasn’t gotten much time with the team since taking over last week. But having been an assistant for three years it helps because the players know him. I expect the Celtics regardless of the coach to be contenders this season. This might be a good fit for Mazzulla and the Celtics going forward.

Celtics Head Coach Joe Mazzulla Looking Forward To The Challenge

Mazzulla spoke the other day about the coaching staff around him and how much confidence he has going into the season.

 “Great staff; their character is great, their leadership, their communication. I try to ask them more questions before making decisions, (and) the great thing is we built a great dynamic on our staff last year. We all know each other’s strengths and weaknesses very well, we all know how to communicate with each other, and they do a great job.”

Boston Celtics Sign Blake Griffin

With Blake on the team, it adds depth to the roster. He has experience in the league and can help the team win in clutch situations. The Celtics have been trying to get Griffin on the team for years and they’ve finally done it. Marcus Smart like the Griffin signing this is what he said the other day.

“Obviously, you know Lob City Blake and that Blake Griffin. He’s not there. He’s not above the rim anymore, but he still does great things. He’s a great professional. Last year he led the league in charges taken. For a guy that doesn’t play as much, that speaks volumes of what he does.”

The preseason games will be a test to see if they are ready to begin the season. The events of the last couple of weeks hopefully doesn’t get to them when they are playing. I feel like Mazzulla will do a good job leading them and putting their focus playing the games once they start whether it be preseason or regular season. Jaylen Brown is confident in Joe Mazzulla taking over as head coach.

I’m optimistic. I believe in Joe, Joe believes in me. In my conversations with him, I don’t think he sees a limit on my game. He’s coming in excited so I’m optimistic.”

The Celtics will also be wearing Bill Russell patch the entire season and the number six will be on the court the entire season. Brown talked about Russell and the impact he had throughout the game of basketball.

“He was a historical figure, he elevated the game of sports and how he used his platform to bring quality and life to a lot of situations where people were being closed-minded to and he wasn’t celebrated for. I think we forget that in that social climate that was going on during that time. For him to be able to stand above that and be able to speak on that platform and bring a lot of life to situations, we commemorate him.

So as the new season begins hopefully the Celtics put what happened during last year the good and the bad behind them the best way they can. It’s obviously going to be hard to warp your head around the Udoka situation and when that does come out, they’ll have to do their best to ignore the noise. The can only control what they can control.