Celtics ‘sicko’ coach Joe Mazzulla one game away from proving critics wrong
NY Post
DALLAS — The difference between weirdo and genius is winning.
Joe Mazzulla, after enduring a firestorm of criticism, is now experiencing the positive part — the praise of his basketball acumen as the 35-year-old sits one win away from breaking Bill Russell’s record as the youngest coach ever to win an NBA title.
Think about that turnaround for a second. Only a year ago, Bostonians wanted him fired. He was their interim coach at first following the shock suspension of Ime Udoka, who engaged in “an intimate relationship with a female staff member,” according to ESPN. Udoka was popular among the players. He brought a defense-first identity that carried the Celtics to the 2022 NBA Finals.
So when Mazzulla’s Celtics bombed in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals against the Heat, the vultures quickly circled. It must’ve been Mazzulla’s fault, right? The players didn’t change, just the coach. The blame went straight to the sideline to the easy target, Mazzulla, who was an unpolished public speaker with a cold demeanor and looked, from a distance, unapproachable.
How could the players connect with a coach like that?
If suspending Udoka was the right thing for protecting the organization, it was the bad move for basketball.
The Rangers hit the mark with their on-ice ceremony honoring Mika Zibanejad ahead of his 1,000th NHL game Monday night.
PORT ST. LUCIE — For now, Craig Kimbrel is choosing Mets purgatory.
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Almost a year to the day after a goaltender interference call against Kyle Palmieri lost the Islanders a game against the Blue Jackets that started their season’s death spiral, they were on the wrong end of another controversial call against those same Blue Jackets that might have had the same effect.
On the Queens side of town, the reno began in earnest almost as soon as Francisco Lindor grounded into the 4-6-3 double play. That ended a 4-0 loss before a rare sizable crowd at Miami’s loanDepot Park last Sept. 27, all of them there to witness the final death rattles of an epic baseball calamity.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba is being paid handsomely for his breakout season.
Next comes the harder part. Mostly because it can’t get any easier.
It was Kids Day at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, but for the Rangers, it’s been All About The Kids for months.
PORT ST. LUCIE — From the moment he was told he needed surgery on his left hamate bone, Francisco Lindor fixated on the recovery time. Trainers provided the Mets shortstop a six-week pathway to return to play, and Lindor was determined to hit every marker.
Dylan Garand knew the number off the top of his head. He knew that, between the regular season and playoffs, he’d logged over 160 games with AHL Hartford, and he was right. Before the Rangers recalled him Friday, Garand had served as the Wolf Pack’s goaltender 165 times.
SAN DIEGO — As you may have seen elsewhere in this newspaper (and also if you haven’t deleted me yet from your social media), I have a book coming out Tuesday called “The Bosses of The Bronx.” Much of it details the 37 years’ worth of antics, winning, losing, winning again and overall mania of George Steinbrenner’s time with the Yankees.
Don’t close the curtain on “Mean” Joe Greene.