Celtics coach is inspired by Guardiola: “He’s the best in any sport”.
Joe Mazzulla says he studies Manchester City and sees similarities between basketball and football:
“It’s about creating advantages.”
The team with the best campaign in the NBA regular season, the Boston Celtics have inspiration far away from the basketball courts. According to the team’s coach, Joe Mazzulla, the inspiration lies in Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
– I study City a lot. I study Pep a lot. I think he is the best coach at any level, in any sport. He has a great influence on me – Mazzulla told the website “The Athletic”.
Emphasis on transitions
One of the lessons that the Boston Celtics coach learned from Guardiola was in relation to the different phases of the game. For him, just like in football, basketball cannot just be divided into defense and attack – transitions also need to be carried out well.
– Everyone tries to separate basketball between attack and defense, but it’s just one game. If your defensive transition is bad, everyone talks about defense. But first comes his spacing and shot selection, then the transition. I think that between football and basketball what is happening the same is that the transition is very quick – he added.
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City games as preparation
Mazzulla grew up playing football in Rhodes Island, in the United States. After turning to basketball in his career, he decided to use examples from the other sport for his team.
At one point, Mazzulla showed a video of a Manchester City game to his players at the Boston Celtics.
– When I watch football or basketball, it’s kind of the same sport. From a tactical perspective, it’s about creating advantages. How do you create two-on-one situations? How do you identify weaknesses in the defense and how do you take advantage of angles? – explained Mazzulla.
So far, Mazzulla’s proposal has worked. The Boston Celtics have the best regular season record in the NBA, with 45 wins and 12 losses. The team leads the Eastern Conference and is on an eight-game winning streak.