How Joe Mazzulla Plans To Use Spare Time From All-Star Weekend

BOSTON — Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla doesn’t intend to waste the spare time off that comes from NBA All-Star weekend.

After a first half of building an NBA-best record (42-12), Boston will get a well-deserved breather while Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown partake in the All-Star festivities in Indianapolis. Mazzulla, who coached the Eastern Conference team last season, didn’t make the cut for a second straight time, but with a bigger goal in mind, Mazzulla plans to go over a handful of areas in which the team can get even better in the final 27 regular season games.

“I have a list of 10-to-12 things that we need to get better at as a team,” Mazzulla said ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets. “So I’ll go through the calendar of the games and figure out when those things become thematic, when we need to institute them and how we can approach whether it’s a practice or a shootaround. You know, making those themes important to what we’re trying to get to so I’ll definitely plan that.”

Boston’s list of concerning losses, if anything, is significantly more limited in comparison to where the Celtics stood last season. Routinely, the C’s have competed at a high level and rarely have failed to flex what’s become arguably the strongest offensive unit in the NBA.

Yet, even Mazzulla, who’s taken a noteworthy step forward as a head coach in Year 2 at the helm, hasn’t avoided criticism.

Former Celtics center and 2008 NBA champion Kendrick Perkins, on several occasions, has ripped both the team and Mazzulla specifically. Most recently, during a segment on ESPN’s “NBA Today” on Tuesday, Perkins ranted about what he believes is a lack of post-up play from the Celtics offense this season, pointing the finger at their NBA-leading 42.6 3-point attempts per game.

“I don’t believe in ignore the noise,” Mazzulla said. “I just don’t believe in that because you’re not going to ignore something negative but then wish to get praise. Everybody lives in this world of, like, ‘Oh ignore the noise,’ but if someone says something good about you, you should listen to that. You should hear both of it and you should decipher what’s true.”

Mazzulla’s never shied away from whatever critiques have been aimed at the team or his coaching style. Tasked with living up to the hype that’s been Boston’s investment in upgrading the roster this past offseason and bringing in Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday, Mazzulla’s done the job just fine.

That doesn’t exonerate the need for improvement, rooted in some truth within Perkins’ criticism, but it’s clear that Mazzulla too believes the Celtics are far from a perfect team, regardless of what the standings suggest.