Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla joined Zolak & Bertrand for his regular call on Thursday, and as has become a weekly tradition, the guys talk virtually no basketball whatsoever. Here’s a quick recap of what they touched on in this week’s “Everything But Basketball.”
HOOSIERS?
Today, Joe Mazzulla had his own questions for Zolak and Bertrand.
“Have you guys ever seen Hoosiers?”
Maybe a hot take but Mazzulla had a thought about one character from the 1986 basketball film: Wilbur “Shooter” Flatch. “I thought Shooter was the real coach of that team,” Mazzulla said of Dennis Hopper’s character, “a little impaired, you see things from a different perspective. I thought he coached that team to success.”
And when asked if coach Norman Dale was a good coach, Mazzulla replied with a chuckle, “My interviews aren’t made for your enjoyment,” a callback to Dale’s quip to his complaining players.
BABY SHOWERS
It is a tough week to be asst. coach Amile Jefferson. The Duke graduate had to watch his Blue Devils fall to UConn during the NCAA tournament. Now, he is in the doghouse after promising to get his fellow coaches off the hook for his upcoming baby shower.
“This guy…him and his wife invited the entire organization to their baby shower and I thought that’s just the most selfish thing you can do. He told us that he was going to get it not to be co-ed, women only. He had a year to get this done. We get a text today that it’s co-ed. He didn’t deliver.”
The last thing an NBA coach needs at this point in the season is unnecessary stress and the event is clearly weighing on Joe’s mind.
“What am I going to wear? Do you bring a gift?”
SPACE TRAVEL
The Artemis II is taking a trip around the moon and back. Would Joe Mazzulla be interested in a trip like that?
“Nah, that doesn’t interest really me. Where is this mission headed?”
While not actually landing on the moon, coach wondered if a pit stop would be possible since you’re already in the neighborhood.
“You’re already there,” Mazzulla pointed out, “that’s like going to an arena but not going in for the game. You just wait outside.”
OPENING DAY
Speaking of taking in a game, Joe Mazzulla brought up how enjoys a day at the ballpark.
“Nothing better than Opening Day at Fenway,” Mazzulla said, “nothing better.”
Is it the ballpark food? The ambience? What does Joe like to do while at a baseball game?
“I like to keep score at the game. Absolutely. You buy the book, you get a sharp pencil, you chip away at the game. I love doing that.”
Joe Mazzulla’s score keeping goes back to his days growing up in Rhode Island.
“My dad ran a softball league in Johnston so I used to keep score and I would do the announcing as well, you know ‘such and such at bat, this guy is on deck, he’s in the hole.’ We’d go to Mazzulla Field and I would work the softball game so when I go to Fenway, it brings me back to, as a kid, being at games and keeping score.”