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.
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“I study City a lot. I study Pep a lot. I think he’s the best coach at any level, in any sport. He has a big influence on me,” Mazzulla told The Athletic website.
With that, 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 your spacing and your choice of shots, then the transition. I think between football and basketball, what is happening the same is that the transition is very fast”, he added.
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As a result, 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 other sports 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 point of view, it’s about creating advantages. How do you create two-on-one situations? How do you identify weaknesses in defense and how do you take advantage of angles? ” Mazzulla explained.
Mazzula’s 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.
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