While some teams from around the league are already worrying about the Milwaukee Bucks’ newly-formed tandem of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla remains unfazed.
In a recent appearance on JJ Redick’s The Old Man & The Three podcast, the Celtics shot-caller shared his brutally honest reaction to the Bucks’ massive blockbuster trade. At this point, it’s safe to say that Mazzulla isn’t sweating it one bit.
Joe Mazzulla’s Message for Milwaukee Bucks
Mazzulla acknowledges the fact that Dame is a generational talent. He also admits that Milwaukee is one of the best teams in the NBA right now. However, this doesn’t mean that he’s going to be spending sleepless nights worrying about what the Bucks are going to bring to the table this season:
“[Damian Lillard is] a great player. They’re a great team. We don’t have time to worry about that,” Mazzulla said.
“… I really wanted the No. 1 seed. Look how that turned out for the No. 1 seed last year. So be careful what you ask for is what I would say.”
If you look at it that way, Mazzulla certainly has a point. The fact that Milwaukee took the No. 1 seed from Boston last season only to lose to the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs remains to be one of the biggest upsets in recent memory. Coach Joe certainly remembers that well.
Joe Mazzulla Focused on Celtics
While there’s no way for Mazzulla to predict what kind of season the Bucks will have this year, what he can say for sure is that the Celtics have had the “best month of preseason since I’ve been here.”
At this point, the 35-year-old coach is completely focused on his own team. Everything else is just outside noise.
“If I spend more time worrying about those things and not appreciating what we have, one, I’m doing the players a disservice,” he said. “And two, I’m not going to be as effective at what we do.
“So yeah, they’re gonna be a nightmare to play against. But my job is to make us a nightmare to play against too. We’ll see what happens when two nightmares play against each other.”
Mark your calendars, folks. The first out of four meetings between these two sides this coming season is slated for November 22. That’s going to be a good one, for sure.
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