Three Most Interesting Things Said at Celtics Practice Thursday, Including Paul Pierce

The Boston Celtics hit the practice floor again on Thursday, trying to put the sting of an opening night collapse to Detroit behind them.

“I don't think it's concerning,” Sam Hauser said. “It's the first game of 82. I mean, there's definitely going to be kinks that you're going to have to work out, and obviously we ran into a few things last game. But I don't think we're concerned. I think we showed flashes of being really, really good, and then flashes of areas where we need to improve. So I think that's the battle you go through each and every season.”

Now they're on to the Knicks, who are coming off a loss at home to the Philadelphia 76ers on ring night at Madison Square Garden, so each team is looking to bounce back. 

Here are the most interesting things said at the Celtics Thursday practice. 

Joe Mazzulla is focused on the process

“If we win, can we still look at a bunch of plays and say, like, you know, we got lucky there? And if we lose, can we look at the things that we did well and where we lost it. So it's not to say that these are just things that we can't do. Can't foul jump shooters. You know, you can't give up offensive rebound and-ones. We had five and-ones, and we fouled three-point shooters three times. Those things can't happen. There's other stuff that we did relatively well, and there's stuff that we have to clean up among some transitions. But we've fouled jump shooters and still won. Still can't do it. Just can't be distracted by the result. We got to stick to the process of what it's like to play 48 minutes of basketball the way we want to play, and that's got to be the pursuit that we have.”

How we process losses and how the Celtics process them is a bit different. 

What Mazzulla wants his team to do, which is a Sisyphean task, is make the right decisions on every possession. Of course, like a game of blackjack, the right decisions could still lead to losses, and stupid plays can still lead to wins. What Mazzulla want is the team to understand the game is played a certain way that will lead to good results more often than not.

The fouling jump shooters point is valid. The last free throw Duncan Robinson took (not counting the take foul at the end) made it 99-98 Celtics. So we can point to those fouls on three-point shooters as big reasons why the Pistons came back, but there were seven minutes of basketball still left to play after that. The Celtics had plenty of chances to win after that. 

If they did, would that have made the fouls on jump shooters okay? Not at all, but it wouldn’t have come up in the media. The tone of the questions would have been about the gutsy way Boston held on despite losing a lead. 

So Mazzulla doesn’t want his players to get swept up in the waves of positive and negative that come from people like me. He wants to accentuate positive things and fix the mistakes. Obviously everyone wants to win as well, but fixing the process is how the Celtics will get there. 

Mitchell Robinson is not wistful

“I didn't watch [the Knicks ring ceremony]. I mean, again, I was still stuck in my head from last game. But, I mean, I’m proud of those guys. Obviously, I was a part of it. Just didn't really want to watch it.”

It’s hard to know if Robinson is angry at how things ended in New York, happy about it, or indifferent. He wasn’t biting any any Knicks-related questions on Thursday. He was clearly not happy about he played in Detroit and he wanted all the focus to be on that and not any potential personal vendetta against his former team. 

“I’m just here to play basketball,” he said. “Same thing I do with any other team, same thing I did with them. It’s just all about basketball.”

One interesting tidbit about Robinson is that he switched to a smaller pickup truck to get to practice, leaving the one that was too big for the player garage at home.

And that's your monster truck update for today.

Paul Pierce in the house

Joe Mazzulla: “The door is open for any Celtic. He's obviously — when we were out in LA. He was there. It's great to have him around. You know, the perspective, individual conversations, but also the perspective of one of the best players to play for the Celtics. And any chance you can have him in the building, we’re happy he can be there. So just grateful he’s here for anyone to pick a train and love having him around.” 

Sam Hauser: “It’s cool. Anytime, any former Celtic, whenever they’re around, it’s pretty awesome to have them in the building. Obviously he did a lot for this city and the organization, so having him here is more than anything, even if you don’t talk to him, just having his presence here is felt. And it makes you want to carry on the Celtics tradition, the legacy, when you’ve got those guys around even more.”

As if playing for the Celtics isn’t cool enough, you never know which Hall of Fame former player will roll through the building at any time. 

Pierce looks good, too. Maybe they can sign him to a minimum deal so he can hit elbow jumpers in the clutch. The Celtics could have used that on Tuesday.