Joe Mazzulla appears to be like for a bonus wherever he can discover one. This consists of… the cricket pitch?
The Boston Celtics head coach has already waxed poetic this season about the opportunity of incorporating hockey-style energy performs (and combating) into NBA play and implementing an identical “mortgage” system to that of top-level European soccer leagues.
On Wednesday, Mazzulla turned his consideration to a sport rather less frequent in the US: cricket.
“I like to observe different sports activities and see how fluid sports activities do issues in another way,” Mazzulla instructed reporters after Boston’s apply. “I simply benefit from the ‘what if’ eventualities: ‘What if one sport adopted the principles of one other sport the best way I like them?’
“I really like in cricket which you could proceed to put on down the bowler by deliberately committing fouls. It is like an enormous psychological (and) psychological element to only put on out that man’s arm by simply committing foul balls till what he cannot throw anymore. I really like that concept, so I simply love trying on the completely different sports activities and the completely different guidelines that go into this stuff.”
Should you’re unfamiliar with cricket, it has some similarities to baseball, the place a “bowler” (aka the pitcher) throws a ball in the direction of the “striker” (aka the batter), who tries to hit the ball away from defensive gamers who’re stationed in a large circle. Similar to baseball, cricket does not have a sport clock, so strikers can attempt to put on down bowlers by deliberately hitting foul balls (consider an extra-long at-bat in baseball).
Should you’re questioning why on earth Mazzulla watches cricket matches, he is the identical coach who motivates his gamers with classes from the animal kingdom and began a pre-season movie session by displaying clips from a Reds match Sox.
Mazzulla’s cricket reference was simply a part of an entertaining media session during which he advised the NBA ought to shorten his shot clock – “Why not?” Ruining the sport much more” – and defending the league’s 3-point explosion with an NFL reference.
The Celtics have solely performed two video games within the final 10 days, so Mazzulla has had loads of time to scour the sports activities world far and broad for classes he can apply to his staff. The C’s are again in motion Thursday evening towards the Chicago Bulls at TD Backyard, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
