With a few notable exceptions, the Boston Celtics big men have not had the best start to the 2026-27 NBA regular season. And given Mitchell Robinson won a title with the New York Knicks this summer and Neemias Queta is seeing his role change with the arrival of Robinson, both have something they can point to explain if not excuse it.
But Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla is not too worried about that dynamic, instead trusting his centers to sort out their roles sooner than later. "The fives are the most important position that we have on both ends of the floor because of their ability to navigate our defense and the offensive's ... way they play directly has a positive impact on the other guys," said Mazzulla on Wednesday (Nov. 4) night. "And so there's
a relationship aspect there that's really important. Everyone on our team knows that position is extremely important."
"They have to be one of the smartest positions, and they do a great job of that. I think what's not being valued is (Mitchell Robinson's) ability to help everyone else," he added. "His individual rebounding might be down a little bit, but what's not down is how he's positively impacting the other guys. (How he is) getting cleaner shots for guys, keeping matchups so that teams can't cross-match and they have to stay on him because of his size and getting there."
"There's a lot of stuff that's not measured that he's doing good," said Mazzulla. "The easiest measurable thing is the one thing that he's been great at his whole career, which is rebounding."
"And some of that (is that) he has to get better at it. But he's doing stuff for the other guys that's making it look easier for them, and that's a product of him. And you can't measure that, so that's on us to be able to show that stuff in film and measure that stuff."
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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Joe Mazzulla has faith Queta, Robinson will find their footing with Boston Celtics
