Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla drops eye-opening Sam Hauser claim after Rockets game — ‘Yeah, I said it’

Back in November, when asked about Sam Hauser’s defense, Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla stopped short of saying it.

“I think he’s a much better defender than people think,” Joe Mazzulla said after a November 13th Celtics win over the New York Knicks. “I can’t say why, or else I’ll get in trouble.”

Well, two months have gone by, and apparently Joe Mazzulla’s New Year’s resolution was to speak his mind more freely than he did in 2023, because when asked once again about Hauser’s effort on the defensive end of the floor, this time, he said it.

“A white shooter. Most people don’t think he can play defense. Yeah, I said it.” (h/t Justin Turpin of WEEI Boston).

Oh yes you did, Joe Mazz. Yes you did.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Mazzulla stating what most basketball fans think anyway. Whether fair or unfair, the perception of guys who look and play like Sam Hauser are that he’s a defensive liability. But let’s be clear, this is a Celtics team that prides itself on it’s defense. At present moment, they have the 4th best defensive rating in the league, and if Sam Hauser weren’t able to cut it on that end of the floor, he wouldn’t be playing 22 minutes per game.

Boston doesn’t need Hauser to put up the kind of numbers or have the sort of defensive impact that would make him an All-Defensive Team candidate, like teammates Jrue Holiday and Derrick White both will be at season’s end. The Celts just need Hauser to survive. They need him to be able to keep his head above water, and so far, he’s done just that. Even when opponents target him, an understandable tactic given how many great defenders Boston is able to put on the floor otherwise, Hauser is long enough, smart enough, and competitive enough to handle himself defensively. Does he benefit from playing with multiple All-Defensive Team caliber teammates? Of course he does, but there are plenty of players of Sam Hauser’s archetype who wouldn’t sniff the floor for this Celtics team even if the court were doused in Bengay.