Eric A Weiss

This is a methodology I developed over the course of my career. No matter if you are a pro or not, understanding development context improves prediction greatly.

The interesting thing about players like Ayton is discovering what it is that motivates them. We all prefer the 24/7 guys. But, I’ve grown to appreciate the guys that have elite talent, but lack that internal driving force. JaVale McGee comes to mind. Drove me nuts thinking what he “could be” instead of focusing on what he could do & how to tap into that fully. I’m sure these guys are aware of perception. Sometimes people just need to be accepted for who they are in order to give you their best

Big time credit to Deandre Ayton. Basically ever since the "Clint Capela" incident he's been playing his ass off and embracing his role. And because he's excelling at it, he's arguably the second best Lakers player in this series behind LeBron.

I’m just tired of repeat offender beats man. At this point JT/JB either get it or they don’t. Joe either gets it or he doesn’t. The Jays have had tremendous career success. But the title run was a byproduct of the supporting roster mitigating their (few) weaknesses. This team simply is not built for these two to spam their preferred Self-Creation at the frequency they are doing so. Every ECF run that ended short was due to over reliance on this. It’s not the 3’s - those are a result of deliberately down scaling the rest of the rotation’s responsibilities. The strength of this team is in how 10-11 guys create synergy. They don’t seem to grasp how styles win fights. And at this point I’m not sure they ever will

Yeah everybody needs to make an adjustment

100% Game plans in the playoffs are just so much more effective at taking away the stuff that works during an 82 game blitz. If you don’t have the ability to generate paint-touch shots you’re just not going to get to the basket enough. …and it really hard to rely on 3pt shot luck to carry you through a series

something to Jaden McDaniels' type of scoring scaling up in a playoff setting. He banks on his length + movement skills (decel) to generate 6-12 foot looks that occasionally look awkward. AKA, the type of shots that are consistently accessible, infrequently requiring risk (like ball-handling through a crowd) to get to ... but particularly when playoff defenses will not fixate on preventing them. Just spit-balling I would guess McDaniels' 6-12 foot looks this season, especially off multiple dribbles, resulted in ~ .80 points per shot? But McDaniels' ability to fire those shots off, and get cleaner ones on lesser defenders, is so valuable for MIN rn.

@jakeissenberg 🤔

How did these guys win 56 games without Tatum lmao.

@NoaDalzell The process has certainly not been the same as the regular season. Going back to what worked would make sense.

Asked Joe Mazzulla how much he will reinvent the rotation / style of play going into Game 7. All year long, they haven’t changed the process — does that change now with the Celtics coming off back-to-back double digit losses for the first time this year? “I think you have to ask those questions. You also have to, which is difficult in a playoff series going into a Game 7, look at the stuff that you've been doing well, and the stuff that you just need to do better, and demand that of the guys. So I think it's a balance — trying to figure that out and take that into the game tomorrow.”

@NoaDalzell Play the regular season rotation.

If you were in charge, what’s the one change you’d make for the Celtics ahead of Game 7?

Playoffs are just a different animal. Has massively exposed how reliant this group is on freedom of movement to score. Brown/Tatum have reverted to hero ball as the system has broken down. Team needs way more offensive balance than they’re getting. The Jays have never been at their best doing 90% of the work

One thing this team hasn’t responded well to all year was supreme physicality so I guess

@JackSimoneNBA Tightening the rotation for the playoffs was a mistake. Said it way before the playoffs started. Indiana was the model. It’s what got this team to 56 wins. Playoff physicality is just too much for these guys though. Totally put in jail. 3 games under 100 points.

This group played better basketball than every other player on the Celtics roster tonight.

Queta has just not been good. The entire Celtics offense has not been good. And they can't blame no stops. They're playing slow and they have 10 fewer shot attempts despite 23 Sixers misses.

@John_Zannis He’s gonzo in the offseason. Was a hedge against what we are seeing play out with the other two. Regardless, BOS doesn’t have the horses for playoff basketball. All the playoff noobes turned into pumpkins. With White being a no-show, they’re cooked

Nope. Vucevic ain’t it. Don’t think he can be on the floor at the same time as Embiid.

The Celtics just don’t have the athletes to beat game plan defenses. If the support players aren’t bombing 3’s only Tatum & Brown can create anything. Boston’s other players can’t get separation from PHI’s wings & guards. Just at a total disadvantage from a strength/speed standpoint.

@NElGHT_ If either D White or Pritchard don’t have a big game it’ll take 70 combined points from the Jays to win, (barring exceptionally poor shooting from PHI).

How are we feeling ahead of Game 6 folks.. Celtics finish this tonight or do we have to sweat out a Game 7?

No question about that. He’s been spamming it constantly to know avail. Needs polish, to say the least. Not sure he’s processing the likelihood the refs give the bigger/stronger player the same leeway for that move that other players get. JB’s got an experimental mindset. He likes to live in the lab. Figure out ways to add new things. This year was clearly about using pace & force more effectively. Playing off two feet. Drawing more fouls, etc. This off-arm thing feels like a beta release

@EricWeiss_SA At that particular time I was finding it to be the case. It was really crazy, he was using it on every single move. Obviously if it were called more regularly he'd adjust but was getting zero separation without being able to use it tonight.

The possession after he got called for a foul, he had to rely on full extension again to separate from PG at the foul line on that missed J.

I guess that’s just not how I view it. Those 5 players impacted winning this year & they had never played significant NBA roles before. For me, that contribution to this season makes the groundwork Brad laid for it previously count. Most of the time the award goes to “dude who made big trades” guy. This one’s a bit different

@EricWeiss_SA Sure, but this all happened prior to this season. None of the moves he made impacted winning this season at best day stopped the bleeding a little bit. Everything else is the guys who were here and Joe.

Brad Stevens has done an incredible job building up the core of the Celtics roster over the years, but him winning executive of the year THIS YEAR is objectively one of the funniest things. His greatest accomplishment this season was being good at math.

Two things can be true - cost cutting limited team building options. But the players that came through were also his decisions. Drafted Walsh, Baylor & Hugo. Signed Garza & bet on Queta. 5 players who had no proven NBA rotation level production & they all hit. Uncommon success rate. Like everything else, he shouldn’t get all the credit. But the award recognizes these things

@EricWeiss_SA Garza?

@DraftPow @nicktharula

First scouting report of the cycle! In which I move Hannes far up my board, a clear lottery-level prospect:

@KeithSmithNBA Bad process leads to bad shot selection. But bad process oft begins when teams start searching for answers. When guys start missing the system generated shots stress to adhere to the system builds. Guys just aren’t yolo’n their choices. There’s cause & effect at play

Here's the thing: It was not shooting threes that cost them tonight. They started taking forced midrangers and no-hope drives.