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.

@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.

That might be another team’s problem next season. Going into Age 32 season. $30m AAV. If the team gets rolled in the 2nd round all eyes will be on him. Great player. Tough year shooting. Disastrous playoff run (thus far). You get the big bucks, you gotta take the heat that comes with it

I’m afraid that Derrick needs to give up the podcast

Until we separate bad talent from bad performance, you're going to either have tanking problems or competitive balance problems. You want to help competitive balance with talent. But tanking to make it look like you have no talent - that's not reflecting talent

@TA1297 @_sfhoops Or…he’s just not consistent enough on a game to game basis…

If this guy doesn’t play at minimum 35-38 minutes a game going forward, im taking Joe’s badge. Everything else yea sure I can live with but Payton Pritchard is literally too important to not feature like he’s not a top 4 player on the team.