Celtics need rookie Jayson Tatum to seize bigger scoring role

http://www.telegram.com/news/20171226/celtics-need-rookie-jayson-tatum-to-seize-bigger-scoring-role?platform=hootsuite



Celtics need rookie Jayson Tatum to seize bigger scoring role









By Scott Souza, @Scott_Souza


Posted Dec 26, 2017 at 8:31 PMUpdated Dec 26, 2017 at 8:33 PM








BOSTON — Jayson Tatum was about to own Christmas.



Playing on the NBA’s biggest regular-season stage — sharing the same floor for the first time as a pro with Bradley Beal, the Washington Wizards guard Tatum called his “big brother” growing up St. Louis — the 19-year-old entered takeover mode as Boston surged ahead early in the fourth quarter.


He hit a free throw to bring Boston within one less than a minute into the fourth, then knocked down a turnaround jumper to make it 85-84 with 9:52 left in the game. His long 3-pointer in transition from Terry Rozier 30 seconds later put the Celtics up two and nearly brought the holiday house down.


“We were just getting out and running,” he said of the 11-5 run to start the fourth. “Terry found me for the 3. We were just playing with pace and intensity.”


Tatum went on to score nine points in the fourth quarter, and 12 of his 20 in the second half, but the story of his breakout night was overshadowed by a 12-0 Wizards run that sent Washington to a 111-103 triumph.


“Every loss is disappointing — especially the ones that are close,” he said. “A couple of plays, couple of rebounds, turnovers. Those could have changed the game.”


And they did this time. As did some offensive stagnation late in which Tatum hesitated on shots and never saw the ball on other possessions. For a player who hit on 7 of 9 tries on the night, including both of his 3-pointers, it was another in a string games recently where a second guess was whether Tatum should have been shouldering more of the scoring responsibility from start to finish.


“As the season goes on you learn more and more about the guys who are there and what they can handle — what’s best for them,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “The age-old questions become: If he becomes more of a focal point on certain actions is that a good thing efficiency-wise? Or will that become harder to handle at that age?


“He’s shown that he can handle a lot. As we continue to move forward he’s going to get more and more opportunities.”


Tatum enters Wednesday night’s game in Charlotte averaging 14.6 points and 5.0 rebounds in 30 minutes per game as a rookie. He is shooting 51.5 percent overall and 50.0 percent on 3-pointers.


Yet, despite those numbers, he has attempted more than 11 shots in a game just once since he took 15 shots against the Toronto Raptors on Nov. 12. While he has been aggressive taking the ball to the basket in crunch-time opportunities — often right out of a timeout when Stevens calls a play for him as a first option — he admits there are times when he takes a backseat to Kyrie Irving and Al Horford.


“Those guys are All-Stars,” Tatum said. “My first year in the league, just trying to figure things out. It’s easy playing off those guys. When I get an opportunity, make the most out of it because they draw a lot of the ‘D.’”
Tatum allows he will force the issue more in cases — like the beginning of Monday’s fourth quarter — when he is on the floor with mostly reserves.


“Maybe a little bit,” he said. “If one of those two guys [Irving or Horford] aren’t out there, everybody has to be more aggressive.”


With Gordon Hayward gone from the opening minutes of the year with his potentially season-ending leg and ankle injury, Marcus Morris in and out of the lineup with knee pain, and Jaylen Brown now possibly missing time with a leg injury he appeared to aggravate late in the Christmas loss, the burden is only increasing on Tatum to become a volume scoring option alongside Irving and Horford.


In just three short months of his career, he has already shown he can star in a secondary role. For the Celtics — who have lost six of their last 11 games after winning 16 in a row — to remain at the top of the Eastern Conference in the weeks ahead, he will likely have to show he can remain consistent in a primary one.



bob
MY NOTE:  The Jumpin' Jays are going to be a lot of fun to watch for the next 10 years.  If we were excited to see the improvement in Jaylen, and I certainly was, I think we are going to be stunned by Jayson.  Jaylen was not ready to be a starter last year.  That's fair, that's understandable, but that's where he was at.  Jayson is 19 years old like Jaylen was last year, 1 year out of High School like Jaylen was last year and he is holding his own against men.  Men with 5-10 years experience.  Men with more muscle, more strength, just more time.  Furthermore, Jayson is doing it with a shortened pre-season and with the expectation that he'd be able to come off the bench like Jaylen did and ease his way into the league.  Hayward's injury turned all that on its head and suddenly 19 year old Jayson Tatum got thrown into the fire.  And he's scoring more efficiently than Paul Pierce did as a rookie.  


A 6'7", 225# guard and Paul Pierce 2.0.  Include still-only 25 year old Kyrie into that and we...are...set up for a long time.  


Disclaimer:  this assumes Trader Danny doesn't blow it all up for Anthony Davis.   



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NYCelt wrote:The original starting lineup for Boston this year was going to be Irving, Brown, Hayward, Tatum and Horford, with Smart, Morris, Rozier and Baynes completing the rotation. The coaching staff was going to place their trust in him from the start as it was. Tatum would have been thrown into the fire to some degree anyway, although with a little less pressure. He's shown both the ability to shoot and get to the rim, so I'm sure if we continue to get dinged up with injuries, he's ready to turn up the volume. With defenses increasingly geared to stop Irving, the openings will be there.

NYCelt,

Upon what do you base your opinion that they was planning on him being a starter all year, or that the original starting lineup was going to include him?  He started game 1, the one where Hayward went down, but Marcus Morris was not in shape having missed training camp.  In fact, Morris didn't play at all that game despite the dire need for a veteran to step in for Hayward.  Once Hayward went down the opening for him to start full-time became obvious.  Assuming no injury to Hayward, however, Tatum would have had to compete for a starting spot against Hayward (that wasn't going to happen) and against Baynes and an eventually-ready Morris.  Both of them are veterans who fit the role well but neither role is really as a 3.


bob



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NYCelt wrote:

bobheckler wrote:

NYCelt wrote:The original starting lineup for Boston this year was going to be Irving, Brown, Hayward, Tatum and Horford, with Smart, Morris, Rozier and Baynes completing the rotation. The coaching staff was going to place their trust in him from the start as it was. Tatum would have been thrown into the fire to some degree anyway, although with a little less pressure. He's shown both the ability to shoot and get to the rim, so I'm sure if we continue to get dinged up with injuries, he's ready to turn up the volume. With defenses increasingly geared to stop Irving, the openings will be there.

NYCelt,

Upon what do you base your opinion that they was planning on him being a starter all year, or that the original starting lineup was going to include him?  He started game 1, the one where Hayward went down, but Marcus Morris was not in shape having missed training camp.  In fact, Morris didn't play at all that game despite the dire need for a veteran to step in for Hayward.  Once Hayward went down the opening for him to start full-time became obvious.  Assuming no injury to Hayward, however, Tatum would have had to compete for a starting spot against Hayward (that wasn't going to happen) and against Baynes and an eventually-ready Morris.  Both of them are veterans who fit the role well but neither role is really as a 3.


bob



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That was according to Brad Stevens in a pre-game interview with Abby Chin (NBC Sports, Boston) earlier this season.

NYCelt,

Well alrighty then. Can't top straight from the horse's mouth, can we?

Thanks.


bob



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