Tatum's Season

Last year I watched Tatum's game and he did a lot of good things. He is not far off stat wise from last year, actually improvement in everything but shooting percentages and they aren't that bad. What is impressive is he does it without taking it to the rack for layups and getting foul shots. Last year he got to the rim some with his reverse right handed layup. The opponent started blocking that shot. I figured sure as heck he would develop a left handed layup during the season last year, didn't happen.

Then I heard he was working with KOME during the off season and I figured he would come back with a much better game going to the rim. Kobe screwed him up I guess. He is far worse to the naked eye. He gets it blocked when he lays it up and anyone is near him. Has he never heard of a pump fake or slamming it when someone is close? I sure hope he gets it improved next year because he is one of the worst finishers in the league IMO. And he is my favorite Celtic. Anyway, got that off my chest.

He was MIA tonight

He has shot poorly in all 4 losses during December. He has shot well in 7 of 8 wins in December.

He is second on the team in FGA therefore his production is vital.

I think maybe you are missing the point. I am pretty much pointing the finger at Tatum being a bad finisher. He does not use his left hand at all. Like I said all his stats are basically a little better or the same, except shooting percentages. He doesn't get the wide open shots as much. I am surprised hit shooting percentage is as high as it is. I watch a lot of different teams all the time. There are so many guys in this league that finish strong, with either hand and every team. If he is going to be the player we want he has got to improve this.

Last night for instance he shot the ball I think 3 times in the first quarter. Made one, missed one, and I think he had one blocked. Don't think he got another shot the first half. Brad has got to do more to get him involved more. We may get more open shots than anyone in the league but it doesn't make any difference when the players shooting them are shooting terrible. Rozier, Smart, Brown, and Hayward.

I am not sure what the answer is but our chemistry is not there. Players need to shoot shots that they are comfortable with. Smart is OK midrange and driving, Hayward just need patience, Brown is very effective when he is not just sitting on the 3 point line. He is pretty good attacking the rim. Rozier just plain dribbles too much without accomplishing anything. If he makes a 3 you can count on him shooting another one next time he gets it. We are losing how much Rozier is worth each game he plays. I know this was all over the place, just mind wandering in all directions.

I agree Tatum needs to finish better, right now he’s more Alex English, he needs more muscle, functional strength. Jaylen is better, stronger finishing thru contact.

Also one of my favorite players on the team. And i agree, he ne gets his shot blocked too many times while attempting to finish. He also has a tendency to bobble, drop or kick it out of bounds.
This is definitely fixable and I’m confident that it’ll come. Might not be this year though.

Just the ups and downs of being a 20 year old - 35 or 40 years ago he would just be a college junior. He's way ahead of the curve.

swish

Tough crowd.

Given his age and experience, I'm sure you'll find he's ahead of several HOF type players at a similar point; statistically as well as any other test you wish to apply.

I'll take the kid as is. The little details will no doubt fix themselves.

Patience.

Guy is used to finishing with ease over everyone, last year teams didnt pay him much attention so he was able to still get away with some of his youth habits.  This year, everyone is focusing on him, so more attention and better defenders playing him.  

In comparing him to the best second year players in the NBA - he has VERY favorable stats, in spite of the fact that he is 1, 2 and even 3 years younger than some of those guys.

cowens/oldschool wrote:I agree Tatum needs to finish better, right now he’s more Alex English, he needs more muscle, functional strength. Jaylen is better, stronger finishing thru contact.

great call on the Alex English comparison, cowens.


I can't believe I never saw it myself, but YES Tatum's ceiling is probably Alex English.

and that DAMN good,for those who may not remember him.

I don’t remember English taking the ball to the hoop with the same level of skill and power as Tatum but the silky smooth mid range game is certainly on par

Alex Was the leading scorer in the NBA in the 1980s think about that for minute a wildly underrated player

Alex actually was much better offensively than Tatum, but comparisons are unfair as Tatum is still 20. Tatum needs a better midrange game too to get to Alex E’s level, he was automatic.

mrkleen09 wrote:I don’t  remember English taking the ball to the hoop with the same level of skill and power as Tatum but the silky smooth mid range game is certainly on par

Alex Was the leading scorer in the NBA in the 1980s think about that for minute a wildly underrated player

Right now Tatum doesn’t finish as well as I would like....

For me, Tatum's fluctuating performances has be quite frustrating thi season especially after he seemed to have licked this issue by late last season.  His playoff performances last season were very smooth from game to game as I remember.

Returning to his early season up and down from last year has become very worrisome as it seemingly make no sense.  If he had not been able to smooth out his game last season, was again inconsistent as a second year man it would be much more understandable.  If this was the case all of us 'evaluators' would just be waiting for him to get his stuff together.

There has to be a reason. Wonder what it is?

wideclyde wrote:For me, Tatum's fluctuating performances has be quite frustrating thi season especially after he seemed to have licked this issue by late last season.  His playoff performances last season were very smooth from game to game as I remember.

Returning to his early season up and down from last year has become very worrisome as it seemingly make no sense.  If he had not been able to smooth out his game last season, was again inconsistent as a second year man it would be much more understandable.  If this was the case all of us 'evaluators' would just be waiting for him to get his stuff together.

There has to be a reason.  Wonder what it is?

Clyde,

I think I've got your answer.

He's 20.

Regards

I'm getting older. I remember the 80's clearly. Well, OK, except for the years I was in college.

English was indeed then an outstanding player. In today's rear-view mirror, I think he is highly under appreciated.

Tatum is stronger around the rim, better on the defensive end, and, I believe, has shown enough to offer evidence he will surpass English in every aspect of the game. I'm not sure what there is on video, but go back and look for English as a second or third year player and make the comparison. I think you'll find Tatum is ahead of that mark. I wasn't partying as much those years, so I think my memory of those times is fair. Hey, don't judge, college was fun. Like you never snorted tequila.

We're talking about minor hiccups in the developing game of a kid that three seasons ago was getting fitted for his high school graduation cap and gown.

Keep watching. I am willing to offer up, with complete confidence, that the most important key to winning banner 18 not named Irving, is Tatum. Just ahead of Smart. My only question on Tatum so far is this; are we seeing the next Pierce, or something more?

He's 20.

Hang in there just a little.

Where i think a lot of us make mistakes is comparing one players 3rd year (or whatever number we throw out) in the league to another player from the past and his 3rd year in the league.
I remember talking about that with the late Harvey Martin of the Dallas Cowboys and he stated that you cannot make an evaluation based on that criteria. “Player A may be at a certain level in their 3rd year but player A may have or have not peaked in his third year. (Again just using year 3 as a hypothetical). Same for player B. Theory being that every player has a peak level that may differ from other players. So to say Look at Tatum in year 2 compared to Player so and so in his 2nd year is not a fair and/or accurate evaluation.
I see and hear this example used many times it is very misleading.

And I also will repeat my post of yesterday'

Re: Tatum's Season
Post by swish Yesterday at 2:37 pm

"Just the ups and downs of being a 20 year old - 35 or 40 years ago he would just be a college junior. He's way ahead of the curve."

swish

Damn he’s 3 years younger than my oldest son, 2 years older than my youngest son....he’s still a baby or either way I’m really getting old. Alot of you met my kids at the NY party at Professor Thoms in 09 season, they were so tiny back then....

This is gonna open a can of worms, there’s already a great young baby Euro player, a year younger than Tatum that is already better than Tatum in every area offensively and it’s not even close. Doncic looks a lot closer to being the next great iconic superstar forward than Jayson.

I didn't get to see the game against Memphis but I read the Game On thread. I kept reading how Tatum was AWOL after the first quarter. After looking at the boxscore he only had 7 points on 50% shooting, 1-1 on threes, only 6 shot attempts, 8 rebounds (led team), 5 assists (possible career high?) , 4 steals (possible career high?) 1 block, and finsihed 3rd in +- for the game. Looked like he may have had a good impact on the game unless your just looking at scoring.