No time to grow up for Celtics youngsters Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2017/10/bulpett_no_time_to_grow_up_for_celtics_youngsters_jaylen_brown_and_jayson





Bulpett: No time to grow up for Celtics youngsters Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum





Steve Bulpett Wednesday, October 25, 2017





Credit: John Wilcox
Jayson Tatum drives towards the hoop.






Jaylen Brown turned 21 years old yesterday. Jayson Tatum will remain 19 for another four months.


But evidently there’s a little Norman Dale in that kindly Midwesterner Brad Stevens because last night the Celtics coach essentially told them they can be young on their own time.


The two just combined nearly equally for 45 points in the Celtics’ 110-89 victory against what passes for the Knicks these days, becoming, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the first pair of 21-or-younger players in franchise history to score 20-plus points in the same game.


To which Stevens pretty much responded: Neato. There’s a game tomorrow in Milwaukee.


“They are young guys,” the coach said in actual quotage. “But to us, with the situation we’re in, they’re guys. Like, we need them to be guys.”


In other words, the Celtics cannot take time to grade them on the curve or add qualifiers to their stat lines. The Shamrock world shook when Gordon Hayward went down last week, and Marcus Smart and Marcus Morris are on the shelf for now.


“I just got asked if there was any praise I’d like to heap on them,” Stevens said. “I’ll deal in reality and let everybody else praise them, and we need them to play well on Thursday. We’re in a situation right now where we’re going to expect a lot out of those guys, and we need them to be great. We need them to be able to respond to adversity, and we need to be able to respond to pats on the back just the same. We have high expectations for them; they should have high expectations for themselves.


“And they’re getting a great opportunity. So we need them to continue to be good, and there’s a lot of fun in that, I think.”


It was pointed out that many coaches would be cautious. They would go to verbal lengths to avoid putting pressure on young shoulders. Stevens offered a shrug in return.


“We need them to be good,” he said. “They’re impactful players, and we don’t need them to do anything they don’t do well. We just need them to be good at what they do well, and I think that obviously this past week has made that pretty obvious, especially until we get the two Marcuses back.”


Tatum (22 points) stuck nine of his 15 shots from the floor, including 4-of-6 treys. He added four rebounds, two assists, four steals and two blocked shots. He won’t get to play against the Knicks every night, but this was impressive right down to the assertive ease with which he tied it all together.


“Yeah, I think it’s basketball at the end of the day,” Tatum said. “And each game, I guess, it gets easier, just my level of comfort. I think that’s just how I’ve always been. I still get nervous here and there, but I try not to show it as much as possible.”


As for how well he has fit with new buddy Brown, who hit 9-of-16 shots (3-of-6 treys) in a game-high 23 points, Tatum said, “I didn’t really know what to expect. I mean, we’re going to keep getting better and more comfortable with each other as times goes on.”


According to Brown, it’s a matter of taking advantage of the openings provided by the attention paid to veteran stars Kyrie Irving and Al Horford.


“Me and Jayson, we’ve got to make teams guard us and make it easier for Al and Kyrie,” he said.


Brown also spoke of the need to stay grounded.


“I tell myself that every day,” he said. “Thierry Henry, the famous soccer player, I got to hang out with him this summer, and that was one of the things he told me was like, ‘Treat every day as if everybody’s on the same line.’ So every day I’ve got to come out and show why me or separate myself or just be the best I can every day. No days off.”


It’s an attitude Stevens would like to see continue in Tatum.


“I thought the best thing about (Brown last season) was he just responded regardless,” Stevens said. “Like he was great working to get better the next day, regardless of if the game before had gone well or not. And I think that that’s the one thing that we can take from that experience that Jayson needs to copy. Jayson needs to be able to say no matter what happened against the Knicks tonight, he’s got his shooting time for 25 minutes tomorrow. He’s got to do a great job of that, he’s got to be great in his (weight) lift, he’s got to take care of his body, he’s got to eat well and do all those other things to prepare for Thursday night.


“That’s the reality of the league. It’s really hard night to night. They did a lot of good things tonight, but a lot of people did.”


Only one C’s player, however, became 21 on the 24th.Asked if he was looking forward to his first legal drink, Brown paused six seconds, during which he twice uttered an “um.” Finally he replied, “No comment.”


Veteran response, kid.




bob



.

Both guys are playing more than most originally expected, but I am sure that they are both growing with each game. Instead of growing while mostly watching they are growing while playing.

Of course, it has only been one week of games so far so there is still a chance that each of Brown and Tatum will slide back somewhat at some time during the long NBA season. But, in the end, they are going to be fine NBA players for a long time.