Kyrie Irving Had Some Blunt Advice For Jayson Tatum After Celtics’ Win

https://nesn.com/2017/11/kyrie-irving-had-some-blunt-advice-for-jayson-tatum-after-celtics-win/




Kyrie Irving Had Some Blunt Advice For Jayson Tatum After Celtics’ Win 






by Darren Hartwell on Tue, Nov 7, 2017 at 9:59AM








Kyrie Irving has been known to get carried away with words. But the Boston Celtics point guard got straight to the point Monday night. 


Irving dropped a season-high 35 points and seven assists to power Boston to a 110-107 win over the Atlanta Hawks, its ninth straight. Perhaps the most clutch play of the night, though, came from rookie Jayson Tatum, who took a great pass from Marcus Smart and drilled a corner 3-pointer with under a minute left to push the Celtics’ lead from one to three. 


https://twitter.com/DefPenHoops/status/927731876890054656



Tatum’s clutch bucket came after he passed up a few open looks earlier in the game. So, when Irving was asked about that play after the game, the 25-year-old decided to deliver a message to the rookie. 


“That pass has to be made,” Irving said, via MassLive.com’s Jay King. “And (Tatum) has to shoot it. And if he doesn’t shoot it, then I’m going to be right in his face telling him that he needs to (expletive) shoot it.” 


“Excuse my language,” Irving added. “But he’s gotta step up.” 


Irving has a point: Tatum went 3-of-5 from behind the arc Monday and is shooting 52.9 percent from 3-point range this season — including a mind-boggling 81 percent on corner threes, per Brian Robb of the Boston Sports Journal. 


The Celtics have made more corner 3s than any team in the league. How? Jayson Tatum is shooting 81 percent on them: https://www.bostonsportsjournal.com/2017/11/07/tatum-shooting/ … 5:15 AM - Nov 7, 2017

Part of that success is due to small sample size: Tatum has attempted a shade over three 3-pointers per game, sixth on the team, despite being tied with Al Horford for the third-most makes (18). But Irving believes Tatum’s sharpshooting should inspire the 19-year-old to let it fly, especially in clutch situations like Monday night. 


“Everybody in this locker room understands they’ve got to be great within their roles,” Irving said. “So, that’s a knockdown. That’s a knockdown right there for him. I’m glad he made it.”




bob
MY NOTE:  Kyrie's right.  Tatum is in this league, largely, because he's a shooter.  He's not a 3-and-D guy like Semi, he's primarily a scorer who has surprised many people, including me, with some very good defense for a rookie.  If he's open, he needs to shoot.  Period.  There were questions about his range coming out of college, was his game just an obsolescent mid-range one, but he has proven those critics were wrong by shooting a pretty damn convincing 52.9% from 3.  We lost a scorer when Gordon went down.  The next man up was Jayson Tatum (at least until Marcus Morris rounds into shape and compete's for the starting spot).  We need offense from him.  We got it in Atlanta, we've gotten it in other games too, he just needs to aggressively look for his offense all the time like the way Pierce did and Durant does.  That doesn't mean they didn't/don't play defense too, but they knew what the team needed, they knew which side of their bread the butter was on.

Nothing against Lonzo Ball, who was picked ahead of him and has a difficult job as a point guard on a team that is still trying to be considered relevant, but Tatum is looking like the real deal, the real pick of last year's litter.  Ben Simmons will probably win ROY but he isn't a true rookie.  He had all of last year to learn the playbook and get used to the speed of the NBA.  He's also 2 years older.


Shoot Jayson, just shoot.


.

Tatum takes his shots within the offense.  He is not just a shooter but he is also a good rebounder and his length on defense is noticeable.  He seems to be more aggressive the last two games getting to the rim and taking big time shots.

There is no hesitation at all.  

There have been a few games where brad kept him on the bench too long while we were struggling on offense.  

Morris is a starting PF.  Once he gets into the starting lineup Jason will move to the 3.  Jason will essentially replace Hayward at the 3.  But other guys also need to step up and help in the loss of Hayward's scoring passing and rebounding.

As we know small sample sizes are questionable but so far Jason looks to be on track to have a better rookie year than Hayward had.  It took 3 years before Hayward started to put up the numbers that Jason is putting up today.

By the time Morris leaves or is traded Jason will probably be strong enough to play PF.  Hayward will be at the 3 and Jaylen at the two.

Everytime I look at Tatum he looks a little bit taller.  

dboss

Great advice from one of the team's leaders to a blooming (right before our very eyes) rookie who is already quite a ways more further advanced than I thought he would be.

His body is young and underdeveloped physically right now, but he will fill out in a couple of years to where he will be much stronger and quicker to go along with his already obvious skill sets.

Ainge has had a couple of really good draft picks, but this young man might turn out to be the best.

cowens/oldschool wrote:I'm really happy with the development of two J's, Brown didn't have a particularly good game, but there was this one moment when he had the ball by the FT line with 2 seconds left and just blew by his guy for a strong fast finish that was pure Dominique. Was it just me or did Jason look taller than Carmelo Anthony when matched up recently? This kid looks a legit 6'9" already. We have 2 budding all stars at the wing, this franchise is in great shape, despite Haywards gruesome injury.

In great shape to win for the next 10 years!

No offense to Kyrie, but I find it funny when any player makes these grandiose statements for the benefit of the media. With all due respect to the aged and wise Irving, that's not advice Tatum needed; he already gets it. His game was known to be ready for extended play at this level long before draft night, and he's doing exactly as expected. Kyrie may have missed that memo. Being a leader is also knowing when to put a sock in it. Kyrie's not quite there yet, but he is getting better. If he takes a lesson or two from Marcus Smart in similar situations, he might learn what he needs in order to truly become a leader one day. Glad he's pouring in the points though. 35? Not too shabby.

dboss wrote:

Morris is a starting PF.  Once he gets into the starting lineup Jason will move to the 3.  Jason will essentially replace Hayward at the 3.  But other guys also need to step up and help in the loss of Hayward's scoring passing and rebounding.


dboss

So you think Al will go back to starting at the 5?

Hi,
I think KI has a point. In some occasions Tatum seemed to hesitate to drive or to shoot. I hope it's his "rookiness" and in the course of the season he becomes more assertive. Also I hope that he doesn't become Jeff Green.
As for the media, some of its representatives have to go back to elementary school: "... 3-pointer with under a minute left to push the Celtics’ lead from one to three  ...." or, at least read what they write.

AK

AK,

"Rookiness?"

That works.

Maybe you should trademark that one!

Regards