Kyrie Irving praises clutch deep shooting from Boston Celtics rookie Jayson Tatum

http://celticswire.usatoday.com/2017/12/11/jayson-tatum-three-point-shooting-kyrie-irving-boston-celtics/



Kyrie Irving praises clutch deep shooting from Boston Celtics rookie Jayson Tatum







By: Jared Weiss | 12 hours ago 








The law of averages is supposed to kick in at some point. The inevitability of the rule holding true is what makes it a law at its core.


But Jayson Tatum is trying to be the exception to the rule, continuing his enormous hot streak to open the season from beyond the arc. The third pick in this year’s draft is shooting 52.3-percent from deep, leading the league by a comfortable margin.

What was once a nice anomaly in a small sample size has persisted into a real trend, with the first trimester of the season completed. In addition to the statistical significance of what he is achieving, the types of compliments he receives from his teammates, coaches and opponents indicates this is not a flash in the pan.


“Some people have it and some people don’t. It’s just as simple as that,” Irving told reporters in Detroit, per ESPN’s Chris Forsberg. “I think [Tatum has] pretty much shown that he can play, as people say, with the big boys at the end of the game, without wavering in terms of his decision-making or anything like that. He trusts what we have going on and he knows where his opportunities will be, especially down the stretch.”


Detroit Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy claimed he thought Tatum was the best prospect in the draft Sunday. It could be revisionist history, but it’s become increasingly apparent that the Celtics either thought the same or had him close enough to the top to make their trade a clear win.


This drastic improvement in shooting may have been unforeseeable this quickly, but there was never a question he would have offensive potency as the top bullet point on his calling card.



“Anybody who says they’re not surprised by his 3-point shooting based on what he did in college is lying,” Van Gundy said per Forsberg. “I mean, if there’s somebody who said, ‘Oh, look, I knew he’d knock down 50 percent of his 3’s,’ even though he made 32 percent of them from the college line, they’re lying. And I’m sure there’s somebody saying that, that they knew. But they’re lying. But everything else was there — his ability to put the ball on the floor and get shots. He’s got a real poise to him.”



bob
MY NOTE:  Some people have called Tatum "Pierce 2.0".  I don't think that's fair, comparing a rookie to a future HOFer and Celtic icon, but here's an interesting rookie vs rookie stat:  In Paul Pierce's rookie year he shot 41.3% from 3 and took 4.3 3pt fgas/34 minute.  Tatum, so far, is shooting 52.3% from 3 and is taking 3.1 3pt fgas/30.6minutes (that's 3.44/34 minutes).  So, almost as many 3pt fgas/minute as Pierce but a MUCH better fg%.   


And Paul Pierce was a scorer par excellence.  



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