Paul Pierce offers to work with Jayson Tatum

by **bobheckler** Sat Mar 30, 2019 7:20 pm

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/paul-pierce-offers-work-jayson-tatum?cid=Yahoo&partner=ya4nbcs

Paul Pierce offers to work with Jayson Tatum

By NBC Sports Boston Staff March 30, 2019 3:57 PM

Paul Pierce is one of the greatest Celtics of all-time. The legend was instrumental in helping bring the Celtics their 17th NBA title, but his impact on the organization may not be done.

According to Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald, Pierce is willing to work with the Celtics' budding star, Jayson Tatum. The second-year player from Duke is just 21 years old, he could be the future of the Celtics franchise. Pierce said the following about potentially working with Tatum to improve his game.

“I haven’t talked to Danny about it yet,” Pierce said. “Me and Kevin [Garnett] talked about it when he went down there, but that’s something I would love to do. I probably will talk to Danny.”

Having Pierce mentor Tatum would be a big-time move. Tatum drew comparisons to Pierce as a prospect and it's possible that working with Pierce could make him a better and more efficient scorer.

Additionally, Pierce has an idea of what could really help Tatum reach his full potential. Per Bulpett, Pierce thinks that Tatum could reach another level if he more consistently drives to the basket.

“Oh, he’d be an All-Star,” Pierce told the Herald. “Just those little things right there, getting to the hoop and getting to the line. For a guy with his athleticism, his skill set and his ballhandling, his height, he should be a guy that gets to the line at least six times a night and makes five out of six. That’ll take him from a 16-point scorer to a 20-point scorer, and he’ll be in the conversation for All-Star every year on a winning team.”

If Pierce does work with Tatum and can get him to improve in these areas, Tatum could progress more rapidly than he already has. It's hard to imagine that Danny Ainge would turn down Pierce's offer to work with Tatum if Pierce does follow through on it.

bob
MY NOTE: Too bad Kobe got to him first.

.

by **jrleftfoot** Sun Mar 31, 2019 2:17 am

Take him up on it Tatum. Maybe you won't get stripped every time you drive.

by **NYCelt** Sun Mar 31, 2019 11:13 am

Tatum is going to be an All-Star anyway, but some time with Pierce could only make Tatum even better.

Absolutely get him driving to the hoop more often. Gets him to the line more, and sets up his shooting from distance since he would be less predictable to defend.

by **dboss** Sun Mar 31, 2019 1:14 pm

The Celtics have too many guys taking too many shots. In order to reach allstar status you have to be a bigtime scorer or be really good in other areas like assists or rebounds (Ben Simmons) In most cases you are looking at guys who average 20+ PPG. You are not getting to be a 20 PPG scorer taking only 13 shots per game. (Tatum) and you definitely will not get there taking 11 FGA (Brown)

If Tatum and Brown were getting 15 FGA per game they would be 18-20 PPG players. They would then be in the conversation for allstar status.

Once this team is paired down things may change with fewer scorers.

by **cowens/oldschool** Sun Mar 31, 2019 4:36 pm

NYCelt wrote:Tatum is going to be an All-Star anyway, but some time with Pierce could only make Tatum even better.

Absolutely get him driving to the hoop more often. Gets him to the line more, and sets up his shooting from distance since he would be less predictable to defend.

I agree, but Tatum right now might not be strong enough to relentlessly drive like we would like, because he would take too much of a beating. If he’s strong enough, I’m all for this....

by **cowens/oldschool** Sun Mar 31, 2019 4:40 pm

dboss wrote:The Celtics have too many guys taking too many shots. In order to reach allstar status you have to be a bigtime scorer or be really good in other areas like assists or rebounds (Ben Simmons) In most cases you are looking at guys who average 20+ PPG. You are not getting to be a 20 PPG scorer taking only 13 shots per game. (Tatum) and you definitely will not get there taking 11 FGA (Brown)

If Tatum and Brown were getting 15 FGA per game they would be 18-20 PPG players. They would then be in the conversation for allstar status.

Once this team is paired down things may change with fewer scorers.

Another obvious reason we need to get rid of Morris and Rozier....even if we lose Kyrie.

by **tardust** Wed Apr 03, 2019 10:11 pm

cowens/oldschool wrote:
NYCelt wrote:Tatum is going to be an All-Star anyway, but some time with Pierce could only make Tatum even better.

Absolutely get him driving to the hoop more often. Gets him to the line more, and sets up his shooting from distance since he would be less predictable to defend.

I agree, but Tatum right now might not be strong enough to relentlessly drive like we would like, because he would take too much of a beating. If he’s strong enough, I’m all for this....

I got the feeling we will see a much stronger JT next year which will help him finish those layups that he misses. He needs to learn to pump fake and use his left hand. Pierce will show him. I get a kick about everyone talking about him working with Kobe. Unless I read a wrong report Tatum only worked with Kome one time for 4 hours. Sounds like much ado about nothing.

by **dbrown4** Thu Apr 04, 2019 8:52 am

I really don't mind Jayson reaching out to Kobe last summer. Let's do a quick Championship Count for Kobe....OK, 5. Five more than Jayson has.

Paul has one with the Celtics, but since it's the Celtics, that's equivalent to 6 anywhere else in the league except the Lakers.

No one has the corner on all the great ways to play their position. I'm just glad to see him reaching out. Sign he wants to win big time. DA would truly be a DA to trade him. Don't see it happening.

db

by **NYCelt** Thu Apr 04, 2019 10:22 am

dbrown4 wrote:I really don't mind Jayson reaching out to Kobe last summer. Let's do a quick Championship Count for Kobe....OK, 5. Five more than Jayson has.

Paul has one with the Celtics, but since it's the Celtics, that's equivalent to 6 anywhere else in the league except the Lakers.

No one has the corner on all the great ways to play their position. I'm just glad to see him reaching out. Sign he wants to win big time. DA would truly be a DA to trade him. Don't see it happening.

db

OK dbrown. Please stop being reasonable and making sense.

+1

by **tardust** Fri Apr 05, 2019 11:28 pm

Actually I kind of like the Greek Freak not wanting to play and be buddies with anyone in the off season. Seems to have worked pretty well with him. Yes Kobe has 5 championships but there was a lot of guys that could have exchanged places with him and let Shaq steamroll the Lakers to the title. Gasol (and the officials in the 4th quarter) pretty much was the man on the 4th title. I give Kobe the nod for number 5. I always thought Pierce would have won 3 championships if he could have traded places with Kobe. At that time pretty much every time we played the Lakers, Pierce had Kobe guarding him and PP had field days. That is where he got the nickname the "Truth".

Of course you can tell I am no Laker fan. I am still pissed about the 2010 game and the games the refs took away from Sacremento. Actually thats two titles the refs were very influential in for the Lakers.

by **cowens/oldschool** Sat Apr 06, 2019 2:04 am

No question refs stole game 7 from us that year....

by **kdp59** Sat Apr 06, 2019 7:54 am

cowens/oldschool wrote:
dboss wrote:The Celtics have too many guys taking too many shots. In order to reach allstar status you have to be a bigtime scorer or be really good in other areas like assists or rebounds (Ben Simmons) In most cases you are looking at guys who average 20+ PPG. You are not getting to be a 20 PPG scorer taking only 13 shots per game. (Tatum) and you definitely will not get there taking 11 FGA (Brown)

If Tatum and Brown were getting 15 FGA per game they would be 18-20 PPG players. They would then be in the conversation for allstar status.

Once this team is paired down things may change with fewer scorers.

Another obvious reason we need to get rid of Morris and Rozier....even if we lose Kyrie.

IF Irving leaves keeping Rozier and Morris make the most sense cap wise. we won't have much cap space to add quality players.

by **kdp59** Sat Apr 06, 2019 7:56 am

dbrown4 wrote:I really don't mind Jayson reaching out to Kobe last summer. Let's do a quick Championship Count for Kobe....OK, 5. Five more than Jayson has.

Paul has one with the Celtics, but since it's the Celtics, that's equivalent to 6 anywhere else in the league except the Lakers.

No one has the corner on all the great ways to play their position. I'm just glad to see him reaching out. Sign he wants to win big time. DA would truly be a DA to trade him. Don't see it happening.

db

body build wise Tatum is much closer to Kobe than Pierce, so perhaps their games could mesh better,

Maybe Pierce should work with Brown in the off-season, as he has the thick body that Pierce had?

by **dboss** Mon Apr 08, 2019 3:20 pm

PP actually has a good point here.

PP made his living getting to the rim and getting to the line.

Tatum is an excellent FT shooter but his body is not as strong as PP. Once Tatum gets some man strength and a determination to get to the rim he will be fine.

I think GH could work with him on that part of his game just as well as PP.

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