Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum focused on getting better shots this year: ‘Threes and layups’

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2019/09/boston-celtics-jayson-tatum-focused-on-getting-better-shots-this-year-threes-and-layups.html



Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum focused on getting better shots this year: ‘Threes and layups’




Updated 4:32 PM;
Today 4:26 PM





Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum would love to go back to Team USA




By Tom Westerholm | twesterh@masslive.com




CANTON -- For the Boston Celtics last season, one of the most eye-opening stats was Jayson Tatum’s struggle with mid-range jumpers.


In what is now a somewhat infamous graphic, ESPN’s Kirk Goldsberry pointed out Jayson Tatum hit just 22 percent of his shots from the right elbow -- the worst total from that zone for any player in the league (minimum 50 field-goal attempts).

Of course, from time to time, Tatum can make those shots. Some of his biggest buckets last year were mid-range jumpers in isolation, including the time he buried the Knicks with a contested post-up shot early in the season. But for the most part, Tatum’s best offense was unquestionably when he got to the rim or pulled the trigger behind the arc.

So what is Tatum focused on going into his third season on the offensive end?

“I think we just have to emphasize trying to get the best shot every time down the floor, play a little bit faster and just try to get great looks for everybody, no matter who it is,” Tatum said. “Trying to get the best shot every time down the floor and we’ll be successful.”

Okay, but for Tatum personally?

“Getting to the basket much more,” Tatum said, emphasizing “much.” “Shoot more threes. Threes and layups. And free throws. If you want to be a great scorer in this league, you have to get to the line. Free throws is super important. Getting to the basket and that opens up the rest of the game. Threes are worth more than twos.”

Bingo.


That sounds basic, but Tatum’s mid-range numbers last season were bad. Mid-range shot attempts made up 39 percent of his shots last year -- 87th percentile league-wide. Of those mid-range jumpers, 22 percent were considered “long” according to Cleaning the Glass, which 95th percentile. Tatum hit just 38 percent of those long twos, and 37 percent of his mid-range jumpers at large. That inaccuracy dropped him from an effective field-goal percentage of 54 (68th percentile) to 50.7 percent (35th percentile).

For the Celtics, Tatum’s regression in shot selection was a shame, because his numbers at the rim improved from year one to year two (59 percent to 63), and his 37-percent shooting from three -- while a downgrade from his red-hot rookie season -- was still above league average.

Meanwhile, Tatum has consistently been one of the best free-throw shooters on the team (85.5 percent last year, third on the team), but he doesn’t get to the line often. He took just 2.9 per game last year, and according to Cleaning the Glass, he drew shooting fouls on just 8.3 percent of his shot attempts -- 48th percentile among NBA players.

A simpler way to say all of the above: Jayson Tatum is an excellent offensive player who settled entirely too often last year.

Marcus Smart said Tatum looked better with the national team this summer.


“He wasn’t thinking anymore,” Smart said. “We saw a lot last year where he had an open shot and turned it down to take a contested shot, and that’s due to him over-thinking. With (USA basketball), before he got hurt you could definitely tell that he was just going out there and playing. Taking exactly what the defense gave him. He wasn’t trying to make it harder than it already was.”

Brad Stevens was asked about Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who will both be asked to do a lot this season.

“Very rarely as you go through the playoffs in the last two or three years do you see rookies making impact at the level Jaylen and Jayson did, second-year players making impact at the level Jaylen and Jayson did,” Stevens said. “They are just really good players with bright futures. My deal is that just continue to grow and get better. Everything else will take care of itself. I saw a lot of good growth in both of those guys, not only in the summer in their work but also in playing with Team USA. It was unfortunate (Jayson got hurt) because I thought he was playing the best he had played with that group. I thought in the practices I was at, he played awfully well. I thought Jaylen really came on as that tournament went on and played a bunch of different positions and got totally new experiences, and they are still on a great upward trend. That’s exciting. They’re young, but we’re going to throw a lot at them as we have done each of the last two years, and I think they’ll have good years.”

If Tatum is focused on threes and layups, there’s a lot of reason to believe Stevens is right.


“I guess the best thing about what happened last year it was just a teaching experience,” Tatum said. "Especially for me, being young in my second year, it was something I can look back on and ask myself what I could have done better and try to apply it to this coming up season. You can’t change what happened in the past. You can only worry about what’s next.”



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