Post Game Thread - vs Trailblazers, Away 2/25/20

[bobheckler]

Imagine what a different game this would have been if Kemba and Dame played!  Damien Lillard was playing out of his mind when he went down with a groin strain.  However, down one All-Star each, we still outnumbered them and the one we had destroyed them.

36 points on 14-22 shooting, 8-12 from 3 and not a single frito.  Well, when over half your points come from 3 you're probably not going to get a lot of contact, are you?  26 of Tatum's points came in the 2nd half.  Tatum earned his first EC Player of the Week award earlier this month.  Not only should he earn another he should probably get EC Player of the Month too.  He's averaging over 30 ppg over the last 10 games.  He's shooting 50% from the field and 49.5% from 3 in those 10 games.  The ball is positively flowing out of his hands.  In summary, he's smoking hot and has been that way since he was named an All-Star.  Earlier this season he was a high-volume, low-efficiency scorer.  He's now averaging a very acceptable 44.9% fg%, 39.5% from 3 and his scoring has inched up to over 23ppg.

Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
about 2 hours ago
Jayson Tatum's splits in February have been absurd. Hard to find a better two-way player in the East over that span: 30.3 ppg (3rd in East) 50% FG (20.2 attempts/G) 49.5% 3-pt (9.1 attempts/G) 77.2% FT (7.2 attempts/G) 7.2 RPG +10.6 Net Rating



Not that his partner-in-crime, Jaylen Brown, was too shabby either.  24 points and 7 rebounds.  It's almost as if Jaylen tries to get his points in early because once Jayson starts hitting he'll take over.  How a back court player who is averaging over 20 ppg, 6.4 rpg and gets a lot of tough defensive assignments (LeBron and AD in the Laker game, 'Melo last night) doesn't get named an All-Star.

Adam Himmelsbach @AdamHimmelsbach
about 8 hours ago
Jaylen: "I’m trying to lead these guys & be a motivator & give them confidence or get the best out of them. There’s a lot of guys in this league that are super-talented, but a lot of them don’t know how to win or be leaders. So as I’m learning, I think that’s an important part."

The growth of this young man is most impressive.  Everything he has said since he was drafted, the way he conducts himself and carries himself in public.  In a world where overpaid entertainers feel entitled to act like jerks he is a shining beacon.  I worried about his offense in his first year, obviously no longer, but I've loved him ever since he first opened his mouth on draft day.  I'll say this again, he has grown up to a be a very impressive young man.

Going from the Sublime to the Sub-slime:  'Melo, barring a serious injury is going to pass Havlicek AND Pierce on the NBA All-Time Scoring Leaders list this season.  If nothing else says scoring is over appreciated, this is it.  Never better than a mediocre defender, a career 35% 3pt shooter, 2.9 assists and 2.6 turnovers per game, his claim to fame hinges on him averaging almost 19 fgas/game over an 18 year career.  In other words, another high-volume, low-efficiency ME-baller.  His entire career has been "Screw you, I got mine" and that's why he has never won anywhere he has ever played and probably why the Lakers didn't sign him earlier this season.  But other than all this, I love everything about Carmelo Anthony...time to wake up and smell the sarcasm...

Jay King @ByJayKing
9 hours ago
Jayson Tatum on swapping jerseys with Carmelo Anthony tonight: “Oh man. Besides Kobe, Melo’s probably one of my top three favorite players. I studied him so much growing up. I’m one of his biggest fans.”

I just threw up a little bit in my mouth.

Wanny back with a Wanny game.  I recognized the player on the floor last night, I didn't see him in LA.

Brad is showing a lot of confidence in Romeo.  Not only has he passed Javonte Green on the depth chart (poor Javonte.  I think he plays a really nice game too) but he is being given some very difficult defensive assignments.  LeBron in LA and CJ McCollum last night.

Theis with a solid 10 point, 9 rebound game last night, but what he does better than anybody else I can think of is sealing his man so he cannot reach a driver.  For those who aren't paying attention to this, you should.  Watch how many layups we get because once our driver gets into the lane there's a clear path to the rim because Theis has his man on his back and is, basically, boxing him out from the driving lane.  Most bigs want to get free so they can get in position for an offensive rebound.  Theis stays with his man and keeps him away from the ball.  It doesn't show up in the box score, except as a fgm for his teammate.  He is a perfect complementary player for this team of wings.

Sean Grande
@SeanGrandePBP
·
4h
A few more notes on this list...

The average win total of the other nine teams on it?  63.3.

3 NBA Titles (1984, 1986, 2008)
5 NBA Finals
7 Conference Finals



https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401161504




bob


.

[cowens/oldschool]

I don’t know how Tatum got so good so fast this month, I was hoping he could approach this level in a couple years, he got there THIS month. If he can keep up this level and we can figure out to play off him even better, sky is the limit with this team.

[bobheckler]

A couple of points I forgot to cite in my original post:

Grant Williams has been making a bunch of dumb, dumb plays the last week or so. This is unusual, he's a smart player, but there they are.

Hassan Whiteside thinks he should be in the discussion for DPOY. He's the defensive anchor on one of the worst defensive teams in the league. This may be one of the reasons why Pat Riley was happy to get rid of him, he's clueless. The other might be he won't leave the paint and in this league EVERYBODY has to be ready, willing and able to defend at the arc. He blocked a Jaylen Brown shot last night and cupped his hand to his ear to get the crowd to cheer him for that, and then on the inbound pass we got because he blocked it out of bounds he allowed Gordon Hayward to sneak in and get an offensive rebound and putback because he was standing there flat-footed. As far as I am concerned The Time Lord is already more valuable than Hassan Whiteside, contract aside, because Robert Williams will and does go out to the arc to defend. Comparable offenses, limited to 6' from the rim, but Williams is more versatile defensively. I have never been a fan of Whiteside's for this reason. He is not only two-dimensional (rebounding and shot blocking) he is limited even in those dimensions.

Listen to the highlight video I provided and hear the Portland announcers repeatedly credit Theis for creating driving lanes by sealing Whiteside on drives.


bob


.

[sinus007]

Hi,
One more W. 27 to go.
Speaking about Theis - I wonder if anyone counted how many of his "seals" produced easy paths to the basket for JT, JB, GH and KW?
I don't see that any opposing team uses this play much, if at all.
Also, I wonder why all (correct me if I'm wrong) opposing teams fall for this combination several times a game? It's fairly simple and there must be some countermeasures but it's employed and works over and over again...

AK

[cowens/oldschool]

Hi,
One more W. 27 to go.
Speaking about Theis - I wonder if anyone counted how many of his "seals" produced easy paths to the basket for JT, JB, GH and KW?
I don't see that any opposing team uses this play much, if at all.
Also, I wonder why all (correct me if I'm wrong) opposing teams fall for this combination several times a game? It's fairly simple and there must be some countermeasures but it's employed and works over and over again...

AK

Those 4 main guys Theis is springing are so skilled/quick that in a flash it’s over, Theis is great at it and just gets enough contact that those guys slip by and no foul. We have the sealer and the wings to pull it off, credit to Brad and our players, I don’t watch alot of other NBA, other teams may be able to do this, but not quite have as many pieces as us.

[dboss]

Boston won their 40th game while the Raptors lost so we are back to 1 game behind them in the loss column.  The #2 seed remains in play for us.

JT game has ascended to another level beyond all-star.  It makes a difference when a guy can score the way he does.  Being able to do that on the road is huge.

JB with an obligatory 24 point 7 rebound contribution.

And GH with a below average  performance.  He has struggled the past two games especially with turnovers as he had 5 last night.  He gets to play in Utah tonight.

One of the things I have come to accept is that our bench is comprised of complimentary guys.  I am not going to include Smart in that group because he has started 32 games and has played starter minutes all year.

Guys like Semi and G Williams, Kanter and now Langford  can help us win but only Kanter is the only guy who we expect to score and rebound.  So I really do not expect much from those other guys.  Wanamaker has been pretty solid for us.

When RW comes back I do not know what happens with Grant.

Once the playoff starts I expect to see a shorter rotation with some rotation guys playing mere spot minutes off the bench,

[Shamrock1000]

Tatum might have been less efficient early in the season when he was weirdly missing all those easy drives, but I never saw him as an inefficient volume scorer. All year his shot chart looked very much like an efficient player's shot chart, he just had those missed bunnies and a couple of cold stretches here and there. Maybe he played iso a little, but for the most part, he had really reduced his midrange long twos and was taking shots that the analytics folks consider efficient.

[dboss]

Tatum might have been less efficient early in the season when he was weirdly missing all those easy drives, but I never saw him as an inefficient volume scorer. All year his shot chart looked very much like an efficient player's shot chart, he just had those missed bunnies and a couple of cold stretches here and there. Maybe he played iso a little, but for the most part, he had really reduced his midrange long twos and was taking shots that the analytics folks consider efficient.

Tatum is going to be a top player in this league.

ESPN has determine that he is #2 among all the 21 and under guys.  Luka is at #1 mainly because of his play making skills however if you choose to entertain playing on the defensive side of the ball, Jayson Tatum may in fact be the top guy.

He is a very special player.

[dboss]

I might add that Jayson and Jaylen are now at a level where finding equal value is damn near impossible.  There is NO player in the NBA that I would trade either of them for.

[bobheckler]

I might add that Jayson and Jaylen are now at a level where finding equal value is damn near impossible.  There is NO player in the NBA that I would trade either of them for.

Luka for Jaylen?


bob


.

[bobc33]

I might add that Jayson and Jaylen are now at a level where finding equal value is damn near impossible.  There is NO player in the NBA that I would trade either of them for.

Luka for Jaylen?


bob


.

In a heartbeat, and I think Jaylen will be a perennial all star.

[dboss]

I might add that Jayson and Jaylen are now at a level where finding equal value is damn near impossible.  There is NO player in the NBA that I would trade either of them for.

Luka for Jaylen?


bob


.

Hell no

Keep in mind that Jaylen is a two way player and Luka is not.  Luka is a virtual PG but we have Kemba running the point.  As of today Luka is a poor shooter from deep despite his lofty offensive numbers.  He shoots 32% from deep.   Luka is an on the ball guy.  Jaylen can play on or off the ball.

[Shamrock1000]

Tatum might have been less efficient early in the season when he was weirdly missing all those easy drives, but I never saw him as an inefficient volume scorer. All year his shot chart looked very much like an efficient player's shot chart, he just had those missed bunnies and a couple of cold stretches here and there. Maybe he played iso a little, but for the most part, he had really reduced his midrange long twos and was taking shots that the analytics folks consider efficient.

Tatum is going to be a top player in this league.

ESPN has determine that he is #2 among all the 21 and under guys.  Luka is at #1 mainly because of his play making skills however if you choose to entertain playing on the defensive side of the ball, Jayson Tatum may in fact be the top guy.

He is a very special player.

+1

What a pleasure it has been to watch his emergence. Just hope JB doesn't get too overlooked. He is also on the star path.

[RosalieTCeltics]

Jason and Jaylen compliment each other, work great together, Luca would want the ball. I would think that would lead to what we had last year, confusion on the floor. Why would we mess with what we have right now, it is such a joy to watch

[dboss]

Tatum is our A+ guy and Brown is our A guy.

These two were meant to be stars on this team.

[KyleCleric]

I haven’t seen the Jazz game yet. But it’s amazing how effortless Tatum has looked in terms of his scoring recently.

[worcester]

You will enjoy his 33 point game in Utah.

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