The time to panic came for me when I realized that both our young "stars" were another year or two away from possibly reaching their true potential. Both Brown and Tatum are several years away from finding their games. (Along with Hayward returning to form after his terrible ankle injury).
Me too.
I definitely factored in the playoffs last year when fashioning my expectations for this season.
Just as a reminder, Jaylen in the playoffs last year: 18 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 54.9% EFG%.
Tatum -- 18.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 5.1 FTA, 51.5% EFG
I thought we could expect Tatum and Brown to build off of those performances and take a big step forward this season.
Instead, they've taken a step back and both look to be struggling to figure out how to make a substantial improvement over last year's regular season.
As for Hayward, I thought he would be rusty coming back, but I don't think I was anticipating quite this level of struggle. Paul George wasn't incredible in his first season back, but it didn't take him this long to get to a point when he was consistently playing well, albeit not at his previous level.
I thought something like 15-3-3 with acceptable scoring efficiency could be doable for Gordon. Instead he's basically Evan Turner.
I have to say that the biggest surprise and disappointment for me has been the utter lack of chemistry and effectiveness of the Kyrie - Brown - Tatum - Hayward - Horford lineup.
That was supposed to be the ace in the hole. The best five man lineup in the East. Shooting, passing, versatility. Too many skilled players to adequately defend all of them in any given possession. The ability to switch all over defensively.
Instead, they've been completely ineffectual offensively and play without much in the way of energy or edge. That's disappointing and frankly deeply concerning for the future direction of the team.
Can that lineup figure it out, or is it a fatally flawed formula? If it's the latter, then the long term makeup of the team is thrown into question.
It will not make financial sense to keep all five of those guys beyond this year if they can't play together effectively.I feel like that last point hasn't been talked about enough to this point.
Yes, Hayward will continue to improve, as will Tatum and Brown. But the degree to which that five many unit has been abjectly awful really makes me wonder if we can expect them to become the elite group that we thought they could be. Simply getting to the point where they can be OK is not enough. To make it worth paying and keeping all those guys, they need to be
awesome.
It's hard to see that right now.
Topic: When IS the right time to panic? (Read 6464 times)