Colin Cowherd ripping Tatum today. Saying he is not a true franchise player. That Boston have "two Pippens" in Tatum & Jaylen.
In particular, he is knocking BOS home-court record in the playoffs over the last few years. .500 for last 3 years. Saying that should not happen for an elite team. Should not happen to an elite star on a top team. That Tatum is not the guy.
Cowherd does not like Tatum's personality. Does not trash talk enough, does not have an edge, spikiness. He is more "let the game come to him" type of guy. His energy is too low end for a main guy. Says there are times where it looks like Jaylen wants the ball more than Tatum to make the play in difficult situations.
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Jason Timpf agreeing with Cowherd. Tatum "very very good" but not quite there. Not a top 3 guy. And all the previous title teams since 2014 have had a top 3 player. Tatum is the question mark.
Timpf belives the lack of great first step to get to the rim and being an inconsistent shooter stops Tatum from being a top scorer. They were both talking about how Tatum has shot under 45% in 7 of the 8 playoff games so far (for context). Timpf was saying something similar about Towns in his criticisms about him earlier in the chat.
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I liked one of the points Cowherd was making at the end. He was talking about team construction. How teams play. They tell you who they are.
He was talking about Boston and "vibes". Whose night is it tonight. The team switches to different guys depending on who has the hot hand. That there are nights were it feels like Porzingis' team. Jaylen's team. Tatum's team. But there is also ... this lack of clear direction of who they are and what they do when the chips are down. Where does the ball go. Who takes over the game.
He went a bit further than that and said this showed a distrust in Tatum's ability to take over games / a playoff series. I wouldn't go that far. I do like the underlying point really about hierarchy. And how that lack of clear direction causes some of the team's post-season failures over the last few years. And it is still there this year. We just aren't playing good opponents. We're bad opponents. It hasn't mattered. But that lack of clear direction is still there.
Cowherd is both right and wrong. He's right that Tatum is not an MVP-caliber consistent scoring talent. But he's underselling the rest of Tatum's game.
Kevin Garnett was nowhere near as good an offensive player as Tatum and he led a team to a title. Same with Duncan. I'd argue Kawhi Leonard isn't/wasn't a true top-tier scorer. Giannis and Embiid have limitations despite their strengths.
But those guys were all elite defenders, and so is Tatum. He is outright spectacular, actually, especially considering how much of the offensive load he carries.
People comment on how amazing it is that he grabs so many rebounds.
But it isn't.
The kid is BIG, strong, long, and is ferocious in the defensive paint. And he's just so versatile. He's a problem for the other team no matter where he is on the court.
There's a reason the Celtics make it so deep every year despite their sometimes bizarre offensive meltdowns: they play great defense, and Tatum is at the heart of it.
Which makes their chokes all the more conspicuous. When Tatum and the Celtics get tight, they not only miss shots but they miss defensive assignments, and then things can get ugly.
Because it's all about mindset. You don't need top-3 scoring ability to win. You need that underdog fire, good offensive depth, and you dominate physically until you win. That's what Russell's Celtics did. And Duncan's Spurs.
When Tatum comes out angry we win. He needs to tap into that fire every quarter of every playoff game. When he's engaged he inspires others, regardless if his shot is falling. When he's moping, sagging his shoulders, complaining, he deflates the team. When he and Brown walk the ball up the court in the 4th, anxiously looking up at the clock, it deflates the team. It's not about the rah-rah stuff or having MJ-levels of natural sociopathy. It's about projecting that animal energy that you're going to fight for every moment of every play.
He can do it, we've seen it. We just need to see it more often.
Topic: Celtics Regular Season News (Read 129562 times)