My concern with Tatum

[Big333223]

I love Jayson Tatum. I'm really happy he plays for the Celtics. But I am a little worried right now about the decisions he's making in these playoffs.

When the C's choked away game 5, they were in control of the game with 7 minutes to go, Tatum came in, and all of the energy was sucked out of the building. That loss wasn't Tatum's fault alone but the lackadaisical effort from him as the team's best player was concerning.

Last night, for the first time all playoffs, the Celtics looked engaged on defense for the full 48 and it came in a game where Tatum played 19 minutes due to foul trouble.

This is not a "the C's are better without Tatum" post because I don't think they. Tatum is this team's best player and they are obviously better with him. But I'm concerned that his penchant for slow-walking the ball up the court and killing the pace is really hurting the Celtics both on offense and on defense by lowering everyone's energy.

Hopefully he was taking notes about what worked last night while he was on the bench.

[celticinorlando]

I think him sitting was a blessing in disguise. Gave him time to rest, to see the game and to realize how poorly he has been playing in this series. I expect a bounce back game.

[A Future of Stevens]

I think given all of his skill, Tatum is still a bit more up and down compared to other stars. I think he is in a relative slump. Hopefully he is able to pull himself out of it in time during these playoffs.

I haven't felt like he has impacted the game much in this playoffs when he isn't having a scoring impact. Usually when Tatum's shot isn't falling, he impacts the game in every aspect.

Without the normal Tatum, I am not sure what the ceiling is.

[Surferdad]

I think given all of his skill, Tatum is still a bit more up and down compared to other stars. I think he is in a relative slump. Hopefully he is able to pull himself out of it in time during these playoffs.

I haven't felt like he has impacted the game much in this playoffs when he isn't having a scoring impact. Usually when Tatum's shot isn't falling, he impacts the game in every aspect.

Without the normal Tatum, I am not sure what the ceiling is.

He does with rebounding, assists and blocks/defense.

[droopdog7]

Tatum is a very good player.  But he does seem to be more up and down that other superstars.  He's also the most important wildcard when it comes to winning a title.  If the Celtics fall short again, it will be because JT did not meet expectations.

[GetLucky]

Tatum is Steph Curry Clutch. Higher variance, one of the best ceiling raisers in the game who can singlehandedly keep you in a game or put you over the top when he's hot. (Remember the early Curry critiques that he "is easily stopped" in the clutch because he couldn't just get an iso mid range bucket at the end of a close game?)

Jimmy Butler is MJ clutch. More "gritty" and aesthetic. The "just put your head down and refuse to be stopped" archetype.

LeBron is kind of a mixture of the two, becoming more the latter as he gets older. I see flashes of Tatum plowing his way to the hoop this season, which encourages me that he can develop this part of his clutch style as well.

We've been on the receiving end of both. I'm not sure if one is "better" than the other, per se. For example, Butler has had a TON of total stinker playoff games that are somehow forgotten about.

Tatum's highs and lows average out to a top-5 or top-10 playoff performer. Here's to hoping he improves and gets hot at the tight time.

[Phantom255x]

The one thing I noticed was when Tatum was off the floor, the ball movement just looked 10x better

There are times when Tatum just slows the offense down with his dribbling and iso-ball, and if he's not making the shots it sometimes screws us on defense too having to run back in transition and not being set. It's kind of the same issue guys like Trae Young can cause for their teams. Not that I'm at all comparing Tatum to Young (obviously Tatum is way better), but this team is lethal when the ball is moving and they are pushing the pace. Tatum and Smart sometimes do the opposite especially late in games when trying to "ice the clock" and it screws us.

Even when our bench played the 4th, it felt like they were just continuing to play as opposed to milking the clock and they kept the lead past 25-30

[Big333223]

The one thing I noticed was when Tatum was off the floor, the ball movement just looked 10x better

There are times when Tatum just slows the offense down with his dribbling and iso-ball, and if he's not making the shots it sometimes screws us on defense too having to run back in transition and not being set. It's kind of the same issue guys like Trae Young can cause for their teams. Not that I'm at all comparing Tatum to Young (obviously Tatum is way better), but this team is lethal when the ball is moving and they are pushing the pace. Tatum and Smart sometimes do the opposite especially late in games when trying to "ice the clock" and it screws us.

Even when our bench played the 4th, it felt like they were just continuing to play as opposed to milking the clock and they kept the lead past 25-30

Agreed 100%, this is exactly what I'm talking about.

It's not like he hasn't been played well. Tatum went for 39-11-5-1-1 in game 1 and was incredibly efficient from the floor.

But way too often he kills the team's/his own momentum with his slow play and I think that bleeds over to the defensive side where everyone has to be manufacturing energy every possession instead of getting into the kind of rhythm that they got into in game 2 when Tatum sat most of the 2nd half and the energy was great.

Game 3 is going to be really interesting.