Celtics 2025-26 Regular Season Discussion

[Goldstar88]

Tatum looked pretty "off" tonight in Memphis. A few thoughts:

Positive
He's able to play more minutes per game than I anticipated this early
His defense and rebounding are already high-level

Negatives
His shooting is very inconsistent
He still operates in extreme iso mode often and it seems to impact the offense at times

If Coach Mazzulla does not take JT out in the fourth quarter C's probably lose. JT is an exceptional player, but dynamics of the team have changed. Ball and player movement less iso ball. Hoping he buys into this new team style.

Tatum was in the game in the 4th quarter. He was taking free throws with a minute left in the game.

[Celtics2021]

Tatum looked pretty "off" tonight in Memphis. A few thoughts:

Positive
He's able to play more minutes per game than I anticipated this early
His defense and rebounding are already high-level

Negatives
His shooting is very inconsistent
He still operates in extreme iso mode often and it seems to impact the offense at times

If Coach Mazzulla does not take JT out in the fourth quarter C's probably lose. JT is an exceptional player, but dynamics of the team have changed. Ball and player movement less iso ball. Hoping he buys into this new team style.

Tatum was in the game in the 4th quarter. He was taking free throws with a minute left in the game.

Indeed.  The Celtics were up 1 when he and Brown re-entered with 5.5 minutes to go, and were up 8 when they checked out before the final possessions with a few seconds left.

[Goldstar88]

Tatum looked pretty "off" tonight in Memphis. A few thoughts:

Positive
He's able to play more minutes per game than I anticipated this early
His defense and rebounding are already high-level

Negatives
His shooting is very inconsistent
He still operates in extreme iso mode often and it seems to impact the offense at times

If Coach Mazzulla does not take JT out in the fourth quarter C's probably lose. JT is an exceptional player, but dynamics of the team have changed. Ball and player movement less iso ball. Hoping he buys into this new team style.

Tatum was in the game in the 4th quarter. He was taking free throws with a minute left in the game.

Indeed.  The Celtics were up 1 when he and Brown re-entered with 5.5 minutes to go, and were up 8 when they checked out before the final possessions with a few seconds left.

Cant make this stuff up. 

[86MaxwellSmart]

I can't believe people are worried about Tatum right now...He has to work through the rust folks, we thought he might never play again at this level, he's only 7 games in.

[satch]

Tatum looked pretty "off" tonight in Memphis. A few thoughts:

Positive
He's able to play more minutes per game than I anticipated this early
His defense and rebounding are already high-level

Negatives
His shooting is very inconsistent
He still operates in extreme iso mode often and it seems to impact the offense at times

If Coach Mazzulla does not take JT out in the fourth quarter C's probably lose. JT is an exceptional player, but dynamics of the team have changed. Ball and player movement less iso ball. Hoping he buys into this new team style.

Tatum was in the game in the 4th quarter. He was taking free throws with a minute left in the game.

Indeed.  The Celtics were up 1 when he and Brown re-entered with 5.5 minutes to go, and were up 8 when they checked out before the final possessions with a few seconds left.

Check me on this-I went and re-watched the fourth-They C's were down 8 when coach took a timeout, but he did not put Tatum back in. He did put Tatum and Brown back in when they went up one. Don't get me wrong I like Tatum feel free to go back and watch the replay. White was the one that turned the game in the fourth when they were down 8.

[Phantom255x]

Maybe Tatum is still knocking off rust and doesn't want to attack the paint constantly until he feels right. But it's kind of annoying seeing him just take contested 3s, or the occasional side-step when another guy near him is open (or there's empty space behind the defender).

So far he's 20-68 from 3 (29%) and even some of that is aided by his 5-11 3-point shooting in the Warriors game. He's been terrible from beyond the arc but is still attempting nearly 10 a game.

The law of averages could even out, but it feels like Tatum is passing up opportunities to score easier buckets. Even Jaylen isn't really going berserk from beyond the arc and he's getting his points inside more effectively. I'd just leave the 3-point shooting primarily to the likes of PP, Hauser and White, and JT should take them more when he's open or at least not attempt like 3 in a row when contested and having missed the previous 2+. Sometimes the offense stagnates that way too. There was a stretch yesterday he attempted 4 3s in a row over the course of 3 minutes in the 2nd quarter and missed them all. He went 1-7 from 3 in the first half (1-10 overall) and MEM was able to get to within 1 at halftime even after BOS had some momentum a few minutes earlier.

[moiso]

Maybe Tatum is still knocking off rust and doesn't want to attack the paint constantly until he feels right. But it's kind of annoying seeing him just take contested 3s, or the occasional side-step when another guy near him is open (or there's empty space behind the defender).

So far he's 20-68 from 3 (29%) and even some of that is aided by his 5-11 3-point shooting in the Warriors game. He's been terrible from beyond the arc but is still attempting nearly 10 a game.

The law of averages could even out, but it feels like Tatum is passing up opportunities to score easier buckets. Even Jaylen isn't really going berserk from beyond the arc and he's getting his points inside more effectively. I'd just leave the 3-point shooting primarily to the likes of PP, Hauser and White, and JT should take them more when he's open or at least not attempt like 3 in a row when contested and having missed the previous 2+. Sometimes the offense stagnates that way too. There was a stretch yesterday he attempted 4 3s in a row over the course of 3 minutes in the 2nd quarter and missed them all. He went 1-7 from 3 in the first half (1-10 overall) and MEM was able to get to within 1 at halftime even after BOS had some momentum a few minutes earlier.

I hate his 3 point launching also.  He took over 10 per game last year at 34%, so it's not just that he's rusty this year.  He has been below the league average in 3 point percentage in 3 of his last 4 healthy seasons.  It seems like lazy offense to me because he can get better shots just about any time.   I liked the entire team's shot selection before Tatum came back.  The right guy seemed to take the right shot most of the time.  Now Tatum's 3's annoy me almost as much as Smart's did.  But Smart didn't have all the other offensive options that Tatum has in terms of shot creation.

[michigan adam]

You need to remember that 34% equates to 50% from 2.  He should not take nearly as many contested shots in general.  He is too good a passer.  He needs to be getting 6 ast per game, not the 0 he got last game.  Bad choices for sure. 

[keevsnick]

The poor shooting for Tatum was very much my expectation coming off a 10-month absence, I expect that will improve with time. I'd say he's been better than expected. Still rebounding, still passing.

The one thing to watch is his vertical explosion. He clearly doesn't have that all back yet, he had the obvious missed dunk his first game but he's also had a few at rim finishes where he clearly isn't getting the elevation he's expecting. He's gone for layups where he might have dunked before. That's also not all that surprising given the nature of the injury and might take a bit longer to return.

Overall this version of Tatum is still a very positive player and will be even more so if he starts hitting the three at more like 35-37 rather than 29%. And it makes me feel a good deal better that 100% Tatum is likely/very likely at some point.

[radiohead]

We are now at 24 losses and the Knicks 25. The second seed is now up for grabs. Cavs not far behind at 27 losses too. And we have a really tough 6 or 7 games ahead. Let?s see where we end up in the final playoff standings.

[Vermont Green]

Looking at some individual stats before and after Tatum's return.  Simple comparison, NRtg before and NRtg after

  Player         Before      After
Pritchard         6.5          13.4
White            11.9            4.4
Hauser            7.7            4.5
Brown             4.6           10.4
Scheierman     9.5           -0.9
Garza              4.2           14.3
Queta             12.0           6.6

Team              8.0            6.8

Pritchard, Brown, and Garza all markedly better.  White, Queta, and Scheierman all markedly worse.  Hauser a little worse.  The team overall is a little worse.  To me, the team has looked a little sloppier, a little less crisp, less consistent.  The competition has been tougher.  Queta for one may be getting run down some.  He has never played this much.  Some of the younger guys that were a big part of the early winning (Hugo, Walsh, Scheierman) are no longer a surprise to the other teams.  And Vucuvic has been out the whole time Tatum has been back.

Derrick White is one of the down players.  He is one I would be trying to rest.