I'm kind of disappointed in Tatum as a scorer

[gouki88]

I will say, as much as I think Tatum is STILL quite young and deserves some benefit of the doubt (look at what Jaylen is doing right now!), it is baffling to me how Tatum has struggled this year to hold onto the ball and finish near the basket.

Whatever Jaylen's off-season routine was, I hope Tatum gets some notes from him.

Maybe the Celtics #3 picks have junior slumps instead of sophomore slumps.....and then in their fourth year they become stars🧐

I’m okay with this

[Who]

Tatum reminds me more of Danny Granger than Paul George.

[Rondo9]

Had a bad game so it must mean it's time to trade the player!

[PhoSita]

Tatum reminds me more of Danny Granger than Paul George.

I'd gladly take peak Granger.  His issue was health, not ability or production.


Should be pointed out however that Granger came into the league at age 22 and averaged 7.5 points per game his first season, then 13.9 points in his second season.  Tatum isn't even 22 yet.

[Scottiej23]

I'll take our 3rd year player "slumping" to 19.7ppg and 7.7rebs on 39% shooting any day of the week.

[gouki88]

I'll take our 3rd year player "slumping" to 19.7ppg and 7.7rebs on 39% shooting any day of the week.

The 39% shooting is cause for worry, but generally I agree. I don't think he'll sustain such poor shooting, especially considering it's mostly from inside the arc

[chambers]

He just needs to keep trying to get to the hole and eventually the fouls will get called. Rather than finish at the rim, he needs to look for the shooters more too.

He's still a baby. 21 or 22 years old or whatever, imagine the kid at 25 years old next to Jaylen lol.

side note: he's been incredible on the defensive end.

[bcgenuis]

For a while now and since last season and way before last night's Dallas game, I held the belief that Tatum will struggle to be a true Super star caliber player.

Do not make the mistake that I am saying that Tatum is not a good player. He is a very solid player. However,  I believe that he does not have it in him to be a true #1 or it will take a lot of work for him to get there. 

Perhaps I am wrong, but I feel that many here overhype Tatum expecting him to be the next 26 ppg scorer.  I do not see that happening quickly, if at all.

Last night's game drove home that point for me.  (Because the Celtics won people are going easier on Tatum. Imagine if the Celtics lost, the outcry at taking 18 shots when you are colder than the North Pole would be rightly criticized as unacceptable.)

Why? In no particular order:

1. His handle or dribbling skills in traffic are poor.  Too many turnovers off of drives into the paint.

2. His mentality and BBIQ: (A) he gets hung up on calls that do not go his way. Which often causes him not to get back on defense and lose focus.  (B) He thinks that he is "the man"  (e.g. last night's 1-18 - if you are missing everything and everyone knows that it is not your night - find another way to contribute (set screens, box out) and pass the ball), even though he has never shown evidence of that and often stops the offensive flow, meaning he goes into ISO mode way too often.

3. His non-scoring offensive abilities are lacking.  He does not drive and dish well. HE rarely sets up teammates. His offensive screens are often weak. His offensive rebounding is often lacking.

4. Has not really shown tangible improvements in shooting ability, handling or rebounding since he entered the league. Sure his numbers have gone up with usage but skills-wise it appears he is at the same skill level he was when he entered the NBA.

5. Finally, he has yet to show in the 2+ years that he can dominate games or flat out take it over on a nightly basis.  I do not think he can.

Of course there are counter-arguments against all the above.

1. He is still young, he can learn to dribble better, see Jaylen Brown. Perhaps. Took Jaylen 4 years
2. He is young, he will mature and his BBIQ will get better.
3. He always had better veterans that were the alphas so he did not have the opportunity to dominate games on a consistent basis.

[bcgenuis]

double post

[keevsnick]

I mean I think he's has improved his 3pnt shooting. I know the percentage is the same as his rookie year but he's taking a lot more shots, including a good number of off the dribble threes. Thats not something he could do a year ago. He has added a floater to his game, its not dropping yet but I think he has the touch that it will soon. I think he's better defensively, maybe not at Marcus or Jaylen level but better. I think  his rebounding is also a little better.

He hasn't taken a BIG leap so far this year, but there are areas he has improved.

Also how many "disappointed in Tatum" threads do we really need?

[BitterJim]

If anything, I would have had more of a problem if he stopped shooting after missing the first few. Shooters gotta shoot, most of the time those bad nights will move closer to average as it goes on

[bcgenuis]

If anything, I would have had more of a problem if he stopped shooting after missing the first few. Shooters gotta shoot, most of the time those bad nights will move closer to average as it goes on

I agree with you to a point. But 18 shots? That is way way way too much. At some point you need to get yourself to the line to get in rhythm. Or find a way for an easy bucket.  Many of the 18 shots were bad decisions.  We would be singing a different tune if the C's lost.

[gouki88]

I think he's definitely made two big improvements. As keevsnick posted, his 3 point shooting certainly has improved. He's shooting over 40% on more than 6 attempts a game. That's pretty elite.

Secondly, his rebounding has in fact improved, despite you saying otherwise. His TRB% has improved every year he's been in the league.

However, I do think some of your concerns are certainly valid. Hell, I definitely share them. His repeated whinging about not getting calls really bugs me. If he was stronger and actually played through contact instead of flailing about as soon as he can I'd be alright with the complaining. But he doesn't do that. It also, like you said, detracts from his defensive effort.
He also has one of the loosest handles I've ever seen when it comes to driving the lane. At least once or twice a game when he drives it to the paint he seems to violently lose possession of the ball, mainly due to him simply appearing to not hold it tight enough.

Maybe he never develops into a 26PPG scorer. But if we have Brown, Hayward and Kemba all averaging 17-22 (we are comfortably over that mark right now) then I don't think we need Tatum to be putting up those kind of numbers. All I want from him is better finishing inside the arc. No more mid-range shots. If his shot-chart started to look like Ray Allen's I'd actually be happy.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

If anything, I would have had more of a problem if he stopped shooting after missing the first few. Shooters gotta shoot, most of the time those bad nights will move closer to average as it goes on

But shooters have off-nights too, and if a guy is, say, 1 for 10, I'm not keen on that guy continuing to shoot that game (other than layups and dunks). I could be wrong, but it seems that players tend to shoot well, or poorly, for the bulk of a given game, so if someone starts 1 of 10, they're not often gonna suddenly go 6 of their next 8 or something like that.

[drooldaddy]

Was texting with my son during game and I asked him who would have thought Brown would become the better player.
Not impressed by Tatum at all this season.
Here’s a thought; we have a lot of decent  pieces similar to what we had before the Garnett trade. Is Tatum the  Al Jefferson in the future?
Can he and a few chips like Romeo etc bring back the right player.
Ps. At this time I am not sure who the right player coming back would be.