Tatum ball stopping ways is not healthy basketball

[PhoSita]

I don't think Tatum ball stops.

I do find it troubling that his go-to move every time he tries to make a big shot is to take a step back three.

It's a back breaker when it goes in, but even from JT it's not a super high percentage look.

When you're down 2 your star has to look to drive and either get fouled or put up a layup.  Going for the step back three in that situation is foolhardy, doesn't matter who you are.


Bigger issue is Tatum had 5 turnovers and 5 assists tonight.  The Celtics are going to continue to struggle to score efficiently so long as their best scoring options are poor at handling the ball and passing.

We really only use one scoring option in crunch time with Kemba out and it's Tatum - Brown is still not getting the ball in those situations no matter how good he looks as a scoring wing who has developed moderate playmaking skills. Btw we were down 1, which makes Tatum's decision all the more foolish.

You're right -- down 1.  Just needed a single free throw to tie.

[LilRip]

It’s easy to point the blame at Tatum but as a TEAM? The C’s generally stand around a lot. Most of the time, it looks like the strategy is
1) hand off to a wing
2) call for a pick
3) take the pick (or not)
4) put the defender in prison or take it to the rim or pass it to a camped out shooter or step back 3

A lot of what McDermott was doing? We don’t see that. We don’t have a steady diet of that. As a matter of fact, the best guy we have at moving off the ball might be Grant Williams.

[Somebody]

It’s easy to point the blame at Tatum but as a TEAM? The C’s generally stand around a lot. Most of the time, it looks like the strategy is
1) hand off to a wing
2) call for a pick
3) take the pick (or not)
4) put the defender in prison or take it to the rim or pass it to a camped out shooter or step back 3

A lot of what McDermott was doing? We don’t see that. We don’t have a steady diet of that. As a matter of fact, the best guy we have at moving off the ball might be Grant Williams.

We do stand around a lot as a team, but it's less obvious when Tatum is off the floor or not directing the offence. A good example of this is our lineup that got us back into the game tonight with Smart and Brown leading the way (think the other players were TT, Pritchard/Teague and a wing/Grant). While there wasn't a lot of off-ball movement, Brown's decisiveness and quick decision making reduced the time that his teammates spent camping in the corner or the wings and the offence looked more fluid as a whole as players would actually move in hopes of Brown/Smart finding them with a pass.

[PhoSita]

It’s easy to point the blame at Tatum but as a TEAM? The C’s generally stand around a lot. Most of the time, it looks like the strategy is
1) hand off to a wing
2) call for a pick
3) take the pick (or not)
4) put the defender in prison or take it to the rim or pass it to a camped out shooter or step back 3

A lot of what McDermott was doing? We don’t see that. We don’t have a steady diet of that. As a matter of fact, the best guy we have at moving off the ball might be Grant Williams.

The only guy I can think of to run that play like McDermott is Tatum, and it's hard to take the ball out of Tatum's hands when he's by far the most dangerous offensive player on the floor for the Celts.

[Somebody]

It’s easy to point the blame at Tatum but as a TEAM? The C’s generally stand around a lot. Most of the time, it looks like the strategy is
1) hand off to a wing
2) call for a pick
3) take the pick (or not)
4) put the defender in prison or take it to the rim or pass it to a camped out shooter or step back 3

A lot of what McDermott was doing? We don’t see that. We don’t have a steady diet of that. As a matter of fact, the best guy we have at moving off the ball might be Grant Williams.

The only guy I can think of to run that play like McDermott is Tatum, and it's hard to take the ball out of Tatum's hands when he's by far the most dangerous offensive player on the floor for the Celts.

Massively disagree with the bolded considering how good Jaylen has looked so far with the ball.

[LilRip]

It’s easy to point the blame at Tatum but as a TEAM? The C’s generally stand around a lot. Most of the time, it looks like the strategy is
1) hand off to a wing
2) call for a pick
3) take the pick (or not)
4) put the defender in prison or take it to the rim or pass it to a camped out shooter or step back 3

A lot of what McDermott was doing? We don’t see that. We don’t have a steady diet of that. As a matter of fact, the best guy we have at moving off the ball might be Grant Williams.

We do stand around a lot as a team, but it's less obvious when Tatum is off the floor or not directing the offence. A good example of this is our lineup that got us back into the game tonight with Smart and Brown leading the way (think the other players were TT, Pritchard/Teague and a wing/Grant). While there wasn't a lot of off-ball movement, Brown's decisiveness and quick decision making reduced the time that his teammates spent camping in the corner or the wings and the offence looked more fluid as a whole as players would actually move in hopes of Brown/Smart finding them with a pass.

No doubt Brown is more aggressive between the 2, and I think this passes our “eye test” because we see the ball hit the paint more. But there were a couple of lucky shots we hit and lucky misses from the Pacers in that stretch so I’d caution against calling that as our offense was humming.

The game is a game of runs and for that stretch, we were rolling (as an aside, I wish CBS used his timeouts more to stop runs but that’s a diff topic altogether).

So what would I change?

Well, for one, I’d rather we have JB catching the ball on the move more to help him on his drives (rather than have him start at the 3 point line).

Secondly, I’d run more post ups for Tatum. He usually has a smaller guy on him and a closer jump shot could help get him in rhythm.

Lastly, I’d have guys like TT and RW aggressively rim run. We run a lot of PnRs and there’s so much attention drawn by JT and JB now that aggressive rim runs will likely be rewarded by dunks or fouls.

But that’s just me

[Somebody]

It’s easy to point the blame at Tatum but as a TEAM? The C’s generally stand around a lot. Most of the time, it looks like the strategy is
1) hand off to a wing
2) call for a pick
3) take the pick (or not)
4) put the defender in prison or take it to the rim or pass it to a camped out shooter or step back 3

A lot of what McDermott was doing? We don’t see that. We don’t have a steady diet of that. As a matter of fact, the best guy we have at moving off the ball might be Grant Williams.

We do stand around a lot as a team, but it's less obvious when Tatum is off the floor or not directing the offence. A good example of this is our lineup that got us back into the game tonight with Smart and Brown leading the way (think the other players were TT, Pritchard/Teague and a wing/Grant). While there wasn't a lot of off-ball movement, Brown's decisiveness and quick decision making reduced the time that his teammates spent camping in the corner or the wings and the offence looked more fluid as a whole as players would actually move in hopes of Brown/Smart finding them with a pass.

No doubt Brown is more aggressive between the 2, and I think this passes our “eye test” because we see the ball hit the paint more. But there were a couple of lucky shots we hit and lucky misses from the Pacers in that stretch so I’d caution against calling that as our offense was humming.

The game is a game of runs and for that stretch, we were rolling (as an aside, I wish CBS used his timeouts more to stop runs but that’s a diff topic altogether).

So what would I change?

Well, for one, I’d rather we have JB catching the ball on the move more to help him on his drives (rather than have him start at the 3 point line).

Secondly, I’d run more post ups for Tatum. He usually has a smaller guy on him and a closer jump shot could help get him in rhythm.

Lastly, I’d have guys like TT and RW aggressively rim run. We run a lot of PnRs and there’s so much attention drawn by JT and JB now that aggressive rim runs will likely be rewarded by dunks or fouls.

But that’s just me

Oh for sure, but you get some sort of luck in any major run and I don't think we had too many fluky possessions with that Brown-centric unit - I'm pretty confident that our offence looked alright at the very least with Brown being the focal point of our attack in that stretch even with a "luck adjustment", we were generating some good looks that strained the Pacer defence while being more active off the ball as a unit.

I'd do the on the move thing for Tatum as well. He might not be able to take advantage of those possessions like Brown, but him receiving the ball on the move would give him a half step advantage on his man so he can actually drive to the rim more instead of settling for contested stepbacks and fadeaways.

Think I would run post ups for both of them - Brown has a really good mid-post game with a sweet jumpshot and aggressive dribble drive game while you've mentioned Tatum's advantages in the post.

Yeah TT rolled pretty aggressively during that run and did some damage inside with Brown as the PnR ballhandler.

[PhoSita]

It’s easy to point the blame at Tatum but as a TEAM? The C’s generally stand around a lot. Most of the time, it looks like the strategy is
1) hand off to a wing
2) call for a pick
3) take the pick (or not)
4) put the defender in prison or take it to the rim or pass it to a camped out shooter or step back 3

A lot of what McDermott was doing? We don’t see that. We don’t have a steady diet of that. As a matter of fact, the best guy we have at moving off the ball might be Grant Williams.

The only guy I can think of to run that play like McDermott is Tatum, and it's hard to take the ball out of Tatum's hands when he's by far the most dangerous offensive player on the floor for the Celts.

Massively disagree with the bolded considering how good Jaylen has looked so far with the ball.

Jaylen has looked really good with the ball -- creating for himself.

I don't trust Jaylen to run a pick and roll, navigate a double, or consistently do dribble-drive-pass.

I think he will get there, but he's still at a stage where his most polished stuff is about getting his own shot off.

[Somebody]

It’s easy to point the blame at Tatum but as a TEAM? The C’s generally stand around a lot. Most of the time, it looks like the strategy is
1) hand off to a wing
2) call for a pick
3) take the pick (or not)
4) put the defender in prison or take it to the rim or pass it to a camped out shooter or step back 3

A lot of what McDermott was doing? We don’t see that. We don’t have a steady diet of that. As a matter of fact, the best guy we have at moving off the ball might be Grant Williams.

The only guy I can think of to run that play like McDermott is Tatum, and it's hard to take the ball out of Tatum's hands when he's by far the most dangerous offensive player on the floor for the Celts.

Massively disagree with the bolded considering how good Jaylen has looked so far with the ball.

Jaylen has looked really good with the ball -- creating for himself.

I don't trust Jaylen to run a pick and roll, navigate a double, or consistently do dribble-drive-pass.

I think he will get there, but he's still at a stage where his most polished stuff is about getting his own shot off.

Neither do I with Tatum, in fact I have even less confidence in Tatum than I do with Jaylen regarding those things. I think your description of Jaylen would've been apt last season where he wasn't creating much, but his passing has looked pretty crisp this year while his vision looks much improved.

[Rondo9]

Who needs ball stopping Harden, we already have him, LOL.

Harden, the guy who has an MVP and has a claim to two more? I wish we had someone that talented

Trade Tatum if you want him so badly.

Pretty sure his Poison Pill Provision makes it near impossible, otherwise I would drive him to the airport

Of course you would considering you're panicking.

[Ogaju]

He's trying to be the leader of the team and doesn't quite know what that means yet. Maybe in his mind it means taking the responsibility on to his shoulders during crunch time. Because if he passed too much people would then say he's abdicating his responsibility as the best player on the team. Right now the best play = shoot the ball in his mind. He'll grow into that leadership role in time I hope where he can discern what the best play is. Otherwise, yes he may end up turning into another Melo.

Also other than him, the only other real scorer on the team is Jaylen. With Kemba out our scoring cupboard is bare. Unless we want Marcus Smart taking the shots 

Payton Pritchard says  hello!!

[Tr1boy]

He's trying to be the leader of the team and doesn't quite know what that means yet. Maybe in his mind it means taking the responsibility on to his shoulders during crunch time. Because if he passed too much people would then say he's abdicating his responsibility as the best player on the team. Right now the best play = shoot the ball in his mind. He'll grow into that leadership role in time I hope where he can discern what the best play is. Otherwise, yes he may end up turning into another Melo.

Also other than him, the only other real scorer on the team is Jaylen. With Kemba out our scoring cupboard is bare. Unless we want Marcus Smart taking the shots 

Payton Pritchard says  hello!!

PP went 5 for 5. No excuse to not keep feeding him

Where is the awareness from JT to coaching staff?

[gouki88]

Who needs ball stopping Harden, we already have him, LOL.

Harden, the guy who has an MVP and has a claim to two more? I wish we had someone that talented

Trade Tatum if you want him so badly.

Pretty sure his Poison Pill Provision makes it near impossible, otherwise I would drive him to the airport

Of course you would considering you're panicking.

Please do tell me more about your insights into how I'm feeling!

Maybe, just maybe, people can come to different conclusions to you without it being irrational. Has this ever occurred to you?

[Humble G]

Who needs ball stopping Harden, we already have him, LOL.

Harden, the guy who has an MVP and has a claim to two more? I wish we had someone that talented

Trade Tatum if you want him so badly.

Pretty sure his Poison Pill Provision makes it near impossible, otherwise I would drive him to the airport

Of course you would considering you're panicking.

Please do tell me more about your insights into how I'm feeling!

Maybe, just maybe, people can come to different conclusions to you without it being irrational. Has this ever occurred to you?

I'm not a huge tatum fan either.  I would think about doing a trade like this one

https://tradenba.com/trades/oVajIh3EW

Trade tatum walker and timelord for harden and wood, sign IT for bench scoring.

Harden smart brown wood thompson with IT teague theis osman off bench

[Jiri Welsch]

https://twitter.com/Tucker_TnL/status/1343636082718629890?s=20