Low Energy Jason Tatum

[Barney Fife]

Remember the stories of Larry Bird. Finish a playoff game in LA and fly home and go right to the gym and shoot for two hours before going to bed.  I know there was only one Larry Bird but he never in his worst day( with his back killing him) give an effort like Tatum gave yesterday.  This kid is not a top ten player or even close.  Somebody needs to make this team accountable. Maybe they are gun shy with Horford, Irving, and Hayward leaving but you have to still coach them. Even in post game interviews Tatum rarely shows up.  And when he does his head is down and seems like he is so disinterested.  And he is our leader.  They deserve 13-13.

[Who]

Semi was given an opportunity to win the starting PF job. He gets a start a couple of games ago, and his teammates get him the ball and he has a career game. He was horrendous yesterday. It was as if he hadn't played in 6 months. That is just not competitive.

People need to calibrate their expectations of Semi to properly judge what consistent play looks like from a player like him. That means focusing in on his defensive effort and rebounding.

The offense will always be inconsistent because of limitations in his game. He is almost entirely a spot-up 3 point shooter. Very limited as a ball-handler, passer or shot creator. So he will never be consistent as an offensive weapon. He will always be up and down depending on whether his shots are going in that night or not.

So expecting offensive consistency from a player like this who is as limited as Semi is is not realistic. It is an impossible ask. An impossible demand.

What is a fair demand is consistency in terms of effort, defense, rebounding & shot selection (but not accuracy - game to game).

[todd_days_41]

Tatum's demeanor has always / continues to make me nervous. He has a sort of an arrogance / disinterest about his body language and actual language.

Me too but I have grown to look past this as time has moved on. Tatum continues to rise to the occasion in big games and in the playoffs. He gets more aggressive in tough situations.

Ever so often I still get nervous about him. Whether it these mentality concerns listed here or his mentality focus on scoring while sleepwalking other parts of the game (passing, defense, rebounding). But he always snaps out of it and gets back to playing well-rounded team basketball. So I try to remind myself of that and not panic when he goes through a bad moment.

Dude is earning a reputation as a slow starter to the season as well. Another nerve-wrecking feature of him / his mentality.

But he comes through ... time and time again.

So he has earned a level of trust that problems are temporary and he will solve / fix them as the season moves on.

Fair enough. But something about the way he operates makes me think: "this dude is asking for a trade to LA someday."

[SparzWizard]

Tatum's demeanor has always / continues to make me nervous. He has a sort of an arrogance / disinterest about his body language and actual language.

Me too but I have grown to look past this as time has moved on. Tatum continues to rise to the occasion in big games and in the playoffs. He gets more aggressive in tough situations.

Ever so often I still get nervous about him. Whether it these mentality concerns listed here or his mentality focus on scoring while sleepwalking other parts of the game (passing, defense, rebounding). But he always snaps out of it and gets back to playing well-rounded team basketball. So I try to remind myself of that and not panic when he goes through a bad moment.

Dude is earning a reputation as a slow starter to the season as well. Another nerve-wrecking feature of him / his mentality.

But he comes through ... time and time again.

So he has earned a level of trust that problems are temporary and he will solve / fix them as the season moves on.

Fair enough. But something about the way he operates makes me think: "this dude is asking for a trade to LA someday."

Then Danny needs to get to work and get quality players for him and the Celtics to win chips and not overpay for these sluggish players or pick up garbage who turns out to be hot garbage.

[CelticsElite]

I see what you mean

I remember when we got eliminated by the heat last playoffs, tatum said directly after the game “I am just happy to be here.” Just being happy and content with an ecf elimination means the hunger may not be there.

[RJ87]

Tatum's demeanor has always / continues to make me nervous. He has a sort of an arrogance / disinterest about his body language and actual language.

Me too but I have grown to look past this as time has moved on. Tatum continues to rise to the occasion in big games and in the playoffs. He gets more aggressive in tough situations.

Ever so often I still get nervous about him. Whether it these mentality concerns listed here or his mentality focus on scoring while sleepwalking other parts of the game (passing, defense, rebounding). But he always snaps out of it and gets back to playing well-rounded team basketball. So I try to remind myself of that and not panic when he goes through a bad moment.

Dude is earning a reputation as a slow starter to the season as well. Another nerve-wrecking feature of him / his mentality.

But he comes through ... time and time again.

So he has earned a level of trust that problems are temporary and he will solve / fix them as the season moves on.

Fair enough. But something about the way he operates makes me think: "this dude is asking for a trade to LA someday."

That sounds like you're own insecurity at work there. He's said repeatedly he loves being a Celtics and he wants to be here. There's been a lot of judgement in this thread about his demeanor and his body language. Some people aren't demonstrative or have super fiery personalities. Some people are stoic by nature and that's the vibe I've always gotten from Tatum. He's not a guy that has a big, overwhelming personality that takes over the entire franchise.

Usually people are freaking out over Brad not having a rage stroke on the sidelines every second of every game, I guess we're now going to go down the roster and attack guys' personalities. Weird times around these parts.

[nickagneta]

You know, Tatum's mentality and toughness are fine. You have to remember, he's just 23, a very young dad, has been battling fatigue since getting Covid. All things considered, I am surprised it took this long since his return to have a stinker.

Yesterday was an early game. Those games can reek havoc on players that are probably taking naps during that time on average game days to be rested for their 7:00-8:00 game time starts.

Deuce could have been sick and up all night. Tatum could still be having aftereffects from Covid. Something in Tatum's personal affairs could have been bothering him. Who knows.

But what we do know is Tatum is a basketball force and a burgeoning top 10 player in the game. He is incredibly young and is bound to have terrible games every once in a while because...23 years old.

He has earned more than a few mulligans. He'll bounce back big. It wouldn't surprise me to see multiple 30/5/6 games from both he and Jaylen in the near future, maybe even in the same games.

[Tr1boy]

One thing I would like to see Tatum do more of is C&S/run around screen C&S without the need to dribble the ball

Would help diversify his game

[todd_days_41]

Tatum's demeanor has always / continues to make me nervous. He has a sort of an arrogance / disinterest about his body language and actual language.

Me too but I have grown to look past this as time has moved on. Tatum continues to rise to the occasion in big games and in the playoffs. He gets more aggressive in tough situations.

Ever so often I still get nervous about him. Whether it these mentality concerns listed here or his mentality focus on scoring while sleepwalking other parts of the game (passing, defense, rebounding). But he always snaps out of it and gets back to playing well-rounded team basketball. So I try to remind myself of that and not panic when he goes through a bad moment.

Dude is earning a reputation as a slow starter to the season as well. Another nerve-wrecking feature of him / his mentality.

But he comes through ... time and time again.

So he has earned a level of trust that problems are temporary and he will solve / fix them as the season moves on.

Fair enough. But something about the way he operates makes me think: "this dude is asking for a trade to LA someday."

That sounds like you're own insecurity at work there. He's said repeatedly he loves being a Celtics and he wants to be here. There's been a lot of judgement in this thread about his demeanor and his body language. Some people aren't demonstrative or have super fiery personalities. Some people are stoic by nature and that's the vibe I've always gotten from Tatum. He's not a guy that has a big, overwhelming personality that takes over the entire franchise.

Usually people are freaking out over Brad not having a rage stroke on the sidelines every second of every game, I guess we're now going to go down the roster and attack guys' personalities. Weird times around these parts.

We'll see. It sounds like he's still dealing with the after effects of COVID. Hopefully that improves for him ASAP, must be brutal.

Regardless, I hope I'm wrong. But talking about people's personalities doesn't change the fact that Tatum projects as a guy who likes the limelight. As a young, emerging star, he's obviously going to say the right things, get his max extension money, etc.... like everyone does in his shoes. What's he supposed to say: "I'm luke warm on being a Celtic, but wanna get a huge guaranteed contract, then see what happens."?

When he gets into that 2nd contract, and filthy rich? Depending on where the Celtics are in the NBA pecking order at that time? Push may come to shove and we'll see if he remains loyal.

Anthony Davis is "stoic by nature"... didn't stop him.