Tatum’s Finals Performance

[SHAQATTACK]

We were in similar boat last few games as Bucks were trying to beat us without Middleton. Needed all our guys healthy . JT didn’t look right ,  injuries caught up to Celtics .

Was a lot of fun while it lasted .

And ..aren’t the Warriors like 40million about the cap paying taxes like crazy…..more than Lakers. ?  This is hard to overcome if you are playing at Cap and somebody else is 25% more to get better players ?

[Surferdad]

Like most things in life, probably a bit of everything - shoulder injury, fatigue (lots of basketball over last several years with Olympics and Covid), inexperience/immaturity, his teammates not stepping up to help him.

I think one thing to note though is that Tatum hasn’t had a full offseason is several seasons to work on his game. I expect a jump from him next year after getting a full offseason under his belt to work in his craft. He’s far from perfect, but I do think this is an experience that will drive him to be better. Hopefully the same is true of JB, too.

Great point. I haven't checked but frankly I hope there's no USA Basketball this off-season.  Tatum wants to be part of the NBA-elite and participate at the highest level, but he now needs to choose to be selfish and work on his game...hone skills, repetition and mental attitude.  Focus on getting back to the Finals.

[Banner18now!]

I'm worried about him moving forward. That was an all time epic disappearance by a star player in NBA finals history. I'm at a loss for words on how bad he was. Maybe he needs to see a sport phycologist or something but this looks more like mental issues than anything.

[Rosco917]

You said ideal...

Al struggled at times with his season being expanded by 25 games during the playoffs. He's gonna be 36 next year. A move to get a well rounded young power forward, would be nice. Or a 30 year old Big Al type would be even better.

The bench needs to be addressed. Two veterans with a good basketball IQ, with some gas still in the tank perhaps looking for a ring? Our team isn't very deep past the front 7. And Time Lord is always hurt.

Back to basics and rest for the J's. Jaylen and Jayson improve your ball handling skills. (Jaylen please learn to jab-step and change speeds in the paint, the league is on to you. Jayson stop tying to be Kobe and concentrate on being a better version of Jayson Tatum)

Ownership...NOW IS THE TIME. 

   

[td450]

My concern is with his competitiveness. Tatum and Brown both had some ugly patches in this series. Brown kept competing. It really looked to me like Tatum didn't.

[jambr380]

I'm worried about him moving forward. That was an all time epic disappearance by a star player in NBA finals history. I'm at a loss for words on how bad he was. Maybe he needs to see a sport phycologist or something but this looks more like mental issues than anything.

All-time? Definitely not, but his shooting inside the arc was definitely disappointing. Tatum does a lot of things for our team, so while his 2pt% was awful, it doesn't culminate in an overall all-time epic disappearance. Also, not sure why people think the Tatum we just saw missing lay-ups is the same one we saw earlier in the season. This was a strength of his.

Our bench on the other hand, that literally might be the least any team has ever gotten from their bench in the Finals.

[JohnBoy65]

Tatum was bad. It happens. Kobe wasn't great in 08 either. Good players have bad series. I just hope the Boston fan base realizes what Tatum has done for this team. Is it disappointing? Of course,but the last thing we need is a fanbase relentlessly bashing our best player.

[Cman]

Tatum wasn't very good in the finals. He seems crushed by it. But, time heals all wounds. I'm sure he'll bounce back from it, but its not clear he will "get better" as a result. It is also possible that we saw the limits of what he can do. I think a deeper team would help, and of course more experience all around.

I'm proud of Tatum and this team. They came so far from December/January. Wow! What a great run!

[Phantom255x]

In Batman Begins, Alfred tells Bruce, "what was the point of all those pushups if you can't even lift a bloody log"

Likewise, you wonder why Tatum even decided to add some muscle if he was going to not be aggressive going to the rim and was more focused on drawing fouls then actually attacking and making a basket. Way too many missed layups and bunnies this series, and at times it felt like Tatum just played soft.

[slamtheking]

I was profoundly disappointed in his performance.  weak finishing around the rim.  turnovers galore.  shied away from the spotlight when the pressure was on late in games or during GSW runs.  fully expecting news to come out that his shoulder injury was more serious than a stinger because his play before and after that injury was night and day

[Redz]

I was profoundly disappointed in his performance.  weak finishing around the rim.  turnovers galore.  shied away from the spotlight when the pressure was on late in games or during GSW runs.  fully expecting news to come out that his shoulder injury was more serious than a stinger because his play before and after that injury was night and day

Same thoughts.  And I love the kid. 

Last night was especially maddening and disappointing.  The team was working like salmon going upstream to get back within striking distance despite how poorly they'd played, and he was completely invisible on the offensive end. 

[keevsnick]

To be fair to Tatum, I think before this series he pretty much always rose to the moment. It wasn't always enough, but I think he's been mostly clutch in his career.

[angryguy77]

Salt to the wound. I just a few short weeks ago thought these playoffs was his coming out party, instead he regressed.

[Dchuck]

What concerned me, was a number of times he had a scared/confused, "deer-in-headlight" look in his eyes.  A handful of times he stood in the corner completely out of the play as if he was hiding.  And other times just passing the rock like it was a hot potato (particularly when he had Curry on him).

He's a great player with a lot of potential but a lot of bad habits as well.  He needs to get better.  And I hope this performance drives him to improve instead of relying on the fact he made All NBA first team making him think he doesn't need any work.

[Alleyoopster]

He brought us here. I'm not disappointed in the least.


The Warriors were the best team we faced in the playoffs. Their defense was phenomenal. All the Celtics players found it difficult to get off a good shot. Especially in the last few games.

And the refs allowed much more physical contact than we saw all year.

Hope all the Celtic players and coaches have a wonderful summer. They deserve it.