Feature Tatum on Offense

[nyceltsfan]

In figuring out how the team can move forward from this debacle of a season, I have been wondering if there is a precedence for force-feeding the ball to the rising star and putting the best player on the team into a 1a role.  The best example I can think of would be Tim Duncan and David Robinson.

I think one of the biggest problems this team has (even if totally healthy) is that the young guys (Tatum and Brown) are never going to be featured on offense and their growth is stunted.  This forces the Celtics to play a what-if game about the value of those players and it puts a ton of pressure on Kyrie.

I am pondering if Stevens goes into the summer trying to reshape the team, with the current roster, and the plan of making Tatum a 20-25 point scorer in the coming year.  This is not something that is going to come naturally because of the talent level on the team, and there is no way the players will buy into it unless it becomes a core part of the game plan for next year.  However, I believe that an offense built around Tatum will tell us if he is the next superstar and will allow Kyrie to be the sniper that he was in Cleveland.

[Rosco917]

That would be a stretch for a skinny kid going into just his 3rd season that has never scored 30 in his NBA career.

[Who]

Tatum needs to work on his ball-handling and get better in the PnR. Then he will have enough opportunities to be a 20+ppg scorer.

[boscel33]

You know who I think of when I see Tatum, Antoine!  I think he can have a similar game too, in that he's big enough to post up and dominate down low, but he can also step out and hit the three.

[nyceltsfan]

Tatum needs to work on his ball-handling and get better in the PnR. Then he will have enough opportunities to be a 20+ppg scorer.

I think this message for Tatum would be well-received if he realized that the end game is that he gets to put those abilities on display more.  I have confidence that he can improve those parts of his game, but when the touches come more rarely because there are more mouths to feed, he needs to force shots to get his.  If he is the focal point of the offense, everything runs through him and it will make him work harder to become unstoppable.  It will also allow him to become a smarter player who will learn how to pick his spots.

[gouki88]

You know who I think of when I see Tatum, Antoine!  I think he can have a similar game too, in that he's big enough to post up and dominate down low, but he can also step out and hit the three.

I'm not sure if that's good or not...

[Triplenickle]

In figuring out how the team can move forward from this debacle of a season, I have been wondering if there is a precedence for force-feeding the ball to the rising star and putting the best player on the team into a 1a role.  The best example I can think of would be Tim Duncan and David Robinson.

I think one of the biggest problems this team has (even if totally healthy) is that the young guys (Tatum and Brown) are never going to be featured on offense and their growth is stunted.  This forces the Celtics to play a what-if game about the value of those players and it puts a ton of pressure on Kyrie.

I am pondering if Stevens goes into the summer trying to reshape the team, with the current roster, and the plan of making Tatum a 20-25 point scorer in the coming year.  This is not something that is going to come naturally because of the talent level on the team, and there is no way the players will buy into it unless it becomes a core part of the game plan for next year.  However, I believe that an offense built around Tatum will tell us if he is the next superstar and will allow Kyrie to be the sniper that he was in Cleveland.

Exactly right, and this is what makes us stumble. He should be FORCED to be the #1 option. He's too talented not to, and I don't he's used 80% of his ability yet.

I also believe he's an alpha, but raised to be a gentleman and people think he's soft but I don't think so. He's just cool.

Him screaming in Lebron's face after dunking on him tells me all I need to know about how he views himself.

He just doesn't wanna step on teammates toes, and this is why it has to be forced. And it is NEVER gonna happen while Kyrie is on this team.

For JB and Hayward too...or anyone who dares to take the spotlight off Kyrie.

And actually THAT is the thing with Kyrie...he has to have all the spotlight and why he left Lebron. That is more important to him than any team or any win.

He has insecurity issues, man. We seriously need to let him do his thing somewhere else.

[boscel33]

You know who I think of when I see Tatum, Antoine!  I think he can have a similar game too, in that he's big enough to post up and dominate down low, but he can also step out and hit the three.

I'm not sure if that's good or not...

That's true, but Antoine had game, he just didn't know how to use it. 

[nickagneta]

Here is the problem with trying to force the ball into Tatum's hands. He very much has become a black hole that forces his own isolation offense and because of that forces a lot of bad and inefficient shots. His game this year grew in the inefficient mid range.

62% of Tatum's shooting occurred at the rim or from three his rookie year. This year that number is down to 56%. Last year Tatum was taking a lot of catch and shoot threes.  He made a high number of those. That number was down considerably this year.

He made 56% of his threes in the corner, the easiest three point shot, last year. This year, he shot just 34% on those corner threes.

Tatum's problems came when he was run off the three point line. Instead of side stepping and taking the three Tatum was dribbling forward two steps and taking a huge amount of 21 footers, the WORST SHOT IN BASKETBALL, and one he hit just 34% of the time.

Tatum has bad habits and is doing nothing to correct it. He can't be allowed to be a number 1 option on this team until he learns to play smarter and create for others more.

For instance, take a look at how Brown's season ended. Brown let his offense develop and played smarter and smarter and shot better and better as the season progressed. Brown, in 87 post season shots took exactly zero shots from 16-23 feet. He didn't take a single, WORST SHOT IN BASKETBALL, even once in 9 post season games. That's playing smart and efficient. That's what Tatum needs to learn.

[nyceltsfan]

Here is the problem with trying to force the ball into Tatum's hands. He very much has become a black hole that forces his own isolation offense and because of that forces a lot of bad and inefficient shots. His game this year grew in the inefficient mid range.

62% of Tatum's shooting occurred at the rim or from three his rookie year. This year that number is down to 56%. Last year Tatum was taking a lot of catch and shoot threes.  He made a high number of those. That number was down considerably this year.

He made 56% of his threes in the corner, the easiest three point shot, last year. This year, he shot just 34% on those corner threes.

Tatum's problems came when he was run off the three point line. Instead of side stepping and taking the three Tatum was dribbling forward two steps and taking a huge amount of 21 footers, the WORST SHOT IN BASKETBALL, and one he hit just 34% of the time.

Tatum has bad habits and is doing nothing to correct it. He can't be allowed to be a number 1 option on this team until he learns to play smarter and create for others more.

For instance, take a look at how Brown's season ended. Brown let his offense develop and played smarter and smarter and shot better and better as the season progressed. Brown, in 87 post season shots took exactly zero shots from 16-23 feet. He didn't take a single, WORST SHOT IN BASKETBALL, even once in 9 post season games. That's playing smart and efficient. That's what Tatum needs to learn.

Agreed - I think the reason Tatum is falling into these habits is that he is not getting enough touches and enough opportunity to create.  He gets that opportunity sporadically and as a natural scorer, who is used to dominating the game, he reverts to old habits to put up as many points as possible in limited opportunities.

I say give him the chance to grow or fail.  He is too talented to let him play the role of a 3rd or 4th option.

[Monkhouse]

Here is the problem with trying to force the ball into Tatum's hands. He very much has become a black hole that forces his own isolation offense and because of that forces a lot of bad and inefficient shots. His game this year grew in the inefficient mid range.

62% of Tatum's shooting occurred at the rim or from three his rookie year. This year that number is down to 56%. Last year Tatum was taking a lot of catch and shoot threes.  He made a high number of those. That number was down considerably this year.

He made 56% of his threes in the corner, the easiest three point shot, last year. This year, he shot just 34% on those corner threes.

Tatum's problems came when he was run off the three point line. Instead of side stepping and taking the three Tatum was dribbling forward two steps and taking a huge amount of 21 footers, the WORST SHOT IN BASKETBALL, and one he hit just 34% of the time.

Tatum has bad habits and is doing nothing to correct it. He can't be allowed to be a number 1 option on this team until he learns to play smarter and create for others more.

For instance, take a look at how Brown's season ended. Brown let his offense develop and played smarter and smarter and shot better and better as the season progressed. Brown, in 87 post season shots took exactly zero shots from 16-23 feet. He didn't take a single, WORST SHOT IN BASKETBALL, even once in 9 post season games. That's playing smart and efficient. That's what Tatum needs to learn.

TP.

End thread.

This is literally my issue with Tatum.

If you want to be featured, you must be able to make smarter shots... Just because you can score, doesn't mean you need to take 20+ shots... If you take 14-15 shots and make more than 50% of them, that's playing smart. He is also a terrible passer, and horrendous at court awareness. He rarely reads the defense...

ALSO FREAKING DO MORE CUTTING!

I'm tired of people just standing in the corner, not MOVING.

If you want the ball, GET OPEN!

[Triplenickle]

You know who I think of when I see Tatum, Antoine!  I think he can have a similar game too, in that he's big enough to post up and dominate down low, but he can also step out and hit the three.

I'm not sure if that's good or not...

I tell you what...we bring in Ray, Perk, and Posey alongside Paul and Antoine, and we have more rings than with Garnett.  I'm dead serious.

Garnett never wanted the last shot, didn't have Antoine's handle and mobility and had just as much fire if not more, and always had the respect of his teammates. While I liked Garnett...he was lil bit out there and he did have a habit of going after smaller players while walking away from people his size.  He had quirks and really was not the man. I laugh when people say he was more important than Paul.

Antoine went straight at everyone...and his personality was a straight shooter

It is a good thing.

Danny only traded Antoine because he thought he had too much power on the team and too much respect from teammates that he would hurt his decisions when he first got hired.

Danny had it wrong as usual, and had no clue what made Antoine tick.

Danny is clueless when it come to intangibles and chemistry.

[Monkhouse]

You know who I think of when I see Tatum, Antoine!  I think he can have a similar game too, in that he's big enough to post up and dominate down low, but he can also step out and hit the three.

I'm not sure if that's good or not...

I tell you what...we bring in Ray, Perk, and Posey alongside Paul and Antoine, and we have more rings than with Garnett.  I'm dead serious.

Garnett never wanted the last shot, didn't have Antoine's handle and mobility and had just as much fire if not more, and always had the respect of his teammates. While I liked Garnett...he was lil bit out there and he did have a habit of going after smaller players while walking away from people his size.  He had quirks and really was not the man. I laugh when people say he was more important than Paul.

Antoine went straight at everyone...and his personality was a straight shooter

It is a good thing.

 

[nyceltsfan]

You know who I think of when I see Tatum, Antoine!  I think he can have a similar game too, in that he's big enough to post up and dominate down low, but he can also step out and hit the three.

I'm not sure if that's good or not...

I tell you what...we bring in Ray, Perk, and Posey alongside Paul and Antoine, and we have more rings than with Garnett.  I'm dead serious.

Garnett never wanted the last shot, didn't have Antoine's handle and mobility and had just as much fire if not more, and always had the respect of his teammates. While I liked Garnett...he was lil bit out there and he did have a habit of going after smaller players while walking away from people his size.  He had quirks and really was not the man. I laugh when people say he was more important than Paul.

Antoine went straight at everyone...and his personality was a straight shooter

It is a good thing.

Danny only traded Antoine because he thought he had too much power on the team and too much respect from teammates that he would hurt his decisions when he first got hired.

Danny had it wrong as usual, and had no clue what made Antoine tick.

I always thought that Danny traded Antoine because he became super lazy on offense and just chucked 3s at a pretty inefficient rate.  Antoine had all the talent in the world - too big for 3s to defend him and too quick for 4s and 5s to defend him, with a legitimate handle.  It was a shame that he ruined his own career.

[Monkhouse]

You know who I think of when I see Tatum, Antoine!  I think he can have a similar game too, in that he's big enough to post up and dominate down low, but he can also step out and hit the three.

I'm not sure if that's good or not...

I tell you what...we bring in Ray, Perk, and Posey alongside Paul and Antoine, and we have more rings than with Garnett.  I'm dead serious.

Garnett never wanted the last shot, didn't have Antoine's handle and mobility and had just as much fire if not more, and always had the respect of his teammates. While I liked Garnett...he was lil bit out there and he did have a habit of going after smaller players while walking away from people his size.  He had quirks and really was not the man. I laugh when people say he was more important than Paul.

Antoine went straight at everyone...and his personality was a straight shooter

It is a good thing.

Danny only traded Antoine because he thought he had too much power on the team and too much respect from teammates that he would hurt his decisions when he first got hired.

Danny had it wrong as usual, and had no clue what made Antoine tick.

I always thought that Danny traded Antoine because he became super lazy on offense and just chucked 3s at a pretty inefficient rate.  Antoine had all the talent in the world - too big for 3s to defend him and too quick for 4s and 5s to defend him, with a legitimate handle.  It was a shame that he ruined his own career.

Completely agree. Antoine was talented but he didn't work hard enough to become great.