![]() ![]() Tatum is an excellent shooter, but actually saw his three-point marks dip to 35 percent each of the last two years after hovering around 40 for his first four seasons. Priority #2 was hitting threes around 40 percent of the time. Like Kobe, Tatum has always been able to shred defenders out of the triple threat, but adding a back-to-the-basket game allows him to control the floor from another angle. This is almost certainly intentional, but Tatum’s progression as a scorer has mimicked a mid-career Kobe Bryant, who added a lethal baseline post-fade to his game once the Shaq-less Lakers needed him to create at all three levels. He hasn’t yet mastered the intricacies of post play yet, but he’s such a talented offensive player that it hasn’t slowed him down. Through ten games, Tatum has been forcing this issue in the low post, constantly looking to isolate smaller defenders and back them down along the baseline. Jayson Tatum, Celtics finding new outlets to snap offensive lulls: ‘We go to our post-up’ Tatum came out of the offseason absurdly jacked, and his workouts with Paul Piece-a noted practitioner of “I’m bigger than you” basketball-made me think a post bag was in the works. Priority #1 was a bully-ball post game, something that LeBron James figured out around 2012 upon realizing he was physically stronger than every other player in the league. I wasn’t sure what he would try to do, but I took some guesses based on his current bag and the career paths of all-time great forwards of NBA history. In September, I wrote about how Tatum could continue adding to his game to ascend even further up the rungs of greatness. Jayson Tatum is averaging 3 T.I.D.W.H.T.D.L.Y (Things I Desperately Wanted Him To Do Last Year) per game this season 87 percent more stakes feels low now that I say it out loud, so I’ll have to double-check the formula.Ģ. The team is stacked, and the excuses are completely spent. The Suns share the Celtics plight of losing in the Finals relatively recently, but they have to solve a Nikola Jokic-shaped problem before anyone starts levying expectations on them.īut the Celtics have a runway. The Clippers would probably say it’s championship or bust, but they literally haven’t made an NBA Finals ever. Take the 76ers, who would make progress merely by getting out of the second round. That’s fun and all, but has the unfortunate byproduct of meaning things can kind of only go wrong. What a time to be alive.īut man, is anyone else feeling the pressure? This team is one of the most talented groups since… ever, and the Celtics have done nothing but make deep runs in the playoffs since the Jays became true superstars. None of that even counts Al Horford, a former All-NBA center who is working his way into a 6th man role. It’s an unbelievably formidable lineup, captained by a top-five player in the NBA-potentially the hardest thing to find on planet Earth-in Jayson Tatum. Brad Stevens has spent his relatively short tenure as GM building a starting lineup that is nothing short of a god squad, complete with five All-Stars, two All-NBA players, and one whole Derrick White. I don’t know about you guys, but through ten games, the expectation to win Banner 18 this season is greater than ever. …will soon be paying an unbelievable amount of money to their top four players = 8 percent.…stuck with and cleared the decks for young coach Joe Mazzulla = 12 percent.…traded fan favorite and emotional leader Marcus Smart = 27 percent.…added two All-Stars to their already formidable core = 40 percent.Since the end of the 2022 season, the Celtics have… It’s no brilliant revelation that the Celtics have pushed a lot of chips to the center of the table, but you may wonder how I arrived at such a specific number. The Celtics have 87 percent more riding on this season than any other in the last decade Here’s what I’ve collected: Photo by Chris Marion/NBAE via Getty Images 1. We are officially 12.195122 percent through this NBA season, and I’ve been keeping track of advanced stats using my highly sophisticated and confidential data collection system. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |