How do we feel about Tatum being carried to a finals? UPDATE: TATUM BEING CARRIED TO GOLD TOO

[nate33]

Unlike most other teams, the Celtics aren't built on a superstar plus role players format. Everyone in their starting lineup is a top 75 player in the league.

In the playoffs, defenses tend to scheme to limit the star player and force the role players to step up. Teams with unreliable role players depend on their stars to overcome this additional defensive attention. But if your "role players" are all really good, then the smart move is for the star to draw the defensive attention and then allow the "role players" to exploit weaker defenders. That's what Tatum is doing. Why should he attack the strength of the opposition's defense when Jaylen Brown and Derrick White can attack weaker defenders?

[LegendOfSalmons]

Feels good actually (disregarding his 36 point and all round terrific performance in game 1 of the ECFs)

Unlike many other franchises/teams were are not obsessed/fixated on one player's stats and legacy.

We are only aiming to win bring back to back to Boston championship number 18, and the fact Tatum has not being at his optimal form so far can only be a good thing. The Celtics organisation or Jayson himself didn't place him on this pedestal btw, that was the media's burden to automatically assume he would be another Kobe/Wade etc

That last sentence is flat out nonsense. He placed himself on that pedestal by his constant and disturbing idolization of Kobe to the point that it bordered to an unhealthy obsession. He put that burden on himself.

[shi-woo]

Yall better hope Boston doesn't win this year, because yall are essentially giving Boston fans a decades worth of material and clout to be as annoying as they want on the GB going forward....

[He_Got_Game]

He’s not the alpha the media desperately tries to portray him as. Brown is coming for his playoff awards

Every Celtics fan is okay with this. We don't care if Tatum or Brown gets the credit. We just want banner 18.

[JustBuzzin]

Brown got that DAWG in em!

Tatum is a follower.


Katt Williams said all lies will be exposed in 2024. Tatum has lied to us for years. This is Brown's team. They go as he goes.

[EmpireFalls]

I feel great about it, as it will once and for all defeat the myth that superstars win the titles.

TEAMs win titles. Every last player contributes. No one thinks Tatum is the best player, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t on the best team.

[tsherkin]

What?

Yeah, Tatum isn't S-tier on O but he has been playing well at either end of the floor and is a large, meaningful contributor to Boston's success...

[EmpireFalls]

We're all dumb now.

Nobody in the 80s was like "It's Bird versus Magic, it's whichever superstar delivers most." We're bombarded by infantile and reductive "analysis" because it's lazier than explaining rotations, role players, coverage schemes, and coaching tactics.

There was a distinct change in the 90s coinciding with the deification of Michael Jordan. Since then, the well has been poisoned, and superstar talk is quite literally the only thing that gets covered.

[Joshyjess]

Alternate title to post:
How de we feel about Tatum putting the team over personal stats?

[Statlanta]

I think it's less that Tatum's being carried and more that the other guys are succeeding at their reduced roles more than Tatum is at his superstar role.

Derrick White was so good at his reduced role that they wanted to trade Marcus Smart, one of the core identities of the team, as White was more clutch.

Even Holiday in Milwaukee at times was maybe not better than Giannis but did his secondary role more efficiently than Giannis did his superstar role and it showed in some years on/off numbers.


It's one of the reason Boston is not a fun team to watch. Tatum is not a top tier superstar so you are not watching greatness, you are watching teammates help each other cover their deficiencies and that's less exciting than watching the top tier player show the apex of basketball.

[London2Boston]

Literally had the most points, rebounds and assists for his team last series, but sure let’s go with the getting carried narrative.

[Ben-N1ce]

I feel great about it, as it will once and for all defeat the myth that superstars win the titles.

TEAMs win titles. Every last player contributes. No one thinks Tatum is the best player, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t on the best team.

Who doesn't think Tatum is the Celtics best player? It's not really close and hasn't been for years.

[ropjhk]

I'd imagine that Celtic fans are not bothered so long as they keep winning.

I don't think the Tatum fan club is all that big compared to other player fan clubs.

Almost every Tatum thead is essentially asking the question of whether Tatum belongs in that top tier of superstar franchise players. I'd say most people don't have him in that top level tier.

[Infinite Llamas]

Once KG and Ray Allen arrived, Pierce became more part of a conglomerate and he was no longer seen as the guy carrying the C’s with Antoine Walker as his costar. But he still won his FMVP and his ring, even if he didn’t do it as “the man”. Tatum and Brown got KP and Jrue and an all star performance this year from White and they have never looked more like a balanced team than they do now.

That being said, I still feel they have been tested very little in this playoff run like the ‘08 team was against the Hawks and Cavs. Minnesota and Dallas will make the C’s earn it if they get there.

[ITYSL]

As a Celtics fan, I don't care how poor Tatum plays if the Celtics win a championship.

I disagree that Tatum is being carried. His shooting has been worse and his defense has been off-and-on, but he's rebounding at a high level and his playmaking has stepped up. He's leading the Celtics in assists these playoffs and second only to Jrue in ast/pass ratio. His impact on the offense is positive even when he's not scoring, and he's been driving a lot more (10.8 drives/game in the playoffs vs. 9.1 in RS) and drawing fouls more than in the regular season as a result. While the sample size is too small to look at on/off on its own, Tatum's on/off on offense is +15.6 these playoffs, so that provides support for all the other data.

He certainly has room to improve his play, though, that's for sure. There are times when he looks disengaged and then there are often long stretches where he can't shoot for ****, and it drives me kind of crazy when I see those things during the game. He needs to step it up more consistently for this team to win a championship.

[EmpireFalls]

As a Celtics fan, I don't care how poor Tatum plays if the Celtics win a championship.

I disagree that Tatum is being carried. His shooting has been worse and his defense has been off-and-on, but he's rebounding at a high level and his playmaking has stepped up. He's leading the Celtics in assists these playoffs and second only to Jrue in ast/pass ratio. His impact on the offense is positive even when he's not scoring, and he's been driving a lot more (10.8 drives/game in the playoffs vs. 9.1 in RS) and drawing fouls more than in the regular season as a result. While the sample size is too small to look at on/off on its own, Tatum's on/off on offense is +15.6 these playoffs, so that provides support for all the other data.

He certainly has room to improve his play, though, that's for sure. There are times when he looks disengaged and then there are often long stretches where he can't shoot for ****, and it drives me kind of crazy when I see those things during the game. He needs to step it up more consistently for this team to win a championship.

Tatum can just be a rich man’s energy guy and that’s all Boston needs to win the title.

[He_Got_Game]

Brown got that DAWG in em!

Tatum is a follower.


Katt Williams said all lies will be exposed in 2024. Tatum has lied to us for years. This is Brown's team. They go as he goes.

The Tatum slander is old and tiresome but we are all okay with Brown being the leader. We really don't care who the Alpha is on this team.

Something else I would like to add is the fact that Jayson Tatum is not a great offensive player. He is a good offensive player and can occasionally take over games but that's not really his super power. His super power is his versatility on offense and defense. He covers a ton of gaps and that makes him extremely valuable even if his shot is not falling.

[JustBuzzin]

Brown got that DAWG in em!

Tatum is a follower.


Katt Williams said all lies will be exposed in 2024. Tatum has lied to us for years. This is Brown's team. They go as he goes.

The Tatum slander is old and tiresome but we are all okay with Brown being the leader. We really don't care who the Alpha is on this team.

That is fair.


*That movie was legendary btw

[He_Got_Game]

Brown got that DAWG in em!

Tatum is a follower.


Katt Williams said all lies will be exposed in 2024. Tatum has lied to us for years. This is Brown's team. They go as he goes.

The Tatum slander is old and tiresome but we are all okay with Brown being the leader. We really don't care who the Alpha is on this team.

That is fair.


*That movie was legendary btw

Yessir. Greatest basketball movie all time for me.

[Chuck Everett]

If the Celtics win the title, I'm sure this will keep the organization up at night. The goal is to win the championship. Nothing else matters.