Tatum: 24 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks!! in pivotal game 5 against LeBron

[PierceFan4ever]

People need to chill with Tatum. He's a really good rookie who uses his off arm, both of them, all the time at home. This will become a *thing* because he doesn't wait for the defender to reach in first (which is what smart players do). Players will start talking about it. Coaches will start talking about. Cable will start talking about. The league and officials we react.

You just had a similar rant over Morris being playing physical and that people needed to be "on notice." I don't even know how you can say this with a strait face with Lebron on you're team. Every player in the league does this, and what's funny is you're complaining even after the fact that Tatum got called for it last night so it's not even like he always gets away with it. You honestly believe Tatum is only playing well because he creates separation like every other player in the league? I know you can't give even an ounce of credit to anything Celtic related, but it's just a thread about the kid having a good game. To just post negative after negative things in anything Boston related just seems salty.

100% what I was thinking

Show me a highlight in one of tatum’s made baskets last night he used to push off to his advantage? Extreme overreaction.

[R-DAWG]

Isaiah Thomas was already playing well (people even called him an All-Star snub during his Kings days at one point)
Marcus Morris and Baynes are playing just like they have with their previous teams. One is a chucker who can get pretty hot on offense, and is decent on defense. The other is a tough Center who's willing to sacrifice his body on the court. A solid player. The same thing that Pistons fans have told us.

You can't say anything about Avery Bradley considering he's played with Doc before Brad and did relatively well. Jae Crowder seemed to have gotten his game back as a bench player with Utah. Evan Turner is the only guy on that list who's regressed since leaving the Celtics. You people need to stop with this myth that Brad has some magic power to turn players into stars or play better than who they are. If that was the case, Tyler Zeller, Amir Johnson, and hell even Nader should've played like stars with us. But they didn't/aren't.

Isaiah was playing well, but not 30 ppg well. Bradley made a huge leap from Doc to Brad, not true that he was good with Doc. And a big drop after Brad. Crowder spent 2.5 seasons with Dallas doing nothing, and jumped in minutes played from 10 in Dallas before trade to 24 in Boston after trade. So he may not have made him a better player, but he definetely discovered that he can be more than he was, which Carslie didn't see. And Evan even you admit. We agree on Morris and Baynes. There's Jordan Crawford also. He can't turn every single player into a world beater, but he can turn A LOT of them, and that is not a bad thing.

That said, the problem with this narrative that in Brads system everyone is good is not true in the sense it is made out to be. In Brads system everyone finds a place. But is that better than having free reigns like Lonzo, Simmons and Mitchell? Would Mitchell in Boston jack 8 shots more than Tatum also? Tatum is good because he is good, eye test tells you everything you need to know.

Impact-wise minus the injuries, Bradley was toe to toe pre-Brad and Brad era. Don't let his PPG fool you. Crowder became a "better" player because he got more minutes with Brad, and Brad found a role for him. That's it. Nothing about Crowder has changed. Isaiah has been playing well period. His role with the team changed, because he was the only offensive option. That's how he got his 30 ppg.

Jordan Crawford,Evan Turner, and Jeff Green to an extent are the only players who regressed ever since leaving Brad Steven's team. Olynyk is still playing well with the Heat, Gerald Green is playing well with the Rockets, Jae Crowder became the player he was with the Celtics as soon as he joined Utah, and Amir and Zeller has always sucked. Sometimes people need to give credit where it's due. Players like Rozier, Smart, Tatum, and Jaylen are just that good. They make it easier for Brad's system to work.

Jae Crowder shot 40% from 3 in Boston, shot 31% in Utah.

[Feed Your Head]

Isaiah was playing well, but not 30 ppg well. Bradley made a huge leap from Doc to Brad, not true that he was good with Doc. And a big drop after Brad. Crowder spent 2.5 seasons with Dallas doing nothing, and jumped in minutes played from 10 in Dallas before trade to 24 in Boston after trade. So he may not have made him a better player, but he definetely discovered that he can be more than he was, which Carslie didn't see. And Evan even you admit. We agree on Morris and Baynes. There's Jordan Crawford also. He can't turn every single player into a world beater, but he can turn A LOT of them, and that is not a bad thing.

That said, the problem with this narrative that in Brads system everyone is good is not true in the sense it is made out to be. In Brads system everyone finds a place. But is that better than having free reigns like Lonzo, Simmons and Mitchell? Would Mitchell in Boston jack 8 shots more than Tatum also? Tatum is good because he is good, eye test tells you everything you need to know.

Impact-wise minus the injuries, Bradley was toe to toe pre-Brad and Brad era. Don't let his PPG fool you. Crowder became a "better" player because he got more minutes with Brad, and Brad found a role for him. That's it. Nothing about Crowder has changed. Isaiah has been playing well period. His role with the team changed, because he was the only offensive option. That's how he got his 30 ppg.

Jordan Crawford,Evan Turner, and Jeff Green to an extent are the only players who regressed ever since leaving Brad Steven's team. Olynyk is still playing well with the Heat, Gerald Green is playing well with the Rockets, Jae Crowder became the player he was with the Celtics as soon as he joined Utah, and Amir and Zeller has always sucked. Sometimes people need to give credit where it's due. Players like Rozier, Smart, Tatum, and Jaylen are just that good. They make it easier for Brad's system to work.

Jae Crowder shot 40% from 3 in Boston, shot 31% in Utah.

He also shot 28% and 34% from 3 with the Celtics. He just had an outlier year last year, happens with plenty of players.

[Frank Dux]

Mitchell and Simmons were tremendous, but Tatum is leaving them in the dust with these playoff performances.

[MrBigShot]

Reminds me of Kawhi's performance in the 2014 finals. Star in the making.

Fun fact: Tatum leads boston in scoring during the playoffs despite being 3rd in fga per game.

[Topher]

Lol Fultz

[contestedlayups]

Magic Johnson. A rookie hasn't had an impact on his team like Tatum is since Magic. His contributions continue to amaze, and the fact that tonight was easily his best game of the series means that he is progressing and clearly listening to Kobe! The sky is truly the limit for him and he might be making Gordon Heyward expendable right before our eyes.

Jordan. Hakeem. Ewing. David Robinson. Shaq. Duncan, who was on All-NBA First team and finished Top 10 MVP voting in his rookie season. And several other HoF bound All-Stars.....

But I agree that the kid is really solid for a rookie playing in his first playoffs. Will be interesting to see who among Brown or Tatum will start once Hayward gets back.

Considering all 3 were starters at the beginning of the season I'm going to say all of them.

Neither of those players made a Conference Final in their first year, let alone were killing it late in the series like he was last night. That's why he's comparable to Magic, and why his career arc is already sky high.

[richboy]

He's a starter who's his teams leading scorer in the playoffs...

How is he not a focal point? Yes, there are multiple scorers on the Celtics, but still though, the team goes to him or Horford when they need a bucket. I understand that the team collectively plays excellent defensively, but Tatum playing a major part of that is why he's the best rookie since Magic. Even when the East was terrible after Jordan retired, which rookie was killing it in the playoffs like Tatum is? Richard Jefferson? C'mon man.

When you say focal point I think like your saying the defense makes the game plan about Tatum. In reality I don't care about his age or experience. I'm just focused on what is actually happening. I don't see Tatum anymore a focal point as Richard Hamilton was to the Pistons when they won the title. When I see the Celtics right now that is really what I see. They have won games where Tatum has been great and won games where I don't know what he is doing for large parts of the game.

This is from after game 2 but they havent changed their defensive strategy since then.

The LeBrons had come into this series planning to take Jayson Tatum out of the picture, a strategy that has worked well for them thus far. But the Cavs have found that The Other Guys are perfectly capable and willing.

“Yeah, for sure,” said J.R. Smith on the idea of taking the Celts out of their game by stifling Tatum. “We decided to blitz him like we did DeMar (DeRozan) and (Victor) Oladipo, try to get the ball out of his hands, try to make plays for other people.

“Unfortunately for us, (Jaylen) Brown has really been playing well, and obviously Al (Horford), so it hasn’t really worked for us.

Few were expecting things to go this well for the Celtics after what the Cavaliers did to Toronto. And as much as the C’s have been hurting Cleveland with their offense, the defense has given Cleveland far more trouble than did the Raptors.

“Yeah, they’re much different,” said Smith. “I think the shots are different, and obviously their wings are younger, more athletic, so that plays a factor, too. We’ve just got to figure out, find our spots. We’ve got to keep running when we get stops, and we’ve just got to keep playing fast.”

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2018/05/cavaliers_look_to_regroup_from_solid_c_s_punch

So you post something proving my point. They came in thinking about Tatum and then found out they don't need Tatum.

[Feed Your Head]

When you say focal point I think like your saying the defense makes the game plan about Tatum. In reality I don't care about his age or experience. I'm just focused on what is actually happening. I don't see Tatum anymore a focal point as Richard Hamilton was to the Pistons when they won the title. When I see the Celtics right now that is really what I see. They have won games where Tatum has been great and won games where I don't know what he is doing for large parts of the game.

This is from after game 2 but they havent changed their defensive strategy since then.

The LeBrons had come into this series planning to take Jayson Tatum out of the picture, a strategy that has worked well for them thus far. But the Cavs have found that The Other Guys are perfectly capable and willing.

“Yeah, for sure,” said J.R. Smith on the idea of taking the Celts out of their game by stifling Tatum. “We decided to blitz him like we did DeMar (DeRozan) and (Victor) Oladipo, try to get the ball out of his hands, try to make plays for other people.

“Unfortunately for us, (Jaylen) Brown has really been playing well, and obviously Al (Horford), so it hasn’t really worked for us.

Few were expecting things to go this well for the Celtics after what the Cavaliers did to Toronto. And as much as the C’s have been hurting Cleveland with their offense, the defense has given Cleveland far more trouble than did the Raptors.

“Yeah, they’re much different,” said Smith. “I think the shots are different, and obviously their wings are younger, more athletic, so that plays a factor, too. We’ve just got to figure out, find our spots. We’ve got to keep running when we get stops, and we’ve just got to keep playing fast.”

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2018/05/cavaliers_look_to_regroup_from_solid_c_s_punch

So you post something proving my point. They came in thinking about Tatum and then found out they don't need Tatum.

What? You said when you think about a focal point its someone who the defense gameplans against. That's exactly what the Cavs did, and Tatum still put up 16 on 10 shots in game 1, struggled in game 2. The Celtics have won 1 of the 3 games with him not being a big factor. And they wouldn't have won last night without him having a great game.

[contestedlayups]

When you say focal point I think like your saying the defense makes the game plan about Tatum. In reality I don't care about his age or experience. I'm just focused on what is actually happening. I don't see Tatum anymore a focal point as Richard Hamilton was to the Pistons when they won the title. When I see the Celtics right now that is really what I see. They have won games where Tatum has been great and won games where I don't know what he is doing for large parts of the game.

This is from after game 2 but they havent changed their defensive strategy since then.

The LeBrons had come into this series planning to take Jayson Tatum out of the picture, a strategy that has worked well for them thus far. But the Cavs have found that The Other Guys are perfectly capable and willing.

“Yeah, for sure,” said J.R. Smith on the idea of taking the Celts out of their game by stifling Tatum. “We decided to blitz him like we did DeMar (DeRozan) and (Victor) Oladipo, try to get the ball out of his hands, try to make plays for other people.

“Unfortunately for us, (Jaylen) Brown has really been playing well, and obviously Al (Horford), so it hasn’t really worked for us.

Few were expecting things to go this well for the Celtics after what the Cavaliers did to Toronto. And as much as the C’s have been hurting Cleveland with their offense, the defense has given Cleveland far more trouble than did the Raptors.

“Yeah, they’re much different,” said Smith. “I think the shots are different, and obviously their wings are younger, more athletic, so that plays a factor, too. We’ve just got to figure out, find our spots. We’ve got to keep running when we get stops, and we’ve just got to keep playing fast.”

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2018/05/cavaliers_look_to_regroup_from_solid_c_s_punch

So you post something proving my point. They came in thinking about Tatum and then found out they don't need Tatum.

Proving what point? Tatum had 24-7-4-4-2 last night.

[kololoco]

Impact-wise minus the injuries, Bradley was toe to toe pre-Brad and Brad era. Don't let his PPG fool you. Crowder became a "better" player because he got more minutes with Brad, and Brad found a role for him. That's it. Nothing about Crowder has changed. Isaiah has been playing well period. His role with the team changed, because he was the only offensive option. That's how he got his 30 ppg.

Jordan Crawford,Evan Turner, and Jeff Green to an extent are the only players who regressed ever since leaving Brad Steven's team. Olynyk is still playing well with the Heat, Gerald Green is playing well with the Rockets, Jae Crowder became the player he was with the Celtics as soon as he joined Utah, and Amir and Zeller has always sucked. Sometimes people need to give credit where it's due. Players like Rozier, Smart, Tatum, and Jaylen are just that good. They make it easier for Brad's system to work.

They are and they do. But you seem to think that finding a role for a player is for some reason not important and has nothing to do with the coach. Why hasn't Crowder gotten more minutes in Dallas? Why has Isaiah been so much more used in Boston then in Sacramento or Phoenix (used all the way to the conference finals)? Of course you can't make a pizza with sh it. You have to have the ingredients, and he has found those ingredients in every player he has played. So yes, players are solid, but the system gets the most out of everyone, both can be true. Just as an example, do you know any, litteraly one player that has played better in another team then in Boston? Only player I can think of is Olynyk, and that has been extremely marginaly. So there is a system. I don't think that is the reason why Tatum plays good, and wrote that. But lets not pretend that what Brad has done with the players he has is just due to them being so good.

But I'll admit that I checked Bradleys numbers and he had his first jump the year prior to Brad coming, so my memory failed me, and you are right about him.

[chrisab123]

Still in disbelief we've been having arguments with Suns fans that Josh Jackson is a better prospect these past 2 weeks. Mitchell and Tatum are on an island in regards to the 2017 draft class. They are future all-NBA players.

Josh Jackson sucks. He’s a ham and egger

[Duke4life831]

I said this on the Boston board and Ill say it here. I thought he had a good game offensively but not great, he missed a ton of easy layups. Getting stronger and learning to finish better will be a huge step for him in his career. But I was flat out blown away with him defensively, that wasnt just a great defensive performance for a rookie wing, it was a great defensive performance for any wing.

That dude was getting in passing lanes, preventing his man from getting the ball and contesting shots left and right. He held his position many times against LeBron which was very impressive. What is this kid going to look like in 5 years when hes still only 25? 5 more years of NBA strength training which would be huge for his strength especially considering I think he has the body type to put on muscle very easily.

All throughout last year with him at Duke I thought he was a good defender and very underrated on that end, after a few of these playoff games and especially last night, it was the first time I thought he has a legit chance at being an all defense type of player in his career.

[richboy]

This is from after game 2 but they havent changed their defensive strategy since then.





http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2018/05/cavaliers_look_to_regroup_from_solid_c_s_punch

So you post something proving my point. They came in thinking about Tatum and then found out they don't need Tatum.

What? You said when you think about a focal point its someone who the defense gameplans against. That's exactly what the Cavs did, and Tatum still put up 16 on 10 shots in game 1, struggled in game 2. The Celtics have won 1 of the 3 games with him not being a big factor. And they wouldn't have won last night without him having a great game.

Again the point is that the other Celtics also do and use around the same possessions. In your own article it says they found out that the others are capable and willing as well. You just showing the Cavs were stupid to blitz Tatum. The Celtics don't run there offense thru Tatem so why would you treat him like all-stars that get high usage.

I'm sorry this is a stupid conversation. This isn't 1990. We can look at usage and see he isn't a focal point. We can look at possession time and possession used. The Celtics win because of defense and a balanced attack. The want Tatum to do well but they don't demand it to win. You could say Tatum is the focus. Someone else could say Brown is since he actually leads the team in those categories. Someone else may say Horford is the guy since he is the guy that has played well in just about every Celtic win in the playoffs. He leads the team in win share on both offense and defense. Someone else may say that Terry has a 5 to 1 assist to turnover ratio in the playoffs and scoring almost as much as Brown and Tatum. Leads them both in win share. Point being lets stop acting like Tatum is running the show. I can't even find one thing that would suggest that is the case.

[Vayuputra]

Jordan. Hakeem. Ewing. David Robinson. Shaq. Duncan, who was on All-NBA First team and finished Top 10 MVP voting in his rookie season. And several other HoF bound All-Stars.....

But I agree that the kid is really solid for a rookie playing in his first playoffs. Will be interesting to see who among Brown or Tatum will start once Hayward gets back.

Considering all 3 were starters at the beginning of the season I'm going to say all of them.

Neither of those players made a Conference Final in their first year, let alone were killing it late in the series like he was last night. That's why he's comparable to Magic, and why his career arc is already sky high.

Yes but they weren't playing in the 2010s East.....

[contestedlayups]

Considering all 3 were starters at the beginning of the season I'm going to say all of them.

Neither of those players made a Conference Final in their first year, let alone were killing it late in the series like he was last night. That's why he's comparable to Magic, and why his career arc is already sky high.

Yes but they weren't playing in the 2010s East.....

Tatum and the Celtics defeated arguably three hall of fame talents in Giannis, Embiid and Simmons on their way to the Conference Finals, and are one win away from dethroning the "GOAT" for the first time in eight years.

[Young gun 6]

Is he playing tonight? Can’t tell out there.

[jonjames]

Better than bum simmons now and going forward.

[GeorgeMarcus]

Better than bum simmons now and going forward.

Lol, nope.

[TheMartian]

Better than bum simmons now and going forward.

Lol, nope.

Um, yes he is.