Jayson Tatum with another DNP vs Serbia

[guynumber45]

Seems to be a hot topic despite the win by Team USA: Why was Jayson Tatum DNP'd again? Curious how everyone here feels about it.

[jehosafats]

I wouldn't make much of an executive decision focused purely on the match ups. Embiid had a DNP against South Sudan but played damn near the whole game against Serbia. Tatum has a head down hero style of play. They probably felt that might not work for them that game.

[cl2117]

I'm just happy USA won. Was a fun game to watch.

Gotta be tough for Hali and Tatum not to get any run, especially when some of the guys in front of you aren't exactly lighting the world on fire, but it's the Olympics and you're playing for your country so you gotta check the ego at the door.

Seems like Kerr wants to lean on LeBron and KD as his big wings and he doesn't want to compromise their minutes to fit Tatum in just to get him out there for a handful, which I think is understandable given who they are and how they've played and Tatum's scoring struggles.

I think what surprises me is that he hasn't tried to go with a really big lineup and get Tatum out there in place of Booker or Edwards for stretches. I think that could work given that Tatum is a strong defender and pretty complete player in terms of rebounding/passing as well. The length they'd have on the floor would be really challenging for opposing teams and I don't think they'd give up much at all in terms of overall scoring/defense given who else is on the floor. Also surprised that Kerr hasn't played the trio of Tatum, Holiday and White in any lineups either. Some of Team USA's issues seem like they could be chemistry/fit related and you've got a ready made group that obviously already have that in spades, who are also used to playing in lineups with 5 legit stars.

Would be nice to see him get some run against France who seem like they've got a bigger than average lineup in general. If not then I think Tatum will unfortunately have to hear people talk **** about him for the next four years every time it gets brought up that he's got an Olympic gold, but once the changing of the guard happens with this team I fully expect him to get a primary role in future Olympics.

[walk with me]

Tatum SHOULDNT have played in that game because you needed to max Lebrons minutes as soon as we got down double digits. Lebron played 32 minutes, we needed his physicality on both ends and play making on offense. Tatum has shot horribly in this tournament and for Bron to be most effective he needs to be surrounded by shooters (Booker-Steph-KD)

Antman wasn’t ready for Serbias intensity so he looked bad but he’s shot well (in the tournament) and defended well in the tournament which is why he’ll never get a DNP.

If we had a comfortable lead throughout the game Tatum would have got some minutes but his offense is far too inconsistent to be trusted in a single elimination scenario. What he brings on defense doesn’t compensate for what he lacks on offense with most groups we put out yesterday.

As soon as we got down by 10 Kerr tightened the rotation. At that point we only subbed guys in to give the 5 that finished a rest.

I’m fascinated by people who think Tatum should play and that he would make the team better. His static offensive and lack of physicality at the rim vs Serbia in a game with maximum roughness allowed (on both sides) would surely be a negative. Yeah he’d help on defense but on the other end we’re basically playing 4-5. In a 1 and done you can’t risk that.

Tatum fans just need to realize the perception of Tatum isn’t the reality…

[Karate Diop]

Not sure why people are surprised by this... Who exactly should he be playing over? He's an insurance policy, the guys playing ahead of him are just better.

[Sign5]

What they gonna say now?

[EmpireFalls]

We need him vs France

[cl2117]

I’m fascinated by people who think Tatum should play and that he would make the team better. His static offensive and lack of physicality at the rim vs Serbia in a game with maximum roughness allowed (on both sides) would surely be a negative. Yeah he’d help on defense but on the other end we’re basically playing 4-5. In a 1 and done you can’t risk that.

Tatum fans just need to realize the perception of Tatum isn’t the reality…

Basically playing 4 on 5 is just absolutely ridiculous. He's not static offensively, he's really well rounded and doesn't have a problem finishing at the rim against physical defense. That's just not based on reality. Your perception is wildly skewed.

His shooting has been woeful though, so it's understandable that you'd make him ride the bench in favor of guys who have been better and also hang their hat on that more so than he does in general (e.g. Booker, Ant, KD). Especially when, to your point, you've got LeBron playing that focal point for the team offensively where he wants to distribute the ball and you need to have shooters around him to capitalize on his insanely good floor vision.

The hyperbole really undercuts your more salient points.

[hugepatsfan]

Not necessarily disagreeing with him being sat down in these games, but people on this board talk like he hasn’t already proven himself at the Olympic level. He was the second leading scorer on the gold medal team a few years back. He’s excelled at this level before and people on this board talk like him at the Olympics is some hypothetical situation they think wouldn’t work. He’s already exceeded at this level. It’s a proven thing.

Every team is different so the fact that he excelled last time doesn’t mean he’s the best fit for this team but people need to stop acting like his game doesn’t translate when there’s literal proof it does lol

[thebigbird]

I mean it’s pretty simple. LeBron is much better than Tatum and so is Durant. Tatum’s not capable of guarding Jokic in the 4th quarter, he can’t be a playmaker like LeBron, and he can’t shoot as well as Durant.

[Chokic]

Tatum should be starting over lebron. These games have been close bc of lebron. Dude is no different than when he's w/ the lakers during regular season padding his own stats at the detriment of his team. Dude is an absolute liability on defense and kills ball movement trying to be a floor general. Team usa has been very fortunage ever since kd came back he's been the juice for team usa to initiate momentum shifts.

[1993Playoffs]

Nothing about his game really stands out.

Shoots too many 3s and isn’t a great shooter

[walk with me]

I’m fascinated by people who think Tatum should play and that he would make the team better. His static offensive and lack of physicality at the rim vs Serbia in a game with maximum roughness allowed (on both sides) would surely be a negative. Yeah he’d help on defense but on the other end we’re basically playing 4-5. In a 1 and done you can’t risk that.

Tatum fans just need to realize the perception of Tatum isn’t the reality…

Basically playing 4 on 5 is just absolutely ridiculous. He's not static offensively, he's really well rounded and doesn't have a problem finishing at the rim against physical defense. That's just not based on reality. Your perception is wildly skewed.

His shooting has been woeful though, so it's understandable that you'd make him ride the bench in favor of guys who have been better and also hang their hat on that more so than he does in general (e.g. Booker, Ant, KD). Especially when, to your point, you've got LeBron playing that focal point for the team offensively where he wants to distribute the ball and you need to have shooters around him to capitalize on his insanely good floor vision.

The hyperbole really undercuts your more salient points.

Tatum is too inconsistent to play in a do or die game where you’re playing down ten for like 80% of the game. Sometimes…. Majority of the time his offense on the wing is wasting 5 seconds jab stepping or doing in and out dribbles before he makes a decision. His offense at the rim is him barreling out of control hoping to draw a foul against his defender. It works in the nba because there’s 48 minutes and the refs reward that. In Olympic/Fiba play (during a do or die game) it’s not worth the risk of “hoping” he’ll be in a good rhythm and making shots.

The other options are just more trustworthy than Tatum is in the scenario we were in yesterday. Theyre all more specialized or better than Tatum at what Tatum is good at. In 2028 he’ll be a permanent starter but in this tournament he wasn’t needed at all.

[Sofia]

Weird that Tatum sits for “match ups” when the match up is just Bogdanovic

[sjballer03]

He's only 19. He'll be locked in for LA 2028.

[kingr]

I believe kerr could have found tatum at least 5 mins or something last game. Some 1st half minutes for sure. If i'm Tatum, and i'm looking at jrue and d.white getting minutes over me, I'd be furious.

[bfchs123]

Weird that Tatum sits for “match ups” when the match up is just Bogdanovic

lol this - I see one guy that needs to be matched up against, 1 or 2 average level NBA players, and a bunch of plumbers.

Kerr's matchups were terrible and he let Serbia nearly beat them and shoot well over 50% for most of the game until they collapsed. Probably could have used Tatum's defense as one of the most versatile defenders. Kerr has an agenda and he'll be washed out of the league when Curry is done finally holding him up.

[homecourtloss]

Tatum should be starting over lebron. These games have been close bc of lebron. Dude is no different than when he's w/ the lakers during regular season padding his own stats at the detriment of his team. Dude is an absolute liability on defense and kills ball movement trying to be a floor general. Team usa has been very fortunage ever since kd came back he's been the juice for team usa to initiate momentum shifts.

[Triple M]

Last Olympics Tatum was the go to scorer off the bench. This Olympics Ant has taken that role and has done well overall but was surprised when Ant struggled yesterday that Tatum didn't get a chance. Seem like they could have used his rebounding and defense vs Serbia. The play from the bench overall was poor yesterday which was a surprise because how well they've played throughout exhibition, group play and vs Brazil. If the bench plays that poorly again i think Tatum will be given a chance to shake things up.

[Crives]

Weird that Tatum sits for “match ups” when the match up is just Bogdanovic

lol this - I see one guy that needs to be matched up against, 1 or 2 average level NBA players, and a bunch of plumbers.

Kerr's matchups were terrible and he let Serbia nearly beat them and shoot well over 50% for most of the game until they collapsed. Probably could have used Tatum's defense as one of the most versatile defenders. Kerr has an agenda and he'll be washed out of the league when Curry is done finally holding him up.

It really is matchups.
If you bring in Tatum with bench mob over 1 of Jrue/White/Edwards, you now have 3 non shooters on the floor given how Tatum is playing (AD/Bam/Tatum)

The 5 starters/closers for USA, Steph/Book/KD/Lebron/Embiid played really well together, hard to argue to swap any for a non shooter