cl2117 wrote:That just doesn't line up with the stats in his career. It's a lot of tropes that I think get tossed around that aren't really tied to reality but I can understand where some come from. Especially early in his career he relied way too heavily on the jab/side steps into a tough jumper a la Kobe, but he's reined that in massively. He's not anywhere near as out of control as you're trying to paint him when heading to the rim, nor has he ever been, so not sure where that comes from though. He's a really adept paint scorer despite seeming like he lacks the kind of burst other stars have, he's sneaky quick (reminds me of Paul Pierce in that respect).
I mean how can you say he can't play in FIBA/Olympics when in 2020 he was the 2nd leading scorer with 15 ppg on 50/45/73 splits? He has already proven that he's elite in this arena.
Look at the other guys you're talking about as more reliable in terms of play in elimination games and this idea that he's vastly more inconsistent or untrustworthy really just falls away.
Career elimination game stats:
Tatum: 17 games 41 mpg
27/9/6/1/1 with 44/38/83 splits on 57% TS
Durant: 16 games 42 mpg
30/8/4/1/2 with 46/40/84 splits on 59% TS
Booker: 4 games 41 mpg
23/3/5/1/1 with 40/21/91 splits on 54% TS
Edwards: 7 games 41 mpg
28/7/6/1/1 with 43/36/76 splits on 54% TS
Curry: 14 games 41 mpg
29/6/7/1/1 with 44/36/90 splits on 58% TS
LeBron: 28 games 45 mpg
34/10/8/2/1 with 50/36/72 splits on 59% TS
Outside of LeBron who is just insane with his 34/10/8, Tatum is right there with rest of them during elimination games. He won 12 out of 17 as well, so it's not like he's putting up numbers in in losses. Durant comparatively won 5 out of 16, Booker is 0 for 4, Curry is 10 for 14, Ant is 4 for 7. There's not some massive gap or any real gap for that matter.
And for the record, despite highlighting all the above, I am not a Tatum "stan". I don't have a problem with Kerr sitting him (especially not when it's in favor of LeBron and KD), I don't think he's an MVP level player and it's pretty obvious he's not currently playing anywhere close to his best ball. So this isn't all to say that he's some persecuted individual, but rather just that it's false to extrapolate his current rough performance in these games and try to say that's who he is as a player. The numbers just don't back that up.
The problem I have with majority of what you just typed is that it’s based on his production in the nba (or his production on a fiba team where he was the 3rd or 4th best player)
What you do in the nba doesn’t matter in fiba/Olympic play and what you did on another team prior to this one doesn’t matter.
On this team he’s not more impactful than
KD/Bron/Steph/Embiid (solely for being able to ‘somewhat’ guard Jokic)/AD/Bam/Jrue/Booker
Hes not cutting into any of the players above minutes. So then it’s between antman & derick white.
Antmans shooting, ball handling, perimeter defense, explosiveness, intensity, has been better than anything Tatum brings and he also fits better with almost any rotation (excluding yesterdays Serbia game)
Derrick whites selflessness, hustle, perimeter defense, pesky-ness, willingness to quickly rotate the ball, ball handling has been better than anything Tatum brings and he also fits better with almost any rotation
So far in this tournament he’s not playing better than antman or derrick white… this isn’t little league or summer camp. We don’t have minutes to waste on testing Tatum or making him feel good when nothing matters but winning.
In the nba Tatum is great. In this tournament he hasn’t been needed. Hopefully he comes back for 2028.
