Jayson Tatum is not ready

[AussieCeltic]

Reminds me of Tracy McGrady. Gets all the fame in the RS, but can't flip the switch in the playoffs.

He’s averaging 25/10/4 on a 58% TS in the playoffs, with a +7.4 net rating. As a 22 year old lol, is that not flipping a switch?

Refs have bailed him out big time, what happens in crunch time? He just can't do it when ref isn't holding his hand.

12th in free throw rate in the playoffs. Jimmy Butler is 3rd while averaging 21 points a game. Please tell me who gets bailed out

[Pablo Escobar]

Reminds me of Tracy McGrady. Gets all the fame in the RS, but can't flip the switch in the playoffs.

T-Mac elevated his game in the post season. Obviously he didn't have the team success but he played great.

[Ben-N1ce]

He Might have peaked too early at 22..

[sikma42]

Jimmy isn't a superstar. Tatum isn't a superstar either. No guarantee if he becomes a good enough player to become one either. Plus I'm not should on his game being reliable in tough series...too much flash and reliance on the refs

One bad game and dude gets clowned on.

Jimmy can constantly get 12/4/3 type numbers and is an elite superstar. Not saying I don’t like Jimmy, but Tatum has been balling these playoffs and is in the ECF.

He needs to get better at his decision making at times but it’s clear he’s got everything you want in a superstar

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[Jazz9]

Reminds me of Tracy McGrady. Gets all the fame in the RS, but can't flip the switch in the playoffs.

For all the jokes about him being a second round virgin he actually played very well in the playoffs
From his first year in Orlando to his last appearancve in the playoffs as a Rocket he averaged

33.8p/6.5r/8.3a
30.8/6.3/5.5
31.7/6.7/4.7
30.7/7.4/6.7
25.3/5.9/7.3
27/8.2/6.8

Couldn't advance so I get why people wouldn't care about the stats I guess

[Anticon]

A 22 year old can't compete with the old man desperation of guys like Dragic and Jimmy that see the end.

He's fine, he'll figure out how to close games in time.

[Lilseb93]

I feel like this is a huge overreaction. Boston could easily be up 2-0 or at least tied, and you wouldn’t see these threads. He’s fantastic.

[chrisbanksy562]

I mean being the best player on two ECF teams before your rookie contract is up is as good as it's going to get. Wade is really the only player I can think of in the modern NBA that's had a better run at things out the gate.

I'm not going to hold it against a young player for not finding that extra gear when he's only 22-23, especially when our system disregard that mentality. He's shown the ability to take over games, and make clutch plays. It's going to come, but like every other young guy he needs to put on more weight and become stronger, and get the respect of the refs. Once he does that he will be fine, and these deep runs will only fuel him.

Also, as a Celtics fan, it's absolutely heart breaking knowing 1/5 of our cap space is riding pine, putting the team at a natural disadvantage. It must be frustrating for a young player having your role switched constantly, and always having the "what if?" staring back at you in practice. Like another poster mentioned, Celtics are playing rookies off the bench, short rotations, and heavy minutes. I'm not worried at all.

It's rare to see a young player take over series this late in the playoffs, and Tatum has been fantastic. I speak for all Celtics fans, confidently, when I say Jayson is the face of the franchise, and we can;t wait to watch this young man compete for titles hopefully his entire career. We wouldn't trade him for any young guy in the league except Doncic probably.

This the answer i was looking for. He's not ready for that extra gear to take his team over the top. But thats not what i was hearing this season, i was hearing hes already a superstar, he'll lead his team to the finals. He's only 22, we will see...

[AussieCeltic]

Jimmy isn't a superstar. Tatum isn't a superstar either. No guarantee if he becomes a good enough player to become one either. Plus I'm not should on his game being reliable in tough series...too much flash and reliance on the refs

One bad game and dude gets clowned on.

Jimmy can constantly get 12/4/3 type numbers and is an elite superstar. Not saying I don’t like Jimmy, but Tatum has been balling these playoffs and is in the ECF.

He needs to get better at his decision making at times but it’s clear he’s got everything you want in a superstar

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12th in free throw rate just ahead of guys like Brogdon, Levert and Gobert. This whole narrative that the refs bail him out his hilarious.

The superstar is subjective depending on what you count as a superstar. I’d say leading your team to 2 conference finals by the time you’re 22 is pretty telling

[gorz]

Hes still way better than Ben Simmons.

[Pelly24]

Tatum has been excellent this postseason and is now playing with house money.

I would just say that he should be more selfish sometimes and take a bunch of shots in the fourth quarter, idc about the outcome. Kemba and company aren't going to bail you out.

But anything he does beyond this point is fine with me. He's proven himself.


He's taken two steps this year.

[bubonicphoniks]

Agree with this take.

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[benhillboy]

I can’t seem to find anyone who agrees with me that he was a considerably better team player (and in effect better overall player) as a rookie. The numbers I’m looking at back up my eyes. Any statistical improvement in his raw numbers (only a few columns) is solely due to more minutes and higher usage while his advanced values (win shares, both ratings) are of better quality as a rook.

The current shot selection is flat out ridiculous at times. He was so good at recognizing when to get off the ball and readjust whether it be cutting, spacing, or getting the ball right back. He used to always bully cutters. He would force himself to the line. He would locate someone to box out. He was actually very similar to Jimmy’s rapid early development. All the talk of “budding superstar” lowered his IQ. Its a shame because I thought he was on a Marion/ Worthy/ Pierce trajectory (all champions). He’s switched to a Dantley/ Alex English/ KD one (all none/pseudo-champs). No matter what happens with this series he needs to focus on his court vision and awareness on both ends.

As a rookie I figured he was a coach’s son before I actually learned he was. Now he looks like an AAU guy who grew up with yes men instead of guidance.

[PierceFan4ever]

He, Brad Stevens, and the rest of the Celtics need to figure out how to beat a zone.

[G R E Y]

A top young player still on his rookie contract learning how to adapt his game to the playoffs? Twenty-nine other teams would take that.

That said, he does need to work on his handles - that stood out today. Things like reading plays to finish with a high arc off the glass rather than going for a dunk when a big help rotates will come with experience; things like right shot selection and game management will, too.

A burgeoning 22-year-old star playing through and learning from mistakes to be ready is a wonderful problem to have.

[Ambrose]

Did anyone expect him to be?

[Lalouie]

Lackadaisical defense and rebounding. He's not ready to take that next step and lead his team.

5 rebounds and -11 plusminus. Too cool for school body language.

What do you guys think, already 2 ECFs, will he ever make that next step.

funny how sports works. some you think can,,,,don't. some you think can't,,,, do

maybe he'll be ready in 2 years. if boston fails time and again tatum may be just end up being another name and bam becomes the golden boy. maybe Mitchell or murray become an either/or

or

the bubble truly is a 30for30

[JonBones]

Man people have unreal expectations sometimes, like they just expect top players to not miss any shots. It’s 2 great teams with great players on both sides facing each other. Sometimes that’s all there is to it, someone just has to win in the end. Like do people seriously think Tatum or Butler wouldn’t take advantage of the opposing teams defense if they allowed it?

[Johnny Bball]

I think the major problem with his game is his horse face.

[Birth of the Cool]

He puts up numbers but they seem quiet to me if you know what I mean. You look at the stat sheet after the game and say wow he had good numbers but while you're watching the game you don't feel his imprint. On one hand, that perhaps shows how talented he is that he can put up super solid numbers while not looking like he's controlling the game & therefore has more levels to get at. On the other hand he may just be a stats look good guy.

To me his best attribute is his rebounding and defense. He has a solid 3pt shot but it seems he relies on it too much. He really needs to work on his handles. His sloppy handles remind me of a young DeMar Derozan before DeMar put in the time to become a much better ball handler. His footwork and post moves seem pretty basic and his drives to the rim are not explosive. His length is a great asset but he doesn't have that elite level athleticism to explode into the lane/finish at the rim. His passing is sufficient but he doesn't have elite vision.

His numbers look good in this era but to compare him to T-Mac is crazy to me. T-Mac had elite explosiveness from the get go, and in his first few years with the Raptors had a real nose for offensive boards and elite defense. T-Mac also was overshadowed by VC and didn't get to show off his nice handles and smooth mid range game. Tatum/Brown are a poor man's T-Mac/Vince. Those guys went hard in the paint, were clutch and had that clutch gene and you felt there impact in games. I see some of that in Brown, but not so much Tatum.

He is a promising young dude and surely will only get better but he def needs to work on his game (handles, footwork especially).

He & his Coach seem so similar to me. Seemingly good, but not good enough to be at the top level. The difference is I think Tatum can keep getting better. Stevens has not impressed me in these playoffs. His team looked lost when the Raptors threw Zones at them previous round, something a high level coach like Spo would take away from film, and it seems Stevens still hasn't game planned how to beat it among other such failures.