[King] Joe Mazzulla just said the Celtics averaged 1.6 points per possession yesterday when Jayson Tatum was the screener which, Mazzulla said, “would be the best offense in the history of the world.” Obviously, Mazzulla’s not going to judge Tatum’s game simply by his shooting numbers.
Joe Mazzulla just said the Celtics averaged 1.6 points per possession yesterday when Jayson Tatum was the screener which, Mazzulla said, “would be the best offense in the history of the world.” Obviously, Mazzulla’s not going to judge Tatum’s game simply by his shooting numbers.
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) May 8, 2024
by 1337speak
7 Comments
Tatum has leveled up because his lows are just average now and not horrible. He’s playing a smarter brand of ball. If we win the chip he can chase all the awards he wants. Cause no one can say he can’t average 30 for a season we’ve seen him do it.
Why you giving away the secret sauce Joe lol
I’m assuming a lot of those came from him screening for white? My only concern, if that’s the case, is that Derrick White won’t shoot like this for the rest of the playoffs. His shooting splits are so insane it’s almost worrying. He’s basically been shooting at heater Curry levels. The variance is going to come and at that point we will need Tatum to start hitting jump shots.
He just needs to see a few go in. He’s not pressing and taking bad shots. He’s not going hero ball. He’s letting the defense tilt toward him and making them pay.
It’ll come around and they’ll look even better as a team when it does
The best of Tatum will only be seen once he gets paired with an elite pick & roll ball handler who can draw double teams.
Imagine if he had a Jamal Murray type guy to feed him for middys and downhill rim attacks. He’d score so many more easy basket and would hover around historic efficiency on a nightly basis. He’d easily ascend to being the best player in the NBA. Right now, Tatum has to create everything for himself.
Everyone who’s won a championship in this decade has done so by spamming their elite PNR duo.
2023: Murray / Jokic
2022: Steph / Draymond
2021: Middleton / Giannis
2020: LeBron / AD
Obviously tatums shooting (and free throws) haven’t been good, but only casuals see the game as shots. He’s been doing everything else at an elite level. We’ll probably have to need him to shoot better to win against OKC/MIN, but let’s wait till we get there.
There was one play where he screened and rolled hard and got a wide open layup. Most of the time when he screens it’s to get the switch and he pops out to the top to get a catch. If they mix in a few more rolls that’ll open things up a bit more.