Taken from NBA In Depth on Instagram.
This topic has been floating around ever since last night and here is the numbers to prove it.
Tatum is just flat out inefficient on these isolation step back and pull up 3’s. Not just this year too, this was shown last year as well. And you would think that an analytically based coach like Joe would hate this output and make sure Tatum isn’t throwing up 5+ of these shots a game.
Whether it’s the added bulk, the wrist, more contested shots, it’s having a bad impact on Tatum’s production from downtown. But when the offense stalls in the playoffs, you do need these type of shots from your superstars to go down though.
What’s your thoughts on Tatum’s production from 3?
by ECviews
26 Comments
It’s crazy how good the C’s have been with how inefficient Tatum( and Brown early in the season) have been with their shooting. This team is far from its peak and they are 20-6. I legit think we might see a return to average and Tatum in March/April might go ballistic like he used to a few years ago during those months
This is the one thing I truly wish he would stop doing.
He can do so much more now and not rely on pull up TOP OF THE KEY 3s.
I just cannot and will not be bothered by individual stats/records this early in the year.
The Bulls were well and far beyond the best team in the East before the All Star Break in 2022. Remember how hard they fell off the face of earth? Shit changes quick in the NBA.
He doesn’t even need to shoot threes. It’s like in todays NBA you HAVE to fucking shoot threes. Opposing teams want a contested JT three.
Always hated how they waste the clock to inevitably miss a terrible shot at the end of the game. I’d rather see them drive to the bucket and miss, and possibly give the other team a chance to win, if it was a good drive. They always seem so afraid to give the other team a chance to win it. And then we lose in OT.
And I got flamed for saying he falls into being a volume scorer last year with a bunch of 2-14 from 3 games last year
Tatums catch and shoot 3pt percentage is still elite, above 40% and has been basically every season of his career. It’s the pull up threes that have tanked since the Covid year. He needs to take less of those and stop passing up the catch and shoot opportunities he gets.
I just don’t understand why nearly half of his shot attempts are from 3. We have plenty of good 3PT shooters on this team in White, PP, Hauser, Al, and even Jrue, that could nail the catch and shoot on his drives. It just seems like he’s not leaning in enough on the things that he’s good at. From the outside in it doesn’t look like the coaching staff is doing anything to correct it even though it was a point of emphasis to shoot more from the post before the season started. Overall, I don’t have hope that his shot selection is going to change much.
He’s in a slump. People are overlooking how much Tatum needs to adjust and ‘sacrifice’ to fit into their new offense, and it’s not just a reduced scoring load. JB wants to push the pace so the other team can’t set their defense. Tatum plays slow and hunts mismatches in the half court. They have very different styles. JB’s is more effective in spurts, but can get out of control if the opponent has the right defensive adjustment or has a hot shooting streak (when the opponent makes threes, it’s harder for us to beat them back up the floor).
Then when the Celtics want to slow the pace down, they just give Tatum the ball and ask him score. Those threes looked forced last night and he probably should have known he didn’t have it. But to be fair, I remember Philly game 6 when Tatum was cold in the first 3 quarters and turned up for a monster 4th. He plays with the attitude that if he’s done something once (i.e. recovered from a cold start or scored 50 points in a game), he can do it again at any time.
To get the ball with 9 sec left in regulation with the game tied and end the game on an off-balance contested three? Maddening.
He panics in the big moments, especially when there’s an alpha stud in the other team outplaying him in crunch time
Looks like he’s in the top 10
Not sure why it is a topic when last night a 3 shot was not the best option. He should have gone to the paint. For 2 or draw a foul and we win the game.
Coach Mazulla – “If we shoot more 3s then we make more 3s .. can’t make any of the 3s we don’t shoot. Gotta let them 3s fly. When we’re all 5 standing at the 3 point line shooting 3s then that’s what I call Celtics Basketball ! I tell my players soon as you get across half court .. FIRE AWAY!! Nothing like a 3 from the logo. “
This is coaching. Mazz is either coaching this or he’s condoning it and that’s a problem. JT at one point used to be elite on pull up threes but he’s gotten worse and worse over the past three years (non-coincidentally he’s gotten bigger during this time too). Sure JT will go on a heater at some point but this shot diet from our best player isn’t winning us a championship. He needs to get his butt in the post and work on getting closer to the basket where he can do real damage efficiently. What’s the point of building up his body if he’s just gonna keep settling for awful contested long range shots for most of the game
Make a new year’s resolution to get one more assist per game in January. That’s all I ask. One more assist from each of you for one month. See how much it improves your game. Do whatever you want in.February, I just want everyone to get used to the fact that this team is loaded and you can almost always get a good player a good shot
Coach Mazullas Dream starting 5. Tre Young, Steph Curry, Dame Lillard, Halliburton, and Luka at the 5. Nothing but logo 3s. Mazulla bench you if it’s not a long distance 3.
The only analytics Joe Mazz uses is volume on 3’s
Josh Smith esque
Yesterday vs the Warriors it was painful to watch Tatum chucking up stepback or sidestep 3s and not even being close to making most of em. The final possession in regulation was just squandered on a terrible highly contested 3 in a tie game. Why not at least try to get into the paint and collapse the defense for a kick out or go up strong to try to draw contact in the paint? The celtics are a solid 3 point shooting team but Tatum iso 3s are the worst part of the offense. If we need a 3 on a final possession, the play should be for White to get an open look. Or anyone off ball movement, not this iso bullshit. These kind of close games on prime time tv are telling of how the team will play in the playoffs and what we saw last night wasnt great. They did miss a lot of easy shots and would win that game most nights, but the late game and OT play was really ugly. Tatum needs to play the kind of game that best suits his strengths, working inside the 3 point line with drives and midrange or catch and shoot wide open 3s. He isnt a good iso 3pt shooter, not many PF/SF are. And Mazulla needs to use timeouts a bit better in my opinion. Let the team plan something and get on the same page for big posessions, not just letting them wing it which 90% of the time means Tatum doing the most obvious thing possible and jacking up an iso stepback 3. Sure he can shoot over most defenders but he missed them over 70% of the time.
That he’s more than 5% worse than Zach Lavine is the most brutal thing
More C/S 3s and less pull ups please
He swears he’s a good 3pt shooter. No matter how many 2/7 games he has from three.
He’s the worst in the league at the thing he loves to do most. Someone needs to have a serious conversation with this guy, maybe a therapist.
He has literally never been efficient in iso 3’s, and after his summer with Kobe it’s the only game he wants to play. It is what it is at this point. Will probably be the biggest thing that holds him back his entire career.
Inject this into his goddamn veins