Boston Celtics: Jayson Tatum Still Not Taking Enough Shots

The best way the Boston Celtics can improve their offense is through Jayson Tatum

The Boston Celtics got a nice glimpse of how good their offense can be against the Warriors, but Jayson Tatum still left a lot to be desired. Tatum had just four points on nine shots, hitting no three pointers. The good news is that truly is the outlier game for Tatum, and he can be the one true difference maker that improves the offense from where it is now.

Tatum has sustained his efficiency for so long that you do not need to even think about if it is a fluke anymore. We are seeing the different ways that Tatum is attacking, because he has been much more than just a three point threat.

Tatum can sometimes get more out of control when he is driving to the rim, but when he pulls things together he makes moves that has just been unstoppable. When you watch Tatum play all you see is all kinds of room for him to get more involved in every single way.

He is a long ways away form even getting close to Kyrie Irving‘s involvement, and it is reasonable for Al Horford to be taking more shots than him, but the Celtics might be best off if Tatum was taking the second most shots per game on the team.

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When you look at how many shots the significantly weaker shooters around Tatum are taking, you see how easy it could be to get him those extra opportunities. Jaylen Brown, Marcus Morris and Marcus Smart are all taking more shot attempts than Tatum, and Terry Rozier is just one shot attempt per game behind him.

Brown is the only one of them who has an overall shooting percentage that tops what Tatum does from three. The Celtics always want balance and that means there will not be crazy volume for anyone. That being said, the Celtics can afford to sacrifice some of his efficiency, because he will still be scoring at a much better rate than anyone not named Horford or Irving.

We have heard Stevens talk about increasing his role, and we have seen the games where he is a lot more aggressive. The problem is that he does not stay as involved consistently. Tatum still has that tendency to disappear, and his role will always be limited until that changes.

It is hard to expect this from someone so young, but the Celtics could benefit from Tatum shooting out of his slumps. They do not want him to be fazed when he shoots the way he did against the Warriors, because he has so many different ways he can generate offense.

The moment Tatum gets more aggressive and is more prominent on offense, teams will have to defend him differently. Teams are still not scared of Tatum really taking over a game on a regular basis with his scoring, and fans are just waiting to see him get an opportunity to do that on a nightly basis.

Part of it is Tatum’s mentality, because he will never do more than what is asked of him. The problem is that a lot of these other players that are shooting more than him are always aggressive, and take a lot more risks on offense that Tatum.

The fact that he never takes those risks contributes a lot to how efficient he is, but he has proven everything he can with his efficiency and this offense could hit another level if we learned what happens when he is asked to carry a heavier load on offense.

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The Celtics will do nothing to get in the way of Tatum’s development, and no one can complain about anything he has done this season. That being said, it is too hard to watch him play the way he does and not wonder about the kind of damage he will be doing once he grows into that greater role.

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