Boston Celtics takeaway No. 3) The struggles of Jayson Tatum continue
Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum, quite frankly, hasn’t been himself virtually all season long.
He has had some good games sprinkled in here and there but, overall, has been off.
Since the game in Charlotte, Tatum has made just 34 out of his last 105 field goals, five for his last 28 3-point attempts, and 21 of his last 30 free-throw attempts.
I’m sure there are a lot of factors going into these struggles, but something we can all agree on is that it’s unlikely this continues much longer.
The fact that the Celtics can beat the league-best Miami Heat, with Tatum going 3-13 and not making his first field goal until the fourth quarter is a pretty uplifting notion. Imagine what they could have looked like if he was his usual self.
As stated before, there are lots of things that I think are playing into our superstar struggling this badly. I think it’s a combination of a long offseason, lack of confidence, a new ball, new foul rules, and a new offensive scheme that doesn’t exactly play to his strengths.
I made a tweet detailing my gripes with the coaching of Tatum, but to put it short he is a shot creator and they need to use him as such.
Ime Udoka is constantly playing Tatum out of the post at about 15-17 feet from the hoop, and letting him work from there. Tatum has solid vision, a solid mid-range jumper, and usually is good at getting to the hoop.
I suggested that we go back to what worked, which is starting possessions with high screens, so Tatum can get downhill. These often lead to open treys, open mid-range shots, and momentum to the hoop which is undoubtedly more effective than “post-up Tatum”.
Whatever works, the Boston Celtics should go to it.
You will only go as far as Tatum and Brown take you, and while winning without either performing well is great, it cannot be a staple of the team.