He’s probably in my top 5 because of how heavily I value two-way impact (it’s also why I’m seemingly so down on Luka’s performance in this series).
Should probably say this- I’m a die hard Celtics fan. I’ve watched all but maybe 5 games this year. So it’s possibly I see this team and their flaws a little too closely.
You can’t ask much more from Tatum. His passing has gotten to a really high level. His defense on and off ball are elite. He’s maybe the best wing rebounder in the league. I personally will live with a few step back threes per game because I think every star player earns those, and you don’t get 50 ball Tatum nights without him taking those because sometimes they go in!
The one gripe is that he’s a Kobe disciple. This man is gonna hold it, he’s gonna do 9 jab steps, he’s gonna take fadeaway middies. His whole process when catching is typically way too slow. The smaller gripes are he’s not an elite shooter and he naturally seeks to avoid contact at the rim.
Yes, Tatum grew up watching Kobe, and plays like Kobe, and I hated watching Kobe play too (also just didn’t like the guy either, but that’s a different conversation).
Objectively, Tatum is willing to do lots of things players of that stature frequently don’t (one thing about, say, Ant, is that he IS willing to guard the #1, etc as well), and that’s rad. I just don’t enjoy watching him on my TV (the ref whining, the Kobe cosplay, etc).
The fact that a pass first (pass only?) mid major PG has become the go-to guy for guys to expand their scoring arsenal is very funny to me
Obviously he’s helped Embiid develop his suite of guard skills, but when I read about him working a ton on Embiid’s hook shot, it’s wild to me - did 5’10” Drew Hanlen EVER take a hook shot?
Yeah I obviously watched him play, just somehow I never looked into his playing career at all, I think I assumed he was not a D1 player for some reason
Also adds even more funniness/irony that a PG for Rick Byrd/Belmont became like the preeminent teacher of one on one basketball skills
In fairness, Tatum has developed pretty well as a passer, and Embiid some as well. And now Tatum stinks at his off the dribble 3s too
Boston is clearly the better team and has been far and away the best team all season. Luka has had some down moments in this series but the Mavs have been destroyed when hasn’t been on the floor.
Luka on court: Celtics +4 in 118 minutes
Luka off court: Celtics +28 in 26 minutes.
What makes the Celtics successful on defense is Tatum and Brown are good defenders and they’re willing to take on the top 2 options themselves while taking on the offensive responsibilities (moreso on Tatum). It makes it easier for the rest to buy into defense. It helps that the Celtics have a bunch of good individual defenders like Jrue, Green, etc.
I remember reading stats that switching is fatal against Luka, but the Boston has turned that upside down because they have everyone who can switch and contest shots. Dallas can never figure out how to really punish the Celtics switching scheme.
White (I assume that’s “Green”) is a great help defender, Tatum is too. Brown tends to drift off-ball but is probably their best on-ball defender. Jrue is obviously awesome all around. Horford is still capital G Great defensively as a switching big, few better.
The Stanley Cup finals are making me sad too. I wanted to see a Canadian team win and it’s about the worst case scenario (as a fan) to have a Florida team win it all. But the Panthers are killing it.
The Nets series was the first one that came to mind when I was trying to come up with a worse finals. This one is probably worse though because the Nets series at least had one game come down to the final shot.