Source
r/bostonceltics•
Friend72

Why isn't Tatum taking his step back catapult threes anymore?

During his great stretch in February and March he was hitting this shot at around a 45% clip and now he seems to only be taking them when he has to at the end of the clock. When he had it working for him he would lull his opponent to sleep before stepping back and shooting a three in his face which was really efficient for him. This seems to be out of his repertoire now and I am confused as to why.

Posted Sep 6, 2020, 3:29 AM UTC

2128
bs8286•

He was still doing it until this series. Maybe he feels he doesn’t have the chance in this matchup. It’s weird because it seemed like a move that is pretty unguardable, regardless of matchup

43
ruthbadergangsburg•

he's usually being covered by OG and Siakam and they're candidates for all defense. very long and quick to recover.

1
alfiStewJay and Jay: The Boom Brothers•

Think its confidence. He knows (as he mentioned) that toronto guards him well so he may think that they wont drop. Thing is though is that it isnt really a guardable move, so it would put this series away if he could do it.

32
OrangeKookiePlease Come Back Avery•

I don't think he's confident in them enough to use them a lot like Harden or Dame in the later playoff rounds. First round why not but second round and going forward is a pressure cooker and he might feel he's not good enough yet

16
Uraposey41•

Because he’s seeing double teams constantly. Toronto is not giving him space at all and they are flashing on everything high with him. They have focused on him. Whenever he has a1 on 1 or mismatch he tries to take advantage of it. If he is the only real threat out there why would they give him any room.. that’s why the rest of the team has to be a threat and they’re not.. it’s not gonna change if you got jb and semi bricking

11
CasualGamerPro617•

Instead he’s taking those damn long and contested long twos..

7
not1fuk•

Seriously, I get respecting their defense but other than Siakam occasionally none of them can get in his face that well. He should definitely pull a few more of them a game.

5
ruthbadergangsburg•

OG has been pretty excellent on him. jt has been switching off him continuously only find himself guarded by siakam

1
Dimedropper18•

That’s just disrespectful to OG anunoby, the raptors best perimeter defender. Tatum is shooting 27% (4-15 , and 0-5 on 3’s) against OG this series. And that’s not counting the times where he just doesn’t have the space to get the shot off in the first place against him.

The issue is that OG is 6’7 with a 7’2 wingspan, and pascal is 6’9 with a 7’3 wingspan. Both have the lateral quickness to stay in front as well. It’s hard to shoot over the top of that combination of size and length.

Tatum has adjusted by using pick and rolls a lot though and taking advantage of switches so he’s still playing pretty well overall. But the step back 3’s specifically won’t really be there against the raptors wings.

-4†
-Zaytoven-•

I swear there’s more raptors fans in this sub than Celtics fans right now. Be out bro

14
Dimedropper18•

It’s not about being a raptors fan or not, no trash talking or anything like that just strictly talking basketball. Celtics fans do it in the raps sub ( normally with a “Celtics fan coming in peace”) and my mentality is as long as it’s about strictly basketball discussion it’s fine.

I hate Fans who talk trash in an opposing teams sub. I’m just here to talk basketball lol.

-7
-Zaytoven-•

Not even about talking trash it’s annoying that you guys have been flooding our sub all series. It is what it is tho

10
myballz4mvp•

Outsider here looking in. What's the deal with Tatum? He is the most talented player in this series by a mile. Some possessions he makes it look so easy and scores at will. Like he can drop 40 with a yawn but then you see him and he just looks lost and dejected.

Is this how he always is? I don't watch much Celtics ball but it seems like his mentality is a bit soft.

4
OP_NS•

It’s the coaching imo I think Brad is too soft on these dudes easy for them to get dejected

0†
-Zaytoven-•

Because he usually takes them against defensive liabilities. The raptors have none other than Matt Thomas who barely plays

3
xxxxSharpshooterxxxxJaylen•

He is tired obviously. He played more than 40 mins for the last 4 games. We are really missing Hayward. Our Offense is shit without Tatum even Kemba cant do shit. Even my son Jaylen!

1
SiakamIsOverratedDanny Do-Nothing•

Because he takes them when he has a mismatch he can shoot over or isn’t fast enough to keep up with him. But now when he’s receiving a screen to generate that mismatch, Toronto is sending two towards him.

1
FlyGuyDanSmart•

He’s doubled hard almost every time he comes off a screen behind the 3 point line. They blitz him to force him to get rid of the ball or just turn him over. It’s worked well for Toronto the last couple games

1
cmfernan•

He needs to be drawing more fouls at the bucket. He’s got good handles for his size and does a pretty good job of getting to the rim but he needs to start drawing some more fouls and getting those free points at the charity stripe. The jump shot will be fine but I’d prefer to see him more in attack mode going to the rim and taking the jump shot when given then him jacking up 3s all game

1
ruthbadergangsburg•

bc he cant do it on siakam and OG's wingspan, and the mini point guards get right into his space. the Raptors have also done a great job avoiding allowing him to get switched onto the bigs by sometomes hiding them on jaylen or semi. he's dpne pretty well shooting over vanvleet in the post but lowry is an excellent post defender for his position. very strong

1