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119 sats \ 7 replies \ @gnilma 9 Jun 2024 \ parent \ on: NBA Thought Experiment: Best Possible Non-Contender Stacker_Sports
Good list. Depending on how the Celtics do in this finals, I'm really tempted to replace Young with Tatum. JT loves the jump shot too much and settles for it too much. He's amazing when his shots fall, but ineffective when they don't. He is not taking of the advantage that he's 6ft8, athletic, and can find mismatches to drive to the basket at will. Really should bully the little guys instead of just shooting from afar. Also, he is supposed to be the leader of his team, so he should be more aggressive and not keep trying to pass. Maybe I'm wrong, and I'm often wrong, but I just don't like the consistency and style of play by Jason Tatum in crucial games.
I would have selected Tatum before this playoffs but it looks like he isn't going to choke this time around.
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He did not play particularly well in game one. But maybe that is because the rest of the team played really well and he did not need to go crazy. We shall see after this finals. If the Mavs win this thing, I say it kind of confirms my Tatum theory.
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Bill Simmons talks about the problem with Tatum a lot. As he sees it, the problem is that people expect Tatum to be an MVP kind of player and he just isn't that. He's the tier right below that. He'll never carry a team to the finals and that's what we like to see from our contenders.
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Maybe that's it. The expectation mismatch. You are right, maybe many people, including myself, see Tatum as the guy that is supposed to be the superstar that carries a team to the finals and even a championship, but he isn't that superstar. It seems Jaylen Brown is stepping up and looking to fill that superstar role though. Brown played really well in game 1.
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Brown was awesome.
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I feel like Brown is also miscast a bit and it's probably because Tatum has more of a beta personality.
I always think Brown should focus on being the best 3-and-D player in the league. He only really gets in trouble when he tries to do a lot more than that.
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That's an interesting choice. Tatum wasn't on my radar.
Part of me thinks he'd be really good as a third or fourth banana, which he'd be on this team, but it's not really the same as adding Durant to the Warriors. Tatum isn't an elite shooter and the things he is elite at are redundant with Zion and Embiid, who are both better than him at inside scoring.
Ultimately, I don't think I could pick Tatum, because he's a really good defender and he's really durable.
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