Tatum is balling !!

[moonpie23]

if we can have a zion thread, we should have a tatum thread....


he is balling out against the clips....

[moonpie23]

double OT

[moonpie23]

observations:


1 - i hated kemba on the hornets....love him now..

2. hayward almost took our ring - love him now

3. the east is gonna be cray cray this year...

4. kawhi can't do it all by himself.

5. tatum - 39 pts...

[uh_no]

observations:


1 - i hated kemba on the hornets...love him now..

I've always love kemba

[hibby91]

It's amazing how mature he looks. To think that he could still be a senior at Duke.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Tatum is out of this world this year. He's a clear All-Star, despite the media saying he didn't deserve it. And that's fine.

Tatum has always been an offensive stud. His ability to shot and get to the rim have always been there (finishing at the rim is a different story, although that too is getting better).

Where Tatum has improved leaps and bounds is defensively. i'd argue that, right now, Tatum is a top 10 defensive player in the league. He is currently third in Real Plus/Minus this season behind Lebron and Kris Dunn (and I guess that's why this metric isn't fully recognized as a good stat). Last night, he held Kawhi to 3-11 shooting when Tatum was guarding Kawhi. His positioning is excellent and he's got a knack for steals.

There is no doubt in my mind that he's, by far, the best Duke defensive player in the league and the best two-way Duke player in the league. I'm not ready to anoint him the best Duke player (I think Kyrie is a hair better but I'd take today's Tatum over today's Ingram or today's Zion. Tomorrow's Zion is a different story).

That said, I could see Tatum being the best Duke NBA player once his career is said and done (he's got 3 years on Grant Hill and Hill had those terrible injuries in his prime).

BTW- what ever happened to the Duke defensive NBA players? The best NBA players - outside of Tatum - are bad-to-mediocre defensively right now: Kyrie, Ingram, Zion, Redick, Jah, Jackson. Winslow is a very good defensive player, but he can't stay healthy.

[BD80]

Tatum is out of this world this year. He's a clear All-Star, despite the media saying he didn't deserve it. And that's fine.

Tatum has always been an offensive stud. His ability to shot and get to the rim have always been there (finishing at the rim is a different story, although that too is getting better).

Where Tatum has improved leaps and bounds is defensively. i'd argue that, right now, Tatum is a top 10 defensive player in the league. He is currently third in Real Plus/Minus this season behind Lebron and Kris Dunn (and I guess that's why this metric isn't fully recognized as a good stat). Last night, he held Kawhi to 3-11 shooting when Tatum was guarding Kawhi. His positioning is excellent and he's got a knack for steals.

There is no doubt in my mind that he's, by far, the best Duke defensive player in the league and the best two-way Duke player in the league. I'm not ready to anoint him the best Duke player (I think Kyrie is a hair better but I'd take today's Tatum over today's Ingram or today's Zion. Tomorrow's Zion is a different story).

That said, I could see Tatum being the best Duke NBA player once his career is said and done (he's got 3 years on Grant Hill and Hill had those terrible injuries in his prime).

BTW- what ever happened to the Duke defensive NBA players? The best NBA players - outside of Tatum - are bad-to-mediocre defensively right now: Kyrie, Ingram, Zion, Redick, Jah, Jackson. Winslow is a very good defensive player, but he can't stay healthy.

Redick got to the point where he was considered a mediocre to good defender.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Redick got to the point where he was considered a mediocre to good defender.

Not anymore. Shooting doesn’t age; defense does. Reduce can no longer stay in front of anyone.

But that’s okay. What do you expect from a 36 year old?

[mkirsh]

He was also incredibly efficient last night - 39 points on just 23 shots. Compare that to Lou Williams, whom the announcing team kept saying was "unstoppable" and "on fire" but needed 33 (!) shots to get to 35 points

[moonpie23]

He was also incredibly efficient last night - 39 points on just 23 shots. Compare that to Lou Williams, whom the announcing team kept saying was "unstoppable" and "on fire" but needed 33 (!) shots to get to 35 points

williams' whining was "unstoppable" and "on fire"

[HereBeforeCoachK]

He was also incredibly efficient last night - 39 points on just 23 shots.

Who does he think he is, Zion Williamson?

[LasVegas]

His “beard” is absolutely pathetic though. Have to shave that thing off.

[duke4ever19]

His “beard” is absolutely pathetic though. Have to shave that thing off.

If I take off my glasses and watch the Celtics, I think a blurry Tatum looks a bit like . . . Rasheed Wallace.

It's the headband that sells that, 'Both teams played hard' and 'Ball don't lie' look.

[sagegrouse]

Not anymore. Shooting doesn’t age; defense does. Reduce can no longer stay in front of anyone.

But that’s okay. What do you expect from a 36 year old?

Tend to disagree. JJ's strength is seeing the play and positioning. The Sixers considered him an asset on defense. That said, he has never been able to stay with the quickest players in the league and is surely slowing a bit more.

[moonpie23]

tatum sitting on 41 against the lakers....

[bundabergdevil]

tatum sitting on 41 against the lakers...

An efficient 41, too. With KI, Tatum, Zion, and BI, has Duke ever been flush with all world NBA talent like this? We have had plenty of great players in the NBA...Grant, Elton, etc but we not only have a lot of guys in the league now but some of the absolute best players playing the game today. Gotta love it.

[Duke79UNLV77]

An efficient 41, too. With KI, Tatum, Zion, and BI, has Duke ever been flush with all world NBA talent like this? We have had plenty of great players in the NBA...Grant, Elton, etc but we not only have a lot of guys in the league now but some of the absolute best players playing the game today. Gotta love it.

If he can ever stay healthy, I’d still project Bagley as a star, too. His per minute numbers as a very young rookie were very good and improved over the year. His ability to run the floor like a gazelle and second jump are elite at any level.

[moonpie23]

well, he did whack the player in the throat right before the shot...so, there's that...