I'm obsessed for what Jayson Tatum really is. He's a fantastic college basketball player that's getting scary better. I'm not saying he's not going to have a bad game or two the rest of the year but he's a handful to guard. He's rebounding, shooting his 3's better, cutting his turn over down and right now he's our best free throw shooter. We are fortunate to have him even though it's just for this year. OFC
Tatum's Coach
- Thread starter Dad2ze
- Start date
I think what chov1125 says above describes it perfectly. Jayson was accustomed to being the alpha dog, his teams best player, even the best player on the court probably every game. Its what made him a top 2 or 3 player in the country. I doubt Jayson ever had a game in high school like he had against NC State where he looked that bad and could do little right. It just started happening for him when he started letting the game come to him instead of him being the one who had to save the team. Some of his earlier miscues had to be him not realizing he has other teammates who can help lead the team. I think Jayson would realize now that when he's not shooting well its time to back off and let other players lead. Its called gaining maturity and learning from your mistakes.
Maybe not get mad at Tatum but we as fans should have been mad at the coaching staff for allowing him to play hero ball not team ball. Tatum is playing much better now because he is playing team basketball, passing, rebounding (fantastically btw), taking good shots (mostly) not contested awful fadeaways that lead to the opposing team getting an easy 2 points 90% of the time, and buying in on defense. I am very impressed with his turnaround and credit the young man for listening to the staff and not just flipping them the bird and playing however he wanted. I hope this trend continues, Duke is a much much better team than they were this time last month.
Do you think the staff wasn't working with him? It doesn't happen overnight. Jayson stop playing hero ball, snap your fingers, and boom he's good to go. It's a process, it takes time. Much of which is in the offseason- we are doing this on the fly. The staff deserves credit for their patience as well as Jayson.
In all fairness, some of his best plays against Virginia were of the hero ball type. The shot clock was getting low on most of them, but pull up threes are t exactly team basketball regardless of the shot clock. However, I don't have a problem with that type of play. The big difference is he is shooting better the past few games, AND is getting more and more comfortable. There is an adjustment period for every player when they move up in levels of competition. Even Lebron would've been better in last 10 games of college than in his first ten.
The 1 and done has placed more and more hype on these kids because a few of them would be going straight to the NBA. Now that they are coming to school, the perception is that top elite talent in each class will bring an instant impact. That isn't always the case. Like with most things in life, it takes time.
The 1 and done has placed more and more hype on these kids because a few of them would be going straight to the NBA. Now that they are coming to school, the perception is that top elite talent in each class will bring an instant impact. That isn't always the case. Like with most things in life, it takes time.
Fair enough but they both deserve criticism as well then. Messages were sent to Allen and Kennard by benching them, Tatum didn't get that message until he fouled out and the staff had no control over that. I just don't like seeing guys come on here now that Tatum is playing better and a different style of ball saying "i told you so" when the criticism at the time was valid.
Right, but they were due to shot clock. I don't feel like he is forcing his shots anymore and is instead taking much better looks whether that be open 3's or driving and playing inside more. I don't want Tatum chucking as many threes going forward as he did in the UVA game but he was hot and was knocking them down as the shot clock expired.
The biggest issue I had is that people think it's always black and white. It's not.
Jayson wasn't good for a stretch. He was adjusting. Never were "contested awful fadeaways leading to the opposing team getting an easy 2 points 90% of the time" like you said. Was he taking some bad shots? Yes. Did he disrupt the flow of our offense? Yes. Well, guess what? So did Grayson. His distraction(s) were probably worse.
One month ago this team was a mess. Not because of Grayson. Not because of Jayson. Not because of injuries. It was because of everything. There wasn't one, single constant for this team until early February. Each game someone new was hurt. Each game someone new was being incorporated into the lineup. Our coach was out. Think about it....early February, the fifth month of the season if you count October when practice 'officially' began, is when this team really had all their moving parts.
The issue I had was a lot of our problems were being laid at the feet of Jayson. Was he a part of it? Certainly. But some of the criticisms thrown at him were completely unwarranted. There's not even a way someone can rightfully defend that, is there?
Listen....I'm guilty in this thread of being an "I told you so" guy too. That's wrong. I admit that. I think in the long run, for all of us who support Duke, we've just been frustrated. The anticipation for the season got the best of all of us. No one could have saw how the first three months would play out. But it happened. Trudging up old stuff isn't going to help. Let's all be happy Jayson is playing well, Grayson is (getting) back to normal, K is back and things are starting to click. Three weeks ago I had my doubts that we'd even get to where we are now.
Agree to disagree on the fadeaways, bad shots led to run-outs a lot. Regardless **** happens and the team seems to have turned the corner and I'm happy about that. Still isn't the unstoppable juggernaut that we all thought they'd be but that's on us for building them up the way we did.