Tatum’s FG% Needs to be Addressed
Tatum is balling right now, almost a trip dub, so I might get hate just because he’s playing well and we have some of the biggest fair weather fans in the league. However, his shooting % needs to get better if he wants to overcome the hate he gets, and transcend into S-Tier ranks across the board (I already have him there but many do not, and I’m not here to argue whether we should care about that).
The first 10 games of the season he was on a tear. He was averaging 30 a game on 48% shooting, and 37% from 3. The past 10 he’s at 25 a game which is still great, but at a 44% rate, 31% from 3. If you wanna argue it’s just a slump, his past 20 games aren’t much better - 46.5%, 34% from 3.
The bright side is that he’s shooting 56% from 2 point range, a career best. For reference, SGA is at 60%, and he’s a career 50% shooter.
The issue I see is that this dude is shooting 10 3’s a game, which is not his strong point, and never was. He shot 34% from 3 in college, and 36% his past 4 seasons including this one.
The point I want to make is that Tatum would be winning MVPs instead of top 5 votes if he increased that FG% and stopped chucking so many 3’s. I’m preaching to the choir most likely, but when do we start to question whether Mazzulla ball is the correct strategy for guys like Tatum and even Brown? We won a ring with it, but it wasn’t because of the Jays’ elite 3 point shooting.
If we had a guy like Tatum consistently penetrating and drawing attention it opens up the 3’s we like so much more.
Do we agree or disagree here?
EDIT: I just saw that Tatum is averaging more 3’s than 2 point shots. That isn’t something you just brush aside because the team is winning (even though we’re playing awful ball the last month). I’m also not “hating” in any way, it’s a topic for debate