Tatum also beat and outplayed both Giannis and KD head to head in the playoffs

Tatum is an elite player, 2 bad games don’t change that. But he’s not perfect, and he’s not immune to criticism of course. He has very questionable shot selection and he’s stubborn as hell about it. It almost seems like he shoots more step backs and off dribble pull up 3s when he’s missing them.

Super disappointing to see him play this way for 2 straight playoff games for sure. But this shit ain’t over. Let’s see if him and the Celtics can respond.

How does one even define a game winning/tying field goal attempt?

If I take a shot with 10 second left that would put my team up 1, make it, and then the other team scores it’s not a game winner. Does that count?

If I make a 3 in the 3rd to tie the game, but there’s a quarter and a half to go, is that a game tying shots?

IM NOT SAYING TATUM IS LEBRON OR THE NEXT BRON!!

but this is the exact thing with bron. We have just been so used to this man grabbing a dam near 30 point triple double for 15 hears that if he gets a 20-5-5 game it’s considered a flop.

Also, we lost by a combined 4 points. If we were 2-0 or 1-1 in those games yes we would be concerned still, but these two games were that close. Regardless of how they got there, they had to play some of their worst playoff basketball in a few years just to lose by 1? We will be fine. If they play marginally better they will win the series and mark my words: the humbling this did to them will be a good thing.

Obviously fans are going to overreact in both directions, but the bottom line is this:

If Tatum plays like he has the first two games, we’re going to get swept.

If Tatum just plays “normal”, we very well could win the next 4. We are that much better than the Knicks that we can do this without KP, I believe that. I just don’t know if Tatum is hurt or he’s in his head or both, but if he can get just get back to his baseline I don’t think NY can hang with us.

As far as the “narrative” and criticism, if we somehow end up winning the whole thing again, Tatum will be a big part of it, and I think it shuts everyone the fuck up once again.

But for this series, he would have to have a Jimmy vs Bucks type of performance the rest of the series to stop the chatter. I don’t think that’s going to happen, so I personally am just hoping for “normal” JT to just show up so we can win.

Its the entire team missing 46 wide open 3s in 2 games. Thats the reason we’re down 0-2

People just love trolling and hating. No one cares about statistics because they don’t even know how they’re calculated. Anyone with a brain knows Tatum is a really good player, and they’d love to have him on their team lol.

social media defo plays a big role in the panic

Tatum gets this rep because he’s got “resting apathy face.” That’s where the comments about the lack of “dog in him” came from. What people don’t see is that he’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Dude is not apathetic, he’s calm and collected. That’s the kind of psycho we like.

He hasn’t had bad games, just bad possessions. The problem is the bad possessions are ALWAYS the same.

but but corny player thinks he’s kobe!!! he’s clearly a liability and should he traded for paul george and a 2nd!!!

I was just telling my husband this!

We are so spoiled that we are getting frustrated with average playing.

Our team is so consistently amazing that when they play average, the entire fan base loses its marbles!

The issue isn’t logic. All data supports Tatum on the macro level. People are emotional, narrative-based and meaning-making. People remember less waiting in line for a Disney park ride and ascribe greater meaning to the ride experience. We naturally put more emphasis on beginnings, peak moments and endings.

Also, humans have a recency bias. So right now the Tatum narrative is being driven because his performance during his peak opportunity (last year’s finals) and his last two stinkers.

It sucks. It takes years to build trust and a moment to break it. The only thing he can do is play out of his mind for the rest of the playoffs and win finals MVP. Even then, it will still take time for that credibility and narrative to shift.

Tatum is top tier at everything but he isn’t best in the world at anything. People are much more interested in guys who are best in the world at something but have some warts vs guys who have no weaknesses.

Like look at sga vs Jokic in the MVP race. Realistically Jokic had a much better season being top 5 in every major offensive stat but sga was the best scorer so sga will likely get the award.

The hate Tatum gets reminds me of group psycho-emotional abuse. They target him bc he’s talented to try and “take him down a peg”. It’s really common in toxic groups of people.

(See “Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed” by Rebecca Mandeville)

Dudes shot has gotten worse and worse every year, every 3 feels like a prayer now.

I agree with these sentiments. I am definitely not a Tatum hater. However I think you can’t help to have doubts about this team and their style of play after these last two extremely disappointing games.

I hope and pray they win the next two but I can’t say I have confidence. I think we desperately need KP to be back as a presence. He doesn’t need to be 100% but they need him to be better and to play.

I just rewatched the final episode of Celtics city for the second or third time. I agree 100% with the sentiment of this post and I am not a Tatum hater. However I don’t know how you can’t have doubts and concerns after these last two games.

I hope and pray they win the next two games. While I absolutely believe they but I am not confident they will. If they do I am confident they win the series.

They need KP to be back. He doesn’t have to be 100% but he does need to be a presence and to play. That makes Horford better since he won’t bear the load he has without KP. Both Tatum and Brown have to be better. This is all very feasible.

Let’s Go Celtics!

It’s the internet. Everyone’s a professional bullshitter on here thinking they know better then a professional player or a coach lol. Don’t take anyone seriously when they are crying because the team lost.

I try posting on r/nba every once in awhile and am met by so much genuine hatred these losers have for being born in Boston and being a Celtics fan. Kudos on you being rational out there.

I think this years Tatum has an identity crisis about being who he naturally is and shooting a 3. He’s shot more 3s than ever before and even in game 2 that shot perhaps should have been a step back 3 then whatever that was in the corner against 3 defenders.

With all of that being said the system has failed him whereas he should be who he naturally is. The 3 pointer shooting analytics is messing with what has been described as “a good thing”

He will bounce back

I have been a Tatum doubter up until this year. In the past he would all too often whine at the refs, fail to see the entire court, make poor decisions in traffic, and shrink from taking the big shot in game ending situations. So he was a great player but not a top 10 talent. This year he overcame all of his shortcomings and played like a top 5 player, until the playoffs. What Tatum shows up today?

On top of that I can guarantee he’s still feeling the effects of the severe bone bruise in his wrist. They don’t heal quickly to begin with plus it’s not like a bone bruise on his arm or thigh it’s in a place that’s part of his shooting mechanism. Add the physicality of the Knicks and I’m sure that’s why his points have been down but he’s averaging like 15 rebounds a game so far. If you’re getting that many boards idc how many points you have it’s time for your teammates to step up and start contributing

feel like this post is a I dont really know or understand sports post..

You are cherry picking team stats, and spinning them as Tatum stats.. while also ignoring bad tatum playoff 4th quarter metrics, to only show his stats on the last shot of the game

How does OP have over 500 upvotes for karma-farming another redditor’s comment without even sourcing them?

I don’t disagree with anything the person wrote in the screenshot, it’s a great defense of Tatum. OP however is a clown.

Should consider trading him after the season

Need to see proof of these “clutch” Tatum stats. Feel like his step back 3 with the game on the line is close to 0%

Don’t care about any of that, play better !

HE IS NOT CLUTCH

It’s because he’s corny as shit and thinks he’s Kobe, not that deep lol

I think people are using the eye test vs stats. My eyes tell me he has never been clutch and is getting worse. That doesn’t mean he isn’t one of the best players in the league or that we would be here without him. But, no matter what your stats say, he just isn’t clutch. Sorry.

This is nice and all but we’re down 0-2.

The Tatum hate is because he’s a huge cornball imo. That video of how he copied so many different famous moments after celts won the chip last season is one of the most cringe things I’ve ever seen in my life from an NBA player. Celts didn’t get a true challenge last postseason, and then he shit the bed in the Olympics.

He is very clearly a top 5-10 player in the fucking world though.

If he shows up, dominates, and wins the series, the hate will go away for a while.