Post by DERRENMATTS on Jul 4, 2017 2:30:14 GMT -5
Just finished watching the game:
- Tatum is a gamer. Came up HUGE!! in the final handful of possessions of the game, which, to me, separated him from Markelle Fultz (talking only about this game). While Fultz looked really sharp and smooth earlier in the game, he couldn't come up with baskets when the game mattered. But not Tatum -- with the game super close, Tatum got buckets, and they came on isolation plays. This young CLOSER closed the game out.
This is why Ainge got this kid. Didn't look like a rook out there in the closing minutes. Wasn't scared or nervous. He called for the ball, the ball came to him, and he did his thing. How many 19 year olds have the gall to do that? And look confident and comfortable with the game on the line, and when your number was called? Absolute GAMER!!!
Plus, he came up with big rebounds, got lots of steals, played the Point smoothly. It will not surprise me one bit if Tatum, as young as he is, ends up the leader of this summer league squad. I feel he's going to earn the confidence of his teammates, and when the game is tight, he is going to be the calming influence.
- Jaylen Brown. Tatum may be the Closer, but Jaylen is the best player on the team. My critique of Jaylen is he gets lazy and loose at times, some times for a big chunk of the quarter. When he's focused and determined, he dominates like Kobe, Jordan, Lebron, etc. When he gets lazy, he becomes Tony Allen (the bad Tony that drives you nuts with dumb turnovers and careless ball handling). That's both good news and bad news. I hope Jaylen carefully watches video of this game and spots these things.
- Abdel Nader. Showed good activity when he played. Attacked the basket and finished. Didn't show his three point shooting in this game, but it'll come. Doesn't have enough quickness and foot speed to capitalize against NBA defenders, so we're looking at a bench player if things fall his way.
- Demetrius Jackson. He needs to feel the fire under him. He already seen James Young and Marcus Thornton cut from the team; if he cannot prove himself, he won't be here long. If he doesn't produce soon, I'm running with Kadeem Allen.
- Ante Zizc. Far behind offensively (Tatum, please show him some foot work). But he showed some of that physicality we heard about. When he bodied up, he was able to rebound. He's a Center who will need to win by positioning himself. He's not athletic enough or quick enough to beat anyone that way.
- Semi Ojeleye. My concern is the coaches will not use him properly. Ojeleye will look good when he's playing with guys who penetrate and kick out. I'd tell Semi that if he wants to stick in the NBA, go grab me 10 rebounds, knock down 2 three's, and get me a steal.
- Tatum is a gamer. Came up HUGE!! in the final handful of possessions of the game, which, to me, separated him from Markelle Fultz (talking only about this game). While Fultz looked really sharp and smooth earlier in the game, he couldn't come up with baskets when the game mattered. But not Tatum -- with the game super close, Tatum got buckets, and they came on isolation plays. This young CLOSER closed the game out.
This is why Ainge got this kid. Didn't look like a rook out there in the closing minutes. Wasn't scared or nervous. He called for the ball, the ball came to him, and he did his thing. How many 19 year olds have the gall to do that? And look confident and comfortable with the game on the line, and when your number was called? Absolute GAMER!!!
Plus, he came up with big rebounds, got lots of steals, played the Point smoothly. It will not surprise me one bit if Tatum, as young as he is, ends up the leader of this summer league squad. I feel he's going to earn the confidence of his teammates, and when the game is tight, he is going to be the calming influence.
- Jaylen Brown. Tatum may be the Closer, but Jaylen is the best player on the team. My critique of Jaylen is he gets lazy and loose at times, some times for a big chunk of the quarter. When he's focused and determined, he dominates like Kobe, Jordan, Lebron, etc. When he gets lazy, he becomes Tony Allen (the bad Tony that drives you nuts with dumb turnovers and careless ball handling). That's both good news and bad news. I hope Jaylen carefully watches video of this game and spots these things.
- Abdel Nader. Showed good activity when he played. Attacked the basket and finished. Didn't show his three point shooting in this game, but it'll come. Doesn't have enough quickness and foot speed to capitalize against NBA defenders, so we're looking at a bench player if things fall his way.
- Demetrius Jackson. He needs to feel the fire under him. He already seen James Young and Marcus Thornton cut from the team; if he cannot prove himself, he won't be here long. If he doesn't produce soon, I'm running with Kadeem Allen.
- Ante Zizc. Far behind offensively (Tatum, please show him some foot work). But he showed some of that physicality we heard about. When he bodied up, he was able to rebound. He's a Center who will need to win by positioning himself. He's not athletic enough or quick enough to beat anyone that way.
- Semi Ojeleye. My concern is the coaches will not use him properly. Ojeleye will look good when he's playing with guys who penetrate and kick out. I'd tell Semi that if he wants to stick in the NBA, go grab me 10 rebounds, knock down 2 three's, and get me a steal.
