Private enchancment is such a weird factor. It’s virtually like getting old. It occurs so step by step that the outcomes by no means really feel tangible — till you look again at the place you have been just a few years in the past. Skilled enchancment is far the identical. It’s a uncommon talent certainly the place as soon as one thing clicks, you go from novice to journeyman, or journeyman to professional. Talent degree is a spectrum and even all however one of many world’s masters appears to be like as much as one other.
Enchancment is much less like placing collectively a puzzle one piece at a time, and extra like placing collectively a number of puzzles concurrently with the ultimate goal being to mix them right into a collage on the finish. Enchancment and improvement are usually not linear. As a substitute, they’re a barely inverted sine wave, and so is getting old for that matter. Some days I nonetheless really feel mid-20s (though these have gotten a lot rarer), and different days the steps look like an unconquerable burden.
It’s been a protracted improvement street for Jayson Tatum’s isolation sport, however he’s labored very laborious on the disparate puzzles he’s needed to assemble to get the place he’s now. The place is he now you ask? Properly, he’s fairly good.
Jayson Tatum continues his elite isolation play. Per Synergy, his isolation PPP (together with passes and min 50 possessions) places him on the 4th most effective isolation participant within the league. pic.twitter.com/u8MNz2SUYy
— Wayne Spooney (@WSpooney) November 30, 2024
Final 12 months, he ranked forty second within the NBA at 1.01 factors per possession, and the 12 months earlier than that, he was at 1.02. He’s by no means been a foul isolation participant, however he’s by no means fairly been elite.
Till now.
Whereas it’s undoubtedly spectacular, it’s pushed by him hitting a a lot increased proportion of his 3s out of isolation and turning it over at a ridiculously low charge (4.1% of possessions to six.5% final season). To me, the vital improvement there may be the shortage of turnovers. These aren’t only a sprinkle of his offense both. Isolation possessions alone account for nearly 30% of his offense, and in the event you embody pick-and-roll ballhandler possessions (with passes) which regularly finish in Tatum attacking a mismatch just like an iso, that’s one other 32% of his offense.
However his isolation enchancment isn’t simply concerning the numbers, or simply about his numbers at the very least. Tatum’s isolation sport doesn’t simply move the attention check — it may possibly learn that tremendous tiny print on the very backside of the web page. However probably the most spectacular half isn’t the scoring, it’s when he decides to not rating.
I’m probably not certain Tatum has improved as an isolation scorer, besides that the 3s are falling a bit extra typically this season. What he has improved on is when to assault in isolation and whom to assault. His choice making has by no means been damaging, however Tatum has embraced Mazzulla’s deliberate offensive strategy. He now has a fancy understanding of the personnel on the court docket and the way he’s being defended, and he leverages that understanding at lightning velocity.
Why assault Haywood Highsmith when Duncan Robinson is on the court docket? As soon as Payton Pritchard forces the swap with a ghost display, Tatum doesn’t hesitate. He doesn’t get right into a flurry of strikes that permit assist protection creep into place. He doesn’t let Robinson off the hook with a step-back jumper. He dives proper to the rim. And-1.
Identical factor right here, this time within the excessive put up towards Tyler Herro. Fast choice, all the way in which to the rim.
Tatum’s pull-up 3 sport has been the subject of many Celtics discussions, typically with a lot consternation. It’s, at instances, a foul shot, nevertheless it’s additionally a weapon that, when used accurately, diversifies Tatum’s assault. It’s going on this season and possibly that’s random, however I don’t assume so. Tatum appears to be unleashing the step-back in particular matchups, particularly towards greater defenders which have a energy benefit on him. He’s additionally moving into them a bit faster, attacking earlier than the defender can sq. up.
He completely fires this factor off towards Torrey Craig.
Only a few crossovers to get Alex Sarr’s measure and it’s up.
Goes between the legs as soon as and it’s up towards Jalen Duran.
Right here Duran does a a lot better job and really forces Tatum to indicate off a little bit of his deal with. Money.
Since he’s so lethal with the pull-up towards greater, slower gamers, he now works counters off of it. It’s like a grasp dancer main a newbie via a fancy routine, leaving his mark just a few steps behind.
His reluctance to settle towards smaller gamers with the step-back is a microcosm of his bigger total development as an isolation scorer, and participant usually. What number of instances have we seen finish of quarter possessions finish in dribbling the air out of the ball earlier than firing up a prayer that’s probably not shut? Whereas Tatum nonetheless does this at instances, he’s began to get downhill in these conditions as effectively.
These aren’t unselfish performs within the conventional sense. In lots of them, he’s taking pictures. However they’re unselfish in a extra macro means. Whereas he’s an elite playmaker out of isolations, his superior basketball IQ means he’s now not losing possessions by attacking unhealthy matchups or attacking good matchups within the unsuitable means.
We wish Tatum to be egocentric, i.e. take a whole lot of pictures, however we would like him to do it in a means that units himself, and the Celtics, up for achievement. This sort of speedy, advanced understanding of basketball is uncommon air. It’s, in some ways, the ultimate step to superstardom. Tatum is now not simply manipulating his defender and weakside assist; he’s manipulating the entire court docket, each for himself and his teammates. Jayson Tatum has ascended.
