Regarding the second point: I have no idea (nor does anyone else) if he will reach his ceiling. How would anyone know if a young player will reach their potential?
Good point.
And, beyond that: how would anyone ever know if a player in fact ever DID reach their potential? People talk about potential as though it were something fixed, settled, real - and even knowable (though good luck figuring out how it could be known!).
In the end, it's always in comparison to someone's expectation; and even the seasoned experts in the field vary a lot in their expectations.
Maybe it's my poor reading comprehension skills but overall these quotes make me feel the scouts have a moderately low ceiling for him.
Hedging their bets. Journalistic laziness?
He’ll probably be an all-star, good chance of perennial all-star. He’s come a long way with fundamentals, skills, and repertoire already. He’s got a great NBA body and hasn’t forgotten where he came from; he’s a leader.
I love the quote by ThePaintedArea earlier: "I don't believe that there's a ceiling, for him or anyone else. This is a concept invented by spectators, not by performers."
The truth is, we don't know how good any of these young guys are going to be. Even the draft "experts" can only speculate based on what they've seen. Jayson Tatum can be the best player from this draft. Danny Ainge and his staff clearly thought so.
Thanks, my friend.
The more that I’ve seen, the more I’ve liked what I see.
It’s the player - but it’s also the fit, both for today’s game and for Boston Celtics basketball in particular.
I agree with Danny Ainge and his staff.
To me, the basketball world's emphasis on athleticism in recent times has been a big flaw in the evaluation process. So many guys have been put on a pedestal because they can "jump out of the gym," but most of them never become much as players, because they don't put in the time to develop skills and an actual game.
I have several points to make here:
“Athleticism”, at least as far as fans are concerned, is pretty much running and jumping. But shouldn’t it include everything that a player does with muscles and his nervous system? What about Jaylen Brown, who for sure can run and jump - but who also has superb fine motor skills.
You’re right that nowadays there is an increased emphasis on athleticism, and the reasons are not hard to find: the game has opened up, has more movement, and is now being played in a much larger space than in the ’80’s - let alone the 1970’s and before; closing out to the 3-pt line is just a more essential skill than it used to be, and the movement is constant.
Surely we can say confidently that Jayson Tatum’s impressive combination of skills and athleticism are evidence of someone who has put in impressive work, and will predictably continue to do it; the PRECISION of his moves, the sheer muscular efficiency - and most of all, the variety - argue that he has all-star games in his future.
Topic: Collection of what scouts say about Tatum (Read 5808 times)