Poll

How do you rate him athletically. Make a good comparison too

7.5 Nothing special Average
0 (0%)
8.0 Solid Athlete
14 (40%)
8.5 very good
15 (42.9%)
9.0 Excellent athlete
6 (17.1%)

Total Members Voted: 35

Author Topic: Poll: Rate Tatum’s Athleticism  (Read 2586 times)

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Poll: Rate Tatum’s Athleticism
« on: December 06, 2017, 01:19:55 AM »

Offline KG Living Legend

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 I'm sick of people saying that he's just an average athlete, he may not be the most explosive guy but some of those dunks are very impressive and he's very quick for a guy his size.
« Last Edit: December 06, 2017, 08:12:51 PM by Redz »

Re: Poll: Rate Tatums Athleticism
« Reply #1 on: December 06, 2017, 01:30:25 AM »

Offline CELTICSofBOSTON

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I would say that he is above solid and below very good.  He is a good athlete.

Great body control, hand eye coordination, footwork, and is dangerous in transition with the ball.  He is also ridiculously fast in the open court without the ball.  He is 10/10 smooth but doesn't have quick twitch or great explosiveness.

He can get up for dunks and sky for boards but he's not super powerful with his movements.  For these reasons, he is a good athlete and not a very good athlete.  Without a doubt he is above average.

Re: Poll: Rate Tatums Athleticism
« Reply #2 on: December 06, 2017, 01:31:58 AM »

Offline CelticsElite

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He's good

Less strength and more of a crafty athletic moves to get around players. I hate to do it but it reminds me of pierce type of athleticism (which is good to me)

Re: Poll: Rate Tatums Athleticism
« Reply #3 on: December 06, 2017, 05:48:50 AM »

Offline moiso

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 I'm sick of people saying that he's just an average athlete, he may not be the most explosive guy but some of those dunks are very impressive and he's very quick for a guy his size.
For a small forward in the nba he's an average athlete.  Some of what makes his dunks and drives to the hoop look so good is the long arms.  I haven't heard a single person complaining of Tatum's lack of athleticism.  He's plenty skilled, long, and athletic enough to be a great player.

Re: Poll: Rate Tatums Athleticism
« Reply #4 on: December 06, 2017, 07:21:32 AM »

Offline Celtics4ever

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He is an 8 to 8.5 coupled with great length and instincts.   He performs and can execute why are people questioning him?

Re: Poll: Rate Tatums Athleticism
« Reply #5 on: December 06, 2017, 09:01:17 AM »

Offline Eja117

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I always think it's funny when the guy that keeps toasting everyone is the one whose athleticism is questioned.

11

Re: Poll: Rate Tatums Athleticism
« Reply #6 on: December 06, 2017, 09:16:29 AM »

Online DefenseWinsChamps

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Two obvious weakness right now are lateral quickness and strength. He consistently gets beat off the bounce. He still can't hold his ground on either end of the court.

I think those things can and will improve. Its one of the reasons why I'm always more excited for a guys sophomore season than for his rookie season, because they get an entire off-season to work on their body.

I voted solid. He's not elite. He has potential to be good.

Re: Poll: Rate Tatums Athleticism
« Reply #7 on: December 06, 2017, 09:53:00 AM »

Offline fairweatherfan

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He has very smooth athleticism, vs the explosiveness and power of someone like Brown.

Which in a lot of ways is more impressive - he makes extremely athletic plays look routine and easy - but doesn't always come through in the eye test.

Re: Poll: Rate Tatums Athleticism
« Reply #8 on: December 06, 2017, 10:17:29 AM »

Online Donoghus

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I agree with the smooth athleticism assessment. 

His play is almost effortless which might deceive people he's not a ridiculously good athlete but its really just an optical illusion.  Some of the stuff he does out there is amazing.  The two step drives, the baseline stuff.  Those are pretty remarkable.  Randy Moss was another one of those "effortless" types.  You don't see a ton of it either.


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Re: Poll: Rate Tatums Athleticism
« Reply #9 on: December 06, 2017, 10:37:09 AM »

Offline rondofan1255

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good and deceptive

Re: Poll: Rate Tatums Athleticism
« Reply #10 on: December 06, 2017, 10:46:32 AM »

Offline saltlover

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I think it depends how you want to define athleticism.  Is it just explosiveness and strength?  Or can it also be reaction, balance, and endurance?  I don’t think Tatum’s strength/explosiveness is anything more than average for an NBA player.  But he seems to have a very good reaction time, which allows him to gain a quarter-to-half step when going for rebounds.  He’s got terrific balance, which helps make his pump fakes more effective, either to shoot or drive after the fake, and also to absorb some contact at the rim.  And he leads the team in minutes played this season, without looking winded at the end of games.

Re: Poll: Rate Tatums Athleticism
« Reply #11 on: December 06, 2017, 12:12:22 PM »

Offline chiken Green

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His 1st step and his change of direction is explosive.. 
The Speed in which he glides up and down the court is Elite.
We dont see a bunch of Reverse dunks and layups out of him be he does explode for rebounds..

He is just a smooth player But the way he moves and handles the ball for a man of his size is plenty Athletic..  I think he is an excellent Athlete... Not Jordan or Kobe but like Drexler

Re: Poll: Rate Tatums Athleticism
« Reply #12 on: December 06, 2017, 12:55:47 PM »

Offline vjcsmoke

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I agree with the smooth athleticism assessment. 

His play is almost effortless which might deceive people he's not a ridiculously good athlete but its really just an optical illusion.  Some of the stuff he does out there is amazing.  The two step drives, the baseline stuff.  Those are pretty remarkable.  Randy Moss was another one of those "effortless" types.  You don't see a ton of it either.

Agreed.  He is a deceptively good athlete.  He makes every move look so smooth and easy that it's hard for the spectator to realize just how amazing the things he is doing.

2 step drives.  How the hell does he cover so much ground so quickly and suddenly he has a layup and the defense was helpless to stop it.

On top of his athleticism though, his shot accuracy is unreal.  Yes he is wisely picking his spots but to nail 50% of his 3pt FGs at the pro level.  That really adds to Tatum's lethality.  Why?  Because defenses now have to close out on him and respect his shot.  This opens up... his 2 step drive.  Defender closes in to stop the 3, and Tatum glides to the basket for a nearly uncontested layup.

It's a pick your poison with this kid, and I've never personally seen a rookie shoot this well before in his first year in the NBA!  Makes your really wonder how great he can become once Jayson fully grows into his game!

Re: Poll: Rate Tatums Athleticism
« Reply #13 on: December 06, 2017, 12:57:33 PM »

Offline 18isGREATERthan72

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I agree with the smooth athleticism assessment. 

His play is almost effortless which might deceive people he's not a ridiculously good athlete but its really just an optical illusion.  Some of the stuff he does out there is amazing.  The two step drives, the baseline stuff.  Those are pretty remarkable.  Randy Moss was another one of those "effortless" types.  You don't see a ton of it either.

This is a perfect comparison IMO.  Tatum has Moss like athleticism... It's so smooth and natural looking that it appears to be nothing special.

Keep in mind there are a LOT of different types of "athleticism" and explosive jumping is only one very small aspect of it.  Tatum has exceptional body control and balance which I think people don't value as much because it doesn't always produce the flashy wind up dunks that Jaylen is capable of.

Re: Poll: Rate Tatums Athleticism
« Reply #14 on: December 06, 2017, 07:40:34 PM »

Offline loco_91

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Tatum's best attribute athletically is long strides, and his worst attribute is lateral quickness. In that way he's the opposite of Smart, who has excellent lateral quickness but short strides.