I think some of the experts are a little stuck on the "stat hanging" some players can do on teams that are lotto teams that lack other talents. Both Tatum and Brown likely would be higher if they were on a team that used them more offensively.
Tatum and Brown can't handle more offensively at this point. Brown, after all, has the 2nd most shots per game on the Celtics by almost a full shot more than Morris. Tatum has plenty of chances to shoot more and doesn't. They just aren't those type of players.
Of course they could if they could be volume shooters like some of the other players mentioned.
Tatum is at 9.9 shots a game. Brown at 11.4
who are these volume shooters you speak of on that list ahead of Brown and Tatum?
There are definitely players on that list that shoot 2-7 more shots per game than Tatum and Brown who's TS% is about equal to less than Tatum and Brown. If Tatum was on a poor team shooting the amount of shots Mitchell and Booker are, he would definitely be much higher on the list.
Utah is well above .500, they aren't a poor team at all.
Booker is obviously on a bad team, but he has a TS% of 56.6 which is better than Brown and worse than Tatum (though Tatum has been dropping consistently the second half of the year). He isn't just putting up stats because he is shooting a lot, he is putting up stats because he is an incredible scorer and quite efficient. He isn't some inefficient chucker who is only scoring because he is on a crap team and someone has to shoot.
The thing is, there are plenty of shots available for both Brown and Tatum and they just don't take them. It isn't a question of them needing more looks, it is a question of them not being able to handle more shots because they aren't that type of player right now. They might develop into a #1 scoring option, but they might not (for the record I think Tatum will develop into an excellent scorer, but I don't think that is Brown's game at all).
Your whole assumption here is Tatum and Brown don't take more shots because they aren't ready. The truth is probably closer to they have been taught to play within the system and look for the type of shots Coach Stevens wants.
If they were given the type of freedom that others on this list have, taken the amount of shots others on the list have and made them at their current rates, my guess is they are both much higher rated.
Your assumption that they aren't ready or wouldn't hit shots at the same efficiency is just a negative guess, the same way I think if Brown and Tatum were put on another team and given #1 scoring opportunities they would score a whole bunch more is a positive guess.
But, if put into that stuation one thing is for sure, they would put up more stats and score more. The only question is the efficiency. Either way, more stats, in my opinion would mean higher rankings because these voters are basically going by stats and little else.
Also, I think it disengenuous to call Booker a great scorer and highly efficient when he takes 5-7 mores shots per game and he has a worse TS% than Tatum and his TS% is just 1% higher than Brown's. Give Brown and Tatum the same offensive opportunity where they are allowed to play absolutely zero defense and I can see them being great scorers too.
Topic: ESPN's 25 Under 25: Tatum ranked 14, Brown ranked 22 (no kidding) (Read 6043 times)