“It’s all situational – fourth quarter, close game. I’ve been shooting midrange jumpers my whole life, and that’s essentially when you need it – game is close, you need a bucket. You can always rely on that.”https://x.com/noadalzellnba/status/1789510948849377548?s=46&t=HI3aeZH85K5r39q7hi652w
11 comments
Except you can’t hit them
youre no shaun livingston
You know if Tatum is on his game when he’s hitting his mid-range jumpers. Last night he was not great at this – especially in the 4th quarter – so it was an odd way to answer this question, because he didn’t look that comfortable. Luckily he hit that baseline turnaround to stop any chance of the Cavs coming back.
I do think he’ll come around again and luckily Jaylen has been pretty on with his efficiency lately
He may have been tired and that’s why he started taking those jump shots. You can’t say you were tired even if you were so this answer makes sense
The best teams have elite scorers who can at least get a bucket in the midrange situationally. Part of that is also taking them sporadically during the game to prepare yourself for later in the game
Typically teams guard the 3 line and load up the paint to defend the rim. Refs also only call substantial contact down the stretch of games, if that. Having that skill/option down the stretch is not just useful but often necessary against the elite teams this time of year
Jaylens mid range game is superior to Tatums
Something that occurred to me last night is that a big part of the motivation to do it down the stretch might be because it lets us get our defense back and set while giving everyone more of a breather on offense.
If Tatum drives to the rim and can’t finish he’s likely to end up behind the play and if the Cavs take advantage to find a quick 3 in transition that makes for a pretty big swing, and it forces our guys to scramble which will tire them out. The quick turnaround could also make it tougher for us to matchup the way we want which makes defending the 4v5 even tougher.
We could try that with Brown too for better shooting efficiency, but teams will be much more comfortable helping and trying to force a turnover if he tries to handle the ball too long in the post. They know if they try to do the same to Tatum he’s going to find the open man for a much better shot than the mid range he’s probably settling for.
I’ve always believed that the midrange shot is the most important shot in playoff basketball. At the end of these games, when it’s close, defenses are absolutely locked in. You can’t rely on ball movement generating an open look. It usually comes down to your best player making a contested shot. Refs swallow the whistles so driving into traffic and hoping for a call isn’t a good strategy.
“You can always rely on my 19 foot off balance very tightly contested <20% baseline jumper where I am the last one back on defense”
At some point in the third he finally started calling for it in the mid post. Lots of good comes when he is physical and aggressive. Dude is a unit – no one on Cleveland has a prayer of guarding him if he decides to be aggressive.
Joe has to make sure they don’t lose this aspect of the offense, cause it was non-existent in the playoffs up to this point.
…so he DOES know that the midrange is important because it’s something that you can rely on at the end of close games. Since he knows this, why the FUCK has he not developed a single go-to move in the midrange that he can replicate twice in a row? Why hasn’t he found a shot that he’s comfortable taking and then gotten the reps in throughout the season so that he’s comfortable taking it in big moments???
As it stands now, Tatum looks visibly uncomfortable shooting midrange jumpers. For him it’s a last resort instead of a weapon. Whenever he shoots a midrange jumper he kinda hesitates for a beat, he’s usually off-balance, and he usually has trouble calibrating the strength of the shot. All those things get naturally squared away WHEN YOU GET REPS TAKING THOSE SAME SHOTS OVER AND OVER AGAIN. First in the gym, then during games.
If Tatum thinks that he can be a threes and layups merchant all year and then magically turn into a midrange assassin during the playoffs… then I’m sorry but he’s just fucking stupid. That’s a terrible approach. When the truly great scorers in this league get to crunch time, they take shots that they feel comfortable taking. They don’t try this other kind of shot that isn’t a regular part of their game.
Get in the lab over the summer, develop some basic midrange pull-ups, and then actually take those shots regularly throughout the season. That’ll be a hell of a lot more effective.