After a difficult NBA Finals for Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum, Brad Stevens had a simple message for his team’s franchise.
“I just told him to go on vacation,” Boston Stevens, president of basketball operations, said in a video conference with reporters after the Boston season ended with a six-game loss to the Golden State Warriors. “Take a break.
“This guy gave us everything he had. If you look at the minutes, if you look at the games you’ve played … I’ve said this many times: he’s a superstar who doesn’t want to sit. He wants to play, he wants to play all the time. I thought that in the finals he is obviously the first to say that he wants to get some of those moments back, but I thought his playing was also influenced by other factors ”.
The 24-year-old superstar, who was part of the NBA’s main team, played up and down in the play-offs. He ended the second season with the highest number of ball losses ever made in a single-off play in NBA history, and in the final he hit 50% once against Golden State and less than 40% four times – including just 31.6% with 2 points. . -points.
As a result, it’s no surprise that both the two-point throw and the game control caused problems not only for Tatum, but for the entire team, seeing Boston fall short of their goals. According to Stevens, it should be remembered how good both Tatum and Jaylen Brown have been during their careers after the season and that the team would not have reached where they were without them.
Stevens proved Tatumi’s 46-point game away in the 6th game of the Milwaukee Eastern Conference Semifinals.
“The way I’m trying to look at it is obviously that we’re all subjective and emotional at all times, but when you look at it objectively and more historically, what Jayson and Jaylen have done in the play-offs is historically rare. air, “Stevens said. “I think we are very aware of the fact that even though Jayson has not recognized his best series, there is no way we would be there without him and without all his great play.
“I think back to all time … Game 6 in Milwaukee was one of the best games I’ve ever played in person, certainly in person and with the Celtics. Without this performance, we would have had a discussion a month and a half ago.”
By “this discussion,” Stevens meant how Boston fell behind in those playoffs and what the Celtics need to do to improve. The two areas he highlighted? More consistent scoring and game organization throughout the list.
Nevertheless, Stevens pointed out just as quickly that Celtics were able to get as far as they could this season thanks to a unique combination of size and versatility everywhere – and that as Boston sees better this summer, Celtics must remain aware of their strengths and not take them away. improve other things.
“I think we need to walk a little bit,” Stevens said. “I think teams are fragile. I think the way teams work and work together is fragile. And I think your identity as a team, if you find one that’s successful, what we did on the floor this year on the defensive end, and if we were attacked at our best by splitting the ball, those things are fragile. So just adding doesn’t mean you’re not taking anything away from the group. “
He went on to say that no Celtics player – including Robert Williams III, who dealt with left-knee pain throughout the play-off – needed surgery, saying Williams and all the other players on the list had enough rest. a grueling play-off where Boston played 24 of the 28 games.
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