I’d seen some chatter, before this game, speculating that Jayson Tatum had hit the “rookie wall”, which is a real place in the NBA offices in Secaucus, New Jersey where they take underperforming/slumping rookies, mount them to a rocket sled, and ram them into a big brick wall.
Damn. That would make a good description. Next time. I promise.
Anyway, I wouldn’t say that Tatum has hit the wall, exactly, but he is definitely slumping a little bit. Turns out, a rookie shooting 45% from three isn’t sustainable! I don’t think anyone’s surprised, but it does mean that he’s not in the convo for ROY of the Year any longer. Or… is he?
After tonight, maybe as an extremely fringe candidate. 27 points (more than he’s ever scored before, which is an indictment more than anything) in a win is pretty good, and he’s doing what he’s doing on a winning team, which has to count for something, right? Right?