Boston Celtics: 5 reasons Charles Barkley should not dismiss C’s

The young legs will re-energize

With two of their top four players being 19-year-old rookie Jayson Tatum and 21-year-old second-year swingman Jaylen Brown, much of the concern surrounding the Boston Celtics is the reliability of their youth.

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While both players were major factors during the team’s early season success, both players have been reasons for their recent slide.  With the increased minutes played by Tatum due to the injury of Gordon Hayward, concern surrounding the promising rookie is whether he has hit a wall.

Not only has his shooting gone down, but he hasn’t been as focused defensively.  In all fairness, Tatum did suffer a finger injury to his shooting hand in late December that has affected his offense, but he uses that as no excuse for his shooting inefficiency over the past few weeks.

"“I don’t like to make excuses, but I guess I did see where my numbers went down since I dislocated my finger.  It doesn’t hurt or anything,” Tatum said during All-Star Weekend, via the Boston Herald."

The break should help him heal and help both young players refocus and get back to the basketball they were playing during the first few months.  The fact that Jaylen Brown has been through this before in his rookie season should help Tatum in his effectiveness down the stretch and into the playoffs.

Yes, they are babies, but as they both proved in the Rising Stars Challenge, they can more than impact a game with their athleticism and overall basketball skills.