Boston Celtics: Jayson Tatum admits ‘the hype’ contributed to struggles

Second-year forward Jayson Tatum has seen his Boston Celtics team struggle out the gates this season and attributes some of it to all “the hype” surrounding the team.

Before the 2018-19 NBA season begin, most NBA analysts and certainly fans penciled the Boston Celtics in as the Eastern Conference favorites.

Despite the best players in the conference playing for teams like the Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks, the depth of the Celtics were one of the few reasons many believed they are team with the greatest chance of taking down the Golden State Warriors.

A couple other reasons was the growth and talent of Jayson Tatum as well as the return of two All-Star players, Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward.

More from Chowder and Champions

• 3 Midseason Chaim Bloom Decisions That Have Killed the 2023 Red Sox
• 10 Patriots Who Will Be Cut by Tuesday’s Roster Deadline
• MLB Screws Red Sox Fans With Broadcast for Mookie Betts Return
• 3 Most Underpaid Celtics Heading Into the 2023 Season
• Red Sox Continue Rollercoaster Season With Massive Win

While there was an understanding that it would take some time for the team to adjust to their return and find chemistry as a unit, no one expected the team to start the season at 10-10 while losing games to the likes of the New York Knicks, Dallas Mavericks and Orlando Magic at home.

With all the hype surrounding the team, they became the target of other teams.  At the beginning of the season, the Celtics just didn’t match the intensity and received a reality check that they just can’t step on the court and win basketball games without playing Boston Celtics basketball.  Now that the team is on a three-game winning streak, Tatum admits all that hype may have gotten to the heads of the team early on.

"“I think it was a lot of different reasons,” Tatum said on Tuesday, via MassLive’s Tom Westerholm.  “Maybe we believed the hype too much and we didn’t come out and perform.  There was a big target on our backs.  The teams were coming after us and we didn’t understand that.  Nothing we can do about the past, just focus on the next game.”"

In fact, that is what the Celtics have been doing.  Jayson Tatum has been playing like that rookie we all fell in love with, Marcus Smart has inserted his aggressive nature into the starting lineup, Kyrie Irving is finding other ways to be an MVP-caliber player, Gordon Hayward is starting to look like Gordon Hayward and as a whole the team is playing team defense and moving the ball offensively.

Team basketball wins games

With all the talent the team has, the focus had to turn to playing the game as a team while sacrificing individual numbers.  That is something coach Brad Stevens and many of the players knew but failed to execute on the court.

Not only did they struggle offensively, but they allowed players like Trey Burke and Jamal Murray have career games against them.  More embarrassing was how J.J. Barea put them away in their road loss against the Dallas Mavericks.

That appears to have been the wakeup call the team needed as since that game they have won three consecutive games and have looked great doing it.  With Jaylen Brown returning to the lineup, the team has to continue to play well and build off their momentum which Jayson Tatum certainly knows.

"“We’ve just been playing better,” Tatum said.  “Starting the game, everybody individually has been doing better.  Hopefully we get (Jaylen Brown) back soon.  We’ve been winning, so just build off that.”"

In all, the Boston Celtics have to keep punching back when they take other teams’ best punch.  They have to get all the hype out of their heads and play the type of basketball that made them the favorites.  At the end of the day, team basketball is what will get them back knocking on the doors of the NBA Finals.  The talent will help them kick through the door.