Tatum finding success with Brown on mend
Rebounding, getting to line more
In addition to rebounding at a career rate (10.2) over his last five games, Jayson Tatum has been finishing at the rim and getting to the free throw line with more regularity than at any point this season.
CELTICS NOTEBOOK
He’s averaged seven free throw attempts per game dating to a Nov. 15 game in Cleveland, when Tatum shot 7-for-7 from the line. He’s gone 30for-31 over his last three games heading into Tuesday’s game against the Lakers.
Considering that Tatum has played some of his best basketball against the team he adored as a youngster, expect his best.
It’s all the result of attacking, and making adjustments to how the game is being called this season, with a wider margin of error for defenders.
“We’ve hit him quite a few times with not settling, making a quick decision and when he does that he can get to the basket or make plays for other guys,” said coach Ime Udoka. “He had some success quite a few games ago and saw himself getting to the free throw line. Saw he was missing shots earlier in the year that we love for him getting to the basket.
“I think he just saw the success of getting to the basket, getting to the free throw line, and how that opened everything up for himself and has carried that over,” he said. “We love the balance and the fact that he can score in the post, pick-and-roll and iso — anywhere on the court. But we love him getting downhill and being aggressive there, and driving and kicking for his teammates for sure.”
Udoka would like to keep Tatum at his current 36.5-minute level, especially now that Jaylen Brown is a dayto-day consideration with his healing right hamstring.
“I don’t necessarily think 36 is a big thing for him,” he said. “Given that Jaylen’s been out the amount he has and we’ve had to rely on (Tatum) more, that obviously was ramped up a little bit beside the extra overtimes, the six extra periods there tacking on some minutes.
“But he’s a guy that’s coped well,” said Udoka.
“He’s finding his rhythm and as I’ve mentioned, I’ve never seen a guy his age take care of himself and prepare the way he does with treatment, getting the shots he needs, in the weight room. He’s living in the gym, so he takes care of himself and it’s not a coincidence that he’s been able to play those high minutes and play at a high level.”
Especially now that Tatum is attacking the basket, with his paint attempts and kickouts on the rise.
“He’s picking his spots, understanding what he has to do every night for other guys, as well as himself,” said Udoka. “We just say make the right play, basically, and he’s done that all year for the most part. There’s still going to be times when he goes to his natural tendency of looking to score at times, but he does it at a high level, so you can’t knock him on that or take that away. But, as I’ve stressed over and over, he’s learning on the fly what he has to do to become a more well-rounded player offensively and defensively and he picks his spots well. I’m thinking he’s making the right play for the most part and teams are going to try to take the ball out of his hands. So the more he loosens everybody else up, the easier it becomes for him in the second half of games.”
And as Tatum’s performances even out, his confidence will build.
“Stay confident. Stay consistent in his process of what he does,” said Udoka. “He doesn’t waiver from that, whether he scores 40 or has a bad shooting night. He comes in and does what he does every day like I just mentioned. So his professionalism is off the charts, especially for a guy his age, like I said. I’ve been around a long time and never seen a guy at that age and focus on taking care of himself to the extent that he does. It’s a credit to him that he’s able to play those minutes. Thirty-six isn’t a crazy high number. Like I said, we’ve had to rely on him probably more than we would have liked to early with guys being out. But he’s taken on a heavy load and stays consistent with what he does every game, every practice, every day.”
‘Being cautious’ with Brown
No Celtic benefited more from the team’s two-day stay in Los Angeles than Brown, who is once again listed as questionable as he slowly returns from a strained right hamstring. His workout intensified during Monday’s practice.
“Jaylen is listed as questionable, and will be questionable going forward,” said Udoka. “Had a good session today, ramped it up a little bit and with him we want to be patient and wait for him to get to 100 percent. Whenever that is, we’ll see how he feels tomorrow after going harder today than he has in awhile, since he played in the games, and like I said, big picture approach, being cautious with it and getting him back at 100, not 85, 90, so it doesn’t linger, and we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”
Purdue is No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll for the first time.
The Boilermakers were a unanimous No. 1 in the poll released Monday to move up from No. 2 last week.
Reigning national champion Baylor moved up to No. 2, with Duke, UCLA and Gonzaga rounding out the top five.
Purdue (8-0, 1-0 Big Ten) reached No. 2 in consecutive seasons under Gene Keady from 1986-88 and matched its previous high last week, receiving nine first-place votes from a 61-person media panel.
The Boilermakers routed Florida State last week and opened Big Ten play with a 77-70 win over Iowa on Friday, sliding into the top spot after previous No. 1 Duke lost to an unranked Ohio State squad that is now No. 21. Until this week, Purdue had the second-most appearances in the AP poll — 379 weeks — for a school that had never been ranked No. 1 (Maryland, 434 weeks).
“They deserved to be No. 1,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said after the loss to Purdue. “They can hurt in so many ways. They have depth, experience and size. It’s going to be a hard team to beat.”
Purdue was knocked out in the first round of last season’s NCAA Tournament, but returned its top eight scorers, including all-conference forward Trevion Williams. The
Boilermakers can challenge teams in variety of ways, from sophomore guard Jayden Ivey attacking off the dribble to dropping the ball in the post to 7-foot-4 sophomore Zach Edey.
Purdue is winning by an average of 25.6 points per game, the closest being the seven-point win over Iowa.
“You want to get in close games and win them,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “It really helps you through the season.”
Falling Zags
Gonzaga plays one of the nation’s most difficult nonconference schedules every season and this year has been no different. The Zags (7-2) typically win the big earlyseason showdowns, but haven’t been able to do it with as much frequency this year as they try to integrate several new players.
Gonzaga looked unstoppable in early wins over Texas and UCLA. The Zags weren’t so dominating their last two games against AP Top 25 teams, losing to Duke in Las Vegas on Nov. 26 and No. 16 Alabama in Seattle on Saturday.
“I just think we have to have more of a sense of urgency,” Gonzaga big man Drew Timme said. “We just got to fix it. But we’ve got a lot of time to fix it. We’ll be fine.”
He’s right. Most teams would love to “drop” to No. 5 in the AP Top 25.
Rising and falling
Alabama (7-1) had the biggest jump in this week’s poll, climbing seven spots after their win over Gonzaga. Southern California was next, moving up four spots to No. 16 following wins over Utah and Washington State last week.
BYU had the biggest drop, losing 12 spots to No. 24 after losing to Utah State in overtime and scraping past Missouri State 74-68. Florida lost six spots to No. 20 following a seven-point loss to Oklahoma.
Hello and goodbye
Ohio State moved back into the Top 25 after its win over Duke. The Buckeyes had dropped out of the Nov. 22 poll following a loss to Xavier.
No. 25 LSU is ranked for the first time in nearly two years after stretching its undefeated start to eight games with a win over Ohio last week.
Memphis dropped out of the poll from No. 18 after stretching its losing streak to three games with losses to Georgia and Ole Miss.
Michigan fell out from No. 24 after scoring 51 points in a 21-point loss to North Carolina. The Wolverines had been as high as No. 4 this season.