The Legends of Tacko Fall

Imbricus

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 26, 2017
4,793
No one talking about Tacko's game on Sunday? 9 for 12 from the field, 21 points, 18 rebounds, 2 blocked shots. I didn't see the game, but that sounds like a decent line.
 

Bunt4aTriple

Member (member)
Silver Supporter
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
4,335
North Yarmouth, ME
We missed him in Boston Friday (I was shocked by the number of kids in $80 Tacko jerseys), but I’ll be in attendance Friday so hopefully he doesn’t get called up before then.
 

TripleOT

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 4, 2007
7,741
They gotta learn to throw those lobs way higher to him
Also, Fall should seal defenders more aggressively all the time, even the scrubs in the G League.

Fall should be trying to dunk every time he's within arm's length of the rim, instead of soft lay ins against way over matched defenders. NBA defenders will be less over matched, size wise, and will be a lot stronger and quicker at the rim.

Fall's touch on shots is pretty good, but he should put a bit more arc on his hook shot, so it will be a bit softer.

Fall should be taking at least a half dozen back to the basket shots a game in the G, even if he can back down defenders easily. I'd like to see him set up a bit further away from the hoop, so he can draw double teams and learn how to pass the ball. He obviously can get easy buckets at the rim against defenders he's a foot taller than, but how is catching and dunking at the rim only helping his development?
 

benhogan

Granite Truther
SoSH Member
Nov 2, 2007
20,021
Santa Monica
Also, Fall should seal defenders more aggressively all the time, even the scrubs in the G League.

Fall should be trying to dunk every time he's within arm's length of the rim, instead of soft lay ins against way over matched defenders. NBA defenders will be less over matched, size wise, and will be a lot stronger and quicker at the rim.

Fall's touch on shots is pretty good, but he should put a bit more arc on his hook shot, so it will be a bit softer.

Fall should be taking at least a half dozen back to the basket shots a game in the G, even if he can back down defenders easily. I'd like to see him set up a bit further away from the hoop, so he can draw double teams and learn how to pass the ball. He obviously can get easy buckets at the rim against defenders he's a foot taller than, but how is catching and dunking at the rim only helping his development?
agreed. Tacko needs to figure out how to aggressively get within a foot of the restricted area and seal. Sharper cuts would be helpful.

His defense looks fine, even on the perimeter

I think he's closer than most give him credit for, we'll see with the schedule going into overdrive and the Celtics light with center depth (TL/VP injured).

Giving him real limited minutes (6-8mpg) would be interesting.
 

Imbricus

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 26, 2017
4,793
Fall should be trying to dunk every time he's within arm's length of the rim, instead of soft lay ins against way over matched defenders ... Fall's touch on shots is pretty good, but he should put a bit more arc on his hook shot, so it will be a bit softer.
Which raises the question: Is he a soft Tacko or a hard Tacko? ;)
Giving him real limited minutes (6-8mpg) would be interesting.
I like this idea, and I think we'll see Tacko warming the bench a bit more often in the season's second half, but I'm skeptical that Brad is confident enough that Tacko will be fluid or fast enough or where he needs to be in the offensive and defensive schemes. It seems more likely that Grant will be shifted over to the 5.

Still, who knows? Six to eight minutes could almost be a few situational substitutions, and the Celts do need to find out what they've got in this guy.
 

Reverend

for king and country
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jan 20, 2007
63,820
Which raises the question: Is he a soft Tacko or a hard Tacko? ;)

I like this idea, and I think we'll see Tacko warming the bench a bit more often in the season's second half, but I'm skeptical that Brad is confident enough that Tacko will be fluid or fast enough or where he needs to be in the offensive and defensive schemes. It seems more likely that Grant will be shifted over to the 5.

Still, who knows? Six to eight minutes could almost be a few situational substitutions, and the Celts do need to find out what they've got in this guy.
View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8qfElV7wcpU
 

Saints Rest

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
It also shows what a great locker room culture the 2019-2020 Celtics had. Much has been written about the addition by subtraction in culture terms came from Kyrie's departure, but both Kemba and Kanter brought a lot of positive vibes to that culture. From a great distance, it certainly appears that Kanter's two closest friends on the team were Marcus Smart and Tacko Fall -- who could have seen that coming?
 

Euclis20

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 3, 2004
7,970
Imaginationland
It also shows what a great locker room culture the 2019-2020 Celtics had. Much has been written about the addition by subtraction in culture terms came from Kyrie's departure, but both Kemba and Kanter brought a lot of positive vibes to that culture. From a great distance, it certainly appears that Kanter's two closest friends on the team were Marcus Smart and Tacko Fall -- who could have seen that coming?
Kanter and Fall aren't exactly surprising, both of them being centers who are devout muslims, immigrants, and new to the team. Smart, though, is interesting.
 

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
11,913
Tacko is...sort of decent now?

What if all the Celtics young guys just improve at once and everything is perfect forever?
 

Imbricus

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 26, 2017
4,793
What if all the Celtics young guys just improve at once and everything is perfect forever?
That's like the perfect summation of last night (or at least the first three quarters that I watched). It suddenly looked like they went from having not enough depth to having more than enough. Javonte made his highlight-reel play on a reverse layup, Semi showed more evidence of turning into the 3 and D player we always wanted, Pritch looked solid again and can shoot ... you almost have to feel bad for Nesmith, who has looked very rookie-ish so far this year, and because of that is stapled to the bench at the moment.
 

TripleOT

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 4, 2007
7,741
Very interesting when the Celtics zoned up a few times with Tacko wingspanning the paint.

Tacko was good. Way better mobility and conditioning. Much more of a clue at both ends. Obviously a great rim protector. Set a monster pick to free up Tatum for a three. At his size, that could be a big part of his game, with the lob off the roll. He caught the ball ok against the Wiz.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 26, 2005
30,385
They gotta feed Tacko the ball more! It was pretty conspicuous how open he was and how much guys were avoiding throwing him the ball a few times.
I thought they not only missed him a couple of times but then threw away a couple of possessions trying to Force the ball into him when they got up big. I think they're just not used playing with him in meaningful game time.
 

jimv

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 5, 2011
1,118
I thought they not only missed him a couple of times but then threw away a couple of possessions trying to Force the ball into him when they got up big. I think they're just not used playing with him in meaningful game time.
Agreed. It may seem to be an easy over-the-top pass but its more difficult than it looks. In a more normal size mismatch you might have to get the ball over a 6'5" defender to reach the 7 footer. In this case you have to throw it over a 6'11" defender to reach the 7'5" dude. Different passing angle, the ball has to be in the air longer giving the defense more time to respond.
And as you mentioned no one is used to that pass at that angle against NBA comp. Tacko is probably the longest teammate they've ever played with

How did the 2-3 zone look with Tacko in the middle? Crazy experiment we'll never see again or something that could be used to keep an opponent off balance?
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 26, 2005
30,385
How did the 2-3 zone look with Tacko in the middle? Crazy experiment we'll never see again or something that could be used to keep an opponent off balance?
I didn't really stuudy it and it may have had something to do with the Wiz personnel on the floor (they are lacking reliable scorers beyond Beal) but it looked good to me and I'm sure Brad will throw it out there again over the next week when Tacko is in,
 

slamminsammya

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
9,078
San Francisco
I thought they not only missed him a couple of times but then threw away a couple of possessions trying to Force the ball into him when they got up big. I think they're just not used playing with him in meaningful game time.
As a sober fan I agree. He doesn't look extremely comfortable catching the ball and attracts defenders like flies and I don't have confidence in his touch around the hoop or passing ability. However, as a non sober fan I want him to get the ball basically every time he goes down the floor.

I was very impressed with his effort running the floor. He sprinted both ways seemingly every possession, and is pretty damned fast moving in a straight line.
 

Saints Rest

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
I didn't really stuudy it and it may have had something to do with the Wiz personnel on the floor (they are lacking reliable scorers beyond Beal) but it looked good to me and I'm sure Brad will throw it out there again over the next week when Tacko is in,
Has there been any word about the timeline for The returns of TT, RW and/or GW, any of whom will eat into Tacko’s minutes?
 

Koufax

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
5,929
I thought they not only missed him a couple of times but then threw away a couple of possessions trying to Force the ball into him when they got up big. I think they're just not used playing with him in meaningful game time.
Yes, they had multiple opportunities to feed him the ball down low but did not do it. And when they tried, they messed it up. Not his fault. The team needs to adjust to his height and skill set, which includes receiving passes near the basket and dunking.
 

128

Member
SoSH Member
May 4, 2019
9,970
Has there been any word about the timeline for The returns of TT, RW and/or GW, any of whom will eat into Tacko’s minutes?
Depends on whether any of the guys out for contact tracing test positive (or develop symptoms).
 

Jimbodandy

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 31, 2006
11,356
around the way
I didn't really stuudy it and it may have had something to do with the Wiz personnel on the floor (they are lacking reliable scorers beyond Beal) but it looked good to me and I'm sure Brad will throw it out there again over the next week when Tacko is in,
I thought that it looked great (didn't slow the game down and analyze it either though). Guys stayed home, Tacko was able to avoid the defensive 3sec, and that's against a team with two guys who are pros at losing their guy and getting downhill.

The zone should hold up for a week or two while the other bigs are out. Were this a playoff series, an opposing coach would find the holes and hammer them, but packed-schedule-regular-season coaching likely won't.

I was very impressed with his effort running the floor. He sprinted both ways seemingly every possession, and is pretty damned fast moving in a straight line.
Good mentions that he seemed more nimble, not just better conditioned. At times I forgot that he is 7'5".

His teammates will get better at finding him, and not all of that is his fault. But he does seem to me to have not the best hands still. He's persistent, but I would be very surprised if you see him scoring much of anything besides lobs.
 

cardiacs

Admires Neville Chamberlain
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
2,989
Milford, CT
He definitely seemed ready to handle non-garbage-time minutes depending on matchups, which, IMO, is huge because his presence in and of itself forces the other team to make immediate adjustments.
 

128

Member
SoSH Member
May 4, 2019
9,970
I believe TL tested positive so he will be out for a while.
The NBA's protocols may well be different, but during college football season a coach or athlete who tested positive sometimes returned sooner than those who were sidelined by contact tracing. Which seemed crazy.
 

Kliq

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 31, 2013
22,620
Early in the game he got on the ground for a loose ball and he nimbly got up, which sounds like faint praise but it was downright impressive for a guy that size. The Athletic article posted earlier had a good clip of him running the floor, he leaves Robin Lopez in the dust and attracted a lot of attention when he cut towards the hoop, which got Green an open look. He can run very well in a straight line.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 26, 2005
30,385
The NBA's protocols may well be different, but during college football season a coach or athlete who tested positive sometimes returned sooner than those who were sidelined by contact tracing. Which seemed crazy.
TL is out a minimum of 7 days. Looks like GWill/TT will be out 7 days assuming they don't come down with it. https://www.bostonherald.com/2021/01/08/0108-bh-s-celticsnotes/

To respond to your point, not that crazy as person who tests + came down with CV prior to exposure. So multiple - tests are sufficient to clear him while exposed person has to wait the full 7 days to see if infection occurs.
 

NomarsFool

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 21, 2001
8,093
They really need to use him more in the offense when he is out there. Can anyone stop him as a rim runner?
 

Kliq

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 31, 2013
22,620
I love Brad's reaction...nothing

He's trying to figure out how he can use Tacko to win games down the road. I was thinking maybe he could be our Boban.

BUT guess Boban's career FT%? The guy can shoot

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/marjabo01.html
Despite their height, Boban and Tacko are not very similar players. Boban is a skilled big who can pass and has a soft touch around the rim, but he's very slow a huge liability on defense. Tacko doesn't have near the offensive skill of Boban, but he is much more athletic and has a lot more value on the defensive end.