FanPost

Tacko Fall returns to Orlando! Recalled for Magic game!

Tacko Truck is still rollin' full speed ahead

As you all know, I've posted numerous takes on Tacko Fall, starting with "How I went from Tacko's biggest critic, to driving the Tacko Truck" to, "Tacko can be the Celtics savior", to "Tacko Watch" to, "War is brewing: Tacko Fall, the fans and the Coach". I put a lot of time and effort into my Tacko takes because, I am dead serious about him being the Celtics starting center! Now only can he be that, I think he will be! I think a front court of Tacko and Kanter would lead to numerous championships, considering the all star cast at the pg and wing position. Those 2 guys are the perfect duo to help anchor the paint.

Giant Skill

I think Tacko Fall is an upgraded version of Boban Marjonavich. Boban is 7'3", does not do a great job of blocking or altering shots, and does not move like a skilled basketball player. He's much more stiff (kind of like Vincent Poirer) with his movements... only slightly more stiff than Vincent. I'm just trying to give you guys an idea of how Boban operates.

Still, even for a player who's never been a shot blocker or even known to alter shots, even for a player with no true basketball movements, Boban can, and many times has, impacted NBA games. Because of his incredible size, he is a force to be reckoned with. Just the other night v. the Clippers, Boban played 16 minutes for the Mavs and he was more than serviceable. 12pts 7reb in 16 minutes. Mavs lost by 3, but maybe if Boban had played more they would have won. He basically puts up Kanter numbers. I don't think he's as good as Kanter though. And, I definitely don't think he's as good as Tacko.

Tacko v Gobert

I think Tacko has real basketball skill. He moves elusively. He has agility. He slides and sets screens. He's proven he can roll off the pick and roll at the perimeter, cut through the lane, catch the lob and finish w/ a dunk (without even jumping). He plays a lot like Rudy Gobert, and has increased his FT percentage to over 50%, talking about Tacko. Gobert is a career 61% FT shooter, but also a DPOY 2 times. I think Tacko is most comparable to Boban in size, but comparable to Gobert in skill.

Gobert is a 7FT center... and Tacko DWARFS him. With shoes, Tack is 7'7". Tacko is 310lbs, Gobert is only 250. It's different worlds, size wise.

But Tacko has the same skill set in my humble opinion.

Tacko v Boban

He has Boban by at least 3 inches, and crushes him in wingspan and standing reach. Plus, he has the skill.

I really think Tacko is a starting center in this league, and with the Celtics superteam I think he can be the key piece to winning us rings.

Kanter the game changer

We have already seen Kanter change the game for the Celtics about 5 different times. Most recently vs. the Lakers. Most historically vs @ raptors. That is, Celtics start off getting crushed in the paint. Then, Kanter checks in and changes everything. His SIZE changes the game for us, and his size is much needed.

But his size is no where near Tacko Fall's. And his skill is basically the same. I see them as a push skill wise. But, I don't think Kanter is in Tacko's league in terms of altering/blocking shots, or getting put backs on offensive rebounds and finishing lobs. Kanter is above average at it, but I believe Tacko will be utterly dominant at all of the above.

PREDICTION

UCF is where Tacko played college. That's in Orlando. And with both Lob Williams and Kanter out for tonight's game, it's feasible Tacko Fall will have somewhat of a breakout game. He's been recalled for the match, so chances are he at least gets some minutes.

Also, he did get real NBA minutes against the Spurs. That was a game where everyone on the team stunk up the joint. We got crushed. But Tacko played 10 minutes and finished with 4 pts and 3 reb. More importantly, he was getting real run time with some of the starters. He had one botched play where he didn't keep the ball above his head, so a player for the Spurs stripped it from him. He's got to keep the ball high at all times.

STRIPPED

Keeping the ball high is not a skill. It's building a habit. It requires no skill outside of memory (brain work) to remember to keep the ball high. I think a lot of young centers take a few months to learn that, because they come in thinking they can get away with not having to do it. They think, "Why work harder if i don't need to. Surely, these players aren't that fast. I'm not gonna keep the ball high until it's proven to me that i must do so." I think that's the natural thought process, and until the ball gets stripped from them enough times, they don't keep the ball high. Then, once it's stripped enough times, they finally keep the ball high.

That's what I've noticed anyway.

Keeping the ball high

I spent a whole paragraph on that because that's really the only knock on Tacko. All the peeps who say he isn't ready for the NBA, they always point to the few times he's gotten stripped (twice in the NBA so far, and it's probably happened 4 times in the G League) as their reason for saying he doesn't know how to play basketball. That's pretty funny to me, and so I explained how it's not even a basketball skill. It requires 0 skill set to remember to keep the ball high. It requires memory. And if you think Tacko can't remember to do something that simple, please keep in mind he's one of the all time great students in American history... 4.0 GPA in engineering. I think he can remember to keep the ball high, and once he builds in that habit, what else is there to nitpick?

He's always in the right position. He can cover the pick and roll. He can play the pick in roll offensively. He is just like Gobert, except he dwarfs Gobert. He just needs REPS! Once he gets more reps, he will flow within the speed of the game.

I think tonight v. Orlando he's finally going to get his moment!

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