New Isaiah Thomas Appreciation Thread

[Phantom255x]

Let me ask you all something. We had Paul Pierce and didn't win a championship. THEN we added KG and Ray Allen and the rest was history. Did people want PP34 traded or let go before the summer of 2007 happened?

Don't you think the GOAL should be to BUILD with IT? Instead of just letting him go (trading him away) because we *may* get Fultz.. Just a thought.

TP.  This is how I feel.  IT is a core guy that you can build a championship around.  We're one big star away.  This is Celtics pre-KG.  That's how I feel.  We can build with IT and Horford as core guys.  Bradley and Crowder are starters.  We need to find that 5th player who's a star and completes the puzzle.

Ideally that guy is someone like Griffin but I'm afraid it won't happen (Clippers are better than us right now and Griffin LOVES LA). Hayward would be solid but we already have Brown, Crowder, Bradley. And good chance Hayward stays with Utah who are balling right now. Then its the likes of Noel, Ibaka, Bogut, etc. (not really stars - or the star we NEED).

Danny is going to need to make some trades or just keep building next season with the picks and rookies. 

[Big333223]

TP to the OP for the love. Thomas is definitely a special kind of player.

[Ilikesports17]

IT just blew it up for 44 points in our OT comeback win against the Grizz.

He's a legit star guys.

He also showed that to us in the playoffs.

IT is just fine as one of our big 3, the problem is we don't have a 3rd amigo/star for him to play with.

Let's can the talk about trading IT.  He's a unique player and we're lucky to have him.

We just need a 3rd guy that's also a go to scorer so we have more options in the closing minutes of games during crunch time.

Horford missed another bunny in the 4th by about half a second that could have won it for us, obviously he's never going to be a 'closer' type.

We dont just need a third guy, we need a first guy. We need ideally a top 5 and at the very least a top 10 player.

To redirect away from your "woe-is-us-we're-never-good-enough" sentiment and to the topic of this thread, I think you could argue that Thomas has played like a top 10 player this year.

yeah you probably could. I dont think he is one, but you could build the argument.

the way it was written, I interpretted this post as saying that we can take this teams construction and more or less add a #3 guy who would fit in behind Thomas and Horford but ahead of Crowder and Bradley and win a ring.

Do you think that would work?

I dont.


Now as for the woe is us comment. My comments didnt have much to do with the topic, but such is life on Cs blog I felt it was relevant to the post.

Second, I am really happy with the rebuild. The NBA is the toughest league to build a contender in because superstars which are basically impossible to acquire outside of draft luck, are so impactful. I think Danny has done a terrific job in that we could fail to find a superstar with our top 5 picks and still be at the least faux-contenders for a while. I mean if Brown turns out to be good as opposed to great and this upcoming Nets pick gets spent on a solid starter we are still looking at maybe 5 years of top 3 or 4 East finishes.

Winning a ring is so hard. You cant just go out and do a good job and get kinda lucky in your rebuild and win a ring.

Lebron has won the last 6 ECFs. Its really freaking hard.

If you asked me if Im happy where we are Id say yes, if you asked me if we were a 2nd or third tier star away from winning a ring Id say hell no.

[Greyman]

IT can do amazing things and he wants to win a championship. I have suggested in the past starting him from the bench but I think he has shown he is a starter. I am not convinced, given the line ups of GSW and the Cavs, that one extra player is enough to lift us to that level but it may be. IT is the genuine article.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

IT just blew it up for 44 points in our OT comeback win against the Grizz.

He's a legit star guys.

He also showed that to us in the playoffs.

IT is just fine as one of our big 3, the problem is we don't have a 3rd amigo/star for him to play with.

Let's can the talk about trading IT.  He's a unique player and we're lucky to have him.

We just need a 3rd guy that's also a go to scorer so we have more options in the closing minutes of games during crunch time.

Horford missed another bunny in the 4th by about half a second that could have won it for us, obviously he's never going to be a 'closer' type.

We dont just need a third guy, we need a first guy. We need ideally a top 5 and at the very least a top 10 player.

To redirect away from your "woe-is-us-we're-never-good-enough" sentiment and to the topic of this thread, I think you could argue that Thomas has played like a top 10 player this year.

yeah you probably could. I dont think he is one, but you could build the argument.

the way it was written, I interpretted this post as saying that we can take this teams construction and more or less add a #3 guy who would fit in behind Thomas and Horford but ahead of Crowder and Bradley and win a ring.

Do you think that would work?

I dont.


Now as for the woe is us comment. My comments didnt have much to do with the topic, but such is life on Cs blog I felt it was relevant to the post.

Second, I am really happy with the rebuild. The NBA is the toughest league to build a contender in because superstars which are basically impossible to acquire outside of draft luck, are so impactful. I think Danny has done a terrific job in that we could fail to find a superstar with our top 5 picks and still be at the least faux-contenders for a while. I mean if Brown turns out to be good as opposed to great and this upcoming Nets pick gets spent on a solid starter we are still looking at maybe 5 years of top 3 or 4 East finishes.

Winning a ring is so hard. You cant just go out and do a good job and get kinda lucky in your rebuild and win a ring.

Lebron has won the last 6 ECFs. Its really freaking hard.

If you asked me if Im happy where we are Id say yes, if you asked me if we were a 2nd or third tier star away from winning a ring Id say hell no.

I don't think he was saying 3rd as-in after Horford and Thomas. I think he was saying that we need another All-star scorer.

[Ilikesports17]

IT just blew it up for 44 points in our OT comeback win against the Grizz.

He's a legit star guys.

He also showed that to us in the playoffs.

IT is just fine as one of our big 3, the problem is we don't have a 3rd amigo/star for him to play with.

Let's can the talk about trading IT.  He's a unique player and we're lucky to have him.

We just need a 3rd guy that's also a go to scorer so we have more options in the closing minutes of games during crunch time.

Horford missed another bunny in the 4th by about half a second that could have won it for us, obviously he's never going to be a 'closer' type.

We dont just need a third guy, we need a first guy. We need ideally a top 5 and at the very least a top 10 player.

To redirect away from your "woe-is-us-we're-never-good-enough" sentiment and to the topic of this thread, I think you could argue that Thomas has played like a top 10 player this year.

yeah you probably could. I dont think he is one, but you could build the argument.

the way it was written, I interpretted this post as saying that we can take this teams construction and more or less add a #3 guy who would fit in behind Thomas and Horford but ahead of Crowder and Bradley and win a ring.

Do you think that would work?

I dont.


Now as for the woe is us comment. My comments didnt have much to do with the topic, but such is life on Cs blog I felt it was relevant to the post.

Second, I am really happy with the rebuild. The NBA is the toughest league to build a contender in because superstars which are basically impossible to acquire outside of draft luck, are so impactful. I think Danny has done a terrific job in that we could fail to find a superstar with our top 5 picks and still be at the least faux-contenders for a while. I mean if Brown turns out to be good as opposed to great and this upcoming Nets pick gets spent on a solid starter we are still looking at maybe 5 years of top 3 or 4 East finishes.

Winning a ring is so hard. You cant just go out and do a good job and get kinda lucky in your rebuild and win a ring.

Lebron has won the last 6 ECFs. Its really freaking hard.

If you asked me if Im happy where we are Id say yes, if you asked me if we were a 2nd or third tier star away from winning a ring Id say hell no.

I don't think he was saying 3rd as-in after Horford and Thomas. I think he was saying that we need another All-star scorer.

yeah your probably right. However, if the third guy is in the Isaiah Thomas-Al Horford tier I dont think we win a ring with that core. the points are the same.

[The Oracle]

Seriously, though. If IT was 6'3'', but played the same level defense, would he be viewed differently?

Answer: Yes. Because Damian Lillard has historically had the same numbers (offense and defense) as Isaiah, down to their advanced stats, and he is viewed as a franchise cornerstone. Even this year, check out their opponents shooting comparison.

Thomas vs Lillard
Less than 5 feet 59% / 58%
5-9 feet 39% / 42%
10-14 feet 35% / 43%
15-19 feet 42% / 45%
20-24 feet 40% / 40%
25-29 feet 36% 43%

On pick and roll plays, Thomas allows .78 ppp to Lillard's .95 ppp.

On isos, Thomas allows 1.33 ppp to Lillard's 1.14 ppp.

On handoffs, Thomas allows .9 ppp to Lillard's .92 ppp.

On spotups, Thomas allows .94 ppp to Lillard's 1.07 ppp

In fact, I think you could argue from some stats that he is a better defender than Lillard.

Those opponent shooting numbers are not how I.T. or Lillard defend they are how the Celtics and Portland defend when they are on the floor.  I.T. is surrounded by much better defenders that cover up for him way better than Portland does for Lillard.

[Tr1boy]

IT is shooting at a much more efficient rate these days... I don't expect any less

But lets not forget it is also a team effort.  Horford and KO provide amazing picks for IT4 to get free

[The Oracle]

IT is shooting at a much more efficient rate these days... I don't expect any less

But lets not forget it is also a team effort.  Horford and KO provide amazing picks for IT4 to get free

There is no other team that is better suited to take advantage of I.T.'s abilities.  With Horford, Olynyk, Jerebko and even Amir the Celtics bigs provide by far the best spacing in the league.  As you say they are also very good pick setters.

[Tr1boy]

IT is shooting at a much more efficient rate these days... I don't expect any less

But lets not forget it is also a team effort.  Horford and KO provide amazing picks for IT4 to get free

There is no other team that is better suited to take advantage of I.T.'s abilities.  With Horford, Olynyk, Jerebko and even Amir the Celtics bigs provide by far the best spacing in the league.  As you say they are also very good pick setters.

Yes. Just a smidge too bad most of our big players are not above average rebounders/shot blockers

[SHAQATTACK]

I appreciate you ...verrry verrry mucho

Please bring your friend DMC to Boston

I'll vote for you for president.

[CelticGuardian]

I still think him being 5'9" and doing what he does is as incredible as the Steph Curry phenomena. I saw IT at Niketown last month, he was trying to get some Space Jam's early. Even though he's shorter than me, guy is REALLY WIDE could probably post up half of us on here.

Yeah, I think one of the under-the-radar developments was the summer when he signed with the Suns and he added 10-15 pounds of muscle. Guy is strong.

Definitely looks like he trains every other day lol. His shoe size is also 12, which was a surprise.