Isaiah Thomas: All Star Candidacy.

[Celtics18]

I know this topic has been discussed quite a bit already, but with the announcements coming tomorrow night, I felt like this would be a good time to make an argument for why he is a deserving candidate.

Lowry's deservedly in as the East's starting point guard (the fans got that one right) alongside Wade (a bit iffier).

That means at least two more guards, almost certainly three, quite possibly four more guards are going to be selected by the coaches.

Jimmy Butler seems like a shoo in.  Derozan's a deserving candidate as well at the two guard spots.

That all leaves four point guards vying for the last one or two guard spots.

Isaiah Thomas: 21.7 PPG, 6.7 APG, 2.7 TOPG, 16.5 FGA, 1.32 PPFGA, 2.48 A/TO
John Wall: 19.6 PPG, 9.8 APG, 4.4 TOPG, 17.1 FGA, 1.15 PPFGA, 2.23 A/TO
Reggie Jackson:  19.2 PPG, 6.6 APG, 2.8 TOPG, 16.3 FGA, 1.18 PPFGA, 2.36 A/TO
Kemba Walker:  20.6 PPG, 5.1 APG, 2.2 TOPG, 16.7 FGA, 1.23 PPFGA, 2.32 A/TO

Out of that group, Isaiah is first in points per game, assist to turnover ratio, and points per shot attempt, second in assists per game, and his Celtics have the best record of the bunch, with Jackson's Pistons only a half game behind, but both the Wizards and Hornets below .500.

It looks like an open and shut case to me.  Let's hope the coaches consider all the evidence before making their selections and make our point guard a well-deserved all star.

[PhoSita]

Your argument seems a little bit misleading when you leave out rebounds and steals, categories in which Wall (the only serious challenger to IT if you ask me) has a decided leg up on Thomas.

At the same time, you also leave out free throws, which favors IT significantly -- even though Wall is bigger and should probably get to the line more often.

I think defense, rebounding, and the intangible category of "having-to-do-it-all-for-his-team"-ness puts Wall just a bit ahead of IT for me, but I think it's completely defensible to prefer IT.

That said, I imagine that outside of Celtics fandom the idea of placing Thomas ahead of Wall would be deemed mildly ludicrous, even though his scoring is more efficient and his team is significantly better.

[celticsclay]

Your argument seems a little bit misleading when you leave out rebounds and steals, categories in which Wall (the only serious challenger to IT if you ask me) has a decided leg up on Thomas.

That said, you also leave out free throws, which favors IT significantly -- even though Wall is bigger and should probably get to the line more often.

I think defense, rebounding, and the intangible category of "having-to-do-it-all-for-his-team"-ness puts Wall just a bit ahead of IT for me, but I think it's completely defensible to prefer IT.

That said, I imagine that outside of Celtics fandom the idea of placing Thomas ahead of Wall would be deemed mildly ludicrous, even though his scoring is more efficient and his team is significantly better.

Lowry has a sprained wrist as of last night, so perhaps he may want the time off to nurse the injury (although it is his non-shooting hand). Wall is certainly a bigger name than Thomas, but the way things are breaking right now the Wizards have been a disappointment, while the Celtics have at least met expectations. 

[Lucky17]

Part of me wants IT to not get an All-Star spot. More fuel for the fire.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I'm seeing a lot of legit hype for him, I think he's going to make it as a Coach's pick

[Celtics18]

Your argument seems a little bit misleading when you leave out rebounds and steals, categories in which Wall (the only serious challenger to IT if you ask me) has a decided leg up on Thomas.

At the same time, you also leave out free throws, which favors IT significantly -- even though Wall is bigger and should probably get to the line more often.

I think defense, rebounding, and the intangible category of "having-to-do-it-all-for-his-team"-ness puts Wall just a bit ahead of IT for me, but I think it's completely defensible to prefer IT.

That said, I imagine that outside of Celtics fandom the idea of placing Thomas ahead of Wall would be deemed mildly ludicrous, even though his scoring is more efficient and his team is significantly better.

Wall's the bigger name, he's flashier, and, yes, he has the edge in defense and rebounding.  The fact that his team's below .500 should hurt him, but he'll be in.

I was initially just going to pit Isaiah against Jackson and Kemba, but then I looked at the offensive numbers and saw that Isaiah is more efficient than John Wall in just about every way.

I'm anxious for tomorrow night's announcement.  If Wall makes it and Isaiah is left off, I'll be highly disappointed.

[Celtics18]

Part of me wants IT to not get an All-Star spot. More fuel for the fire.

Eh, I've heard this argument before, and I'm not buying it.  That little dude is going to keep bringing plenty of fuel to the fire whether he makes the all star game or not.

[KeepRondo]

Part of me wants IT to not get an All-Star spot. More fuel for the fire.

Or him going gives him a chance to network and let the other players know what's up with the Celtics.

[celticsclay]

Part of me wants IT to not get an All-Star spot. More fuel for the fire.

Or him going gives him a chance to network and let the other players know what's up with the Celtics.

It seems with the way the NBA is run these days with all the buddy-buddy teaming up, there is a tiny chance something like this could happen.