Celtic system made Mr Irelevent an All Star

[4flashman]

Every one here seems to be an expert on which player is the best one for Boston. How many of you said IT will be a "STAR" Draft night? Leave the choices to the people that have played the game. The gnashing of teeth over Rozier and Brown have been toned down. Check Cleveland's record without LaBron in the game. Do you still believe that 2 or 3 super stars are all you need to win? Any player worth having will not be here just for the money. They want a coach and a system that makes all players that come better. Carmelo has money and "THE BIG MARKET" how is New York doing? 76's have first round picks to spare, again how has that helped? Enjoy the games and stop Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline.ing about who has to come to save the Celtics. They would have beaten OKC if Westbrook had not had a license to steal.

[Eddie20]

Every one here seems to be an expert on which player is the best one for Boston. How many of you said IT will be a "STAR" Draft night? Leave the choices to the people that have played the game. The gnashing of teeth over Rozier and Brown have been toned down. Check Cleveland's record without LaBron in the game. Do you still believe that 2 or 3 super stars are all you need to win? Any player worth having will not be here just for the money. They want a coach and a system that makes all players that come better. Carmelo has money and "THE BIG MARKET" how is New York doing? 76's have first round picks to spare, again how has that helped? Enjoy the games and stop ****ing about who has to come to save the Celtics. They would have beaten OKC if Westbrook had not had a license to steal.

Considering Thomas went 60th in the draft, I think it's safe to say no GM's thought he would be a star.

Your rambling 1st post is not a way to endear yourself on here. It's very condescending and your suggestion is that nobody on a message board should ever post anything about a potential acquisition that could make us better.

[littleteapot]

You can't just plug most late draft picks into your system and turn them into all-stars. Thomas is a great individual player who was missed by most teams, even up to the point that Phoenix traded him to us for almost nothing. Sometimes a unique talent who a different physical profile or play style from what scouts typically look for falls through the cracks and you have to give Ainge credit for taking a chance on a guy like that, but it doesn't mean that every second round pick will outperform high draft picks and highly touted free agents.

Also for the record, New York is 2 games behind Boston, so it's not like Carmelo is getting nowhere with them.

[celticsclay]

Every one here seems to be an expert on which player is the best one for Boston. How many of you said IT will be a "STAR" Draft night? Leave the choices to the people that have played the game. The gnashing of teeth over Rozier and Brown have been toned down. Check Cleveland's record without LaBron in the game. Do you still believe that 2 or 3 super stars are all you need to win? Any player worth having will not be here just for the money. They want a coach and a system that makes all players that come better. Carmelo has money and "THE BIG MARKET" how is New York doing? 76's have first round picks to spare, again how has that helped? Enjoy the games and stop ****ing about who has to come to save the Celtics. They would have beaten OKC if Westbrook had not had a license to steal.

Pretty weird rambling post. Hard to tell what you are even trying to say exactly.

[Roy H.]

Keep in mind that IT4 was an excellent player before being traded to the Celtics. What Thomas showed was that he's more than a "good stats on a bad team" guy.

The Celtics have a great organization and coaching staff, but IT isn't just a "system" player. His numbers have been comparable to Kyrie's for years.

[CelticPride2016]

I think it was obvious Isaiah was an unstoppable force while he was on Sacramento. I don't think it's a surprise he is putting up big numbers. But was it obvious you could contend with him as starting pg? I doubt it. Ainge and Stevens have been quite impressive.

Mere days ago some people were still arguing that Isaiah should come off the bench.

It could be true Isaiah might have never become an all-star if he didn't go to Boston.

Look at Evan Turner flailing away in Portland. I haven't watched him, but his stats look unimpressive. This system does seem to get the best out of players.

Isaiah has done all he can to increase my confidence he can be a Big Three member. His defense is pretty good. He is very short, however. There's no way around that. But that is an issue for two years from now or in regards to the long-term. Maybe Isaiah's age will be more of a factor than his height. IT definitely has it a lot more difficult than most. Horford can roll out of bed. Thomas has to hustle so fast on defense to get some steals and not be a liability. And it looks like he gets it done. I don't see many games where his defense has killed us. That is always the one fear with him on the court.

Isaiah Thomas is the Doug Flutie of basketball.

He is also a form of Marcus Smart owning half of the court.

His turnovers have gone down each of the last three seasons.

If Oklahoma couldn't keep Harden, I understand we might not have Isaiah forever. I hope we do. He cannot be stopped on offense, period. He could be the greatest little guy of all time.

This Cleveland game should give us some answers.

[tarheelsxxiii]

Keep in mind that IT4 was an excellent player before being traded to the Celtics. What Thomas showed was that he's more than a "good stats on a bad team" guy.

The Celtics have a great organization and coaching staff, but IT isn't just a "system" player. His numbers have been comparable to Kyrie's for years.

We beat you with class right here, OP.  Thanks for visiting.   

[Bobshot]

The players you want to trade for are the guys who have been log jammed out of PT with their old teams. These are the guys you can get for less that haven't achieved their full potential. Notable examples include Harden and IT.

A good GM can identify such players and often get them for cheap. Ainge has done it a couple times with Crowder and IT. Danny was on a roll of finding value until he ran into the new cap rules--he wound up overpaying for Horford and Zeller at "market" prices. Zeller was a wasted sign. Horford is an impact player.

[Granath]

How about a bit of both?

IT is an excellent, dynamic player. He showed that he could score in Sac by scoring 20 ppg in his 3rd year. There's no doubt that he's talented and could score for any team.

But the Cs are an ideal system with ideal personnel for him because they help cover his deficiencies. He has two other guards in Smart and Bradley that can cover for him defensively. He has Crowder acting like his personal bodyguard. Bradley's 3 point shot opens up the floor for him to drive. Smart can give him a break on the ball handling duties.

So he's an excellent player made better by the system that supports him.

[SHAQATTACK]

There has many great guys in the NBA under 6 ft.   Muggsey Bogues was fun , he was three inches shorter than IT .

My favorite small guy was Spud Webb .    I don't care who you are , watching him dunk was nothing short of amazing , I'd watch a whole game I cared nothing about just to see if he'd dunk during a game.

[CelticPride2016]

There has many great guys in the NBA under 6 ft.   Muggsey Bogues was fun , he was three inches shorter than IT .

My favorite small guy was Spud Webb .    I don't care who you are , watching him dunk was nothing short of amazing , I'd watch a whole game I cared nothing about just to see if he'd dunk during a game.

Yes, Isaiah has an entertainment value. He's also making playoffs. Guys like Love and Cousins never made playoffs. Shaq called Pierce the truth. Isaiah is sort of the truth, at least on offense. It's a matter of whether there could be an opposition lineup he simply can't beat, as if he's moving up too many weight classes.

These players switch off nowadays. It can compensate as a team defense. That helps. Isaiah seems automatic this year on offense, his best yet.

I thought Flutie could have been the #1 quarterback if a team was built around him. Stevens and Ainge are innovators. We are so lucky. If we were just any other team to go with lousy refs, I wouldn't watch any of this.

Tonight could be the signature win that will define the regular season. I want this one bad.

[Granath]

There has many great guys in the NBA under 6 ft.   Muggsey Bogues was fun , he was three inches shorter than IT .

My favorite small guy was Spud Webb .    I don't care who you are , watching him dunk was nothing short of amazing , I'd watch a whole game I cared nothing about just to see if he'd dunk during a game.

Er, we have a different definition of great. Go look at the list of guys who made the all-star game under 6 feet. Here's the entire list:

DANA BARROS   5-11
TERRELL BRANDON   5-11
BILLY GABOR   5-11
MICHAEL ADAMS 5-10
RALPH BEARD    5-10
SLATER MARTIN    5-10
FRED SCOLARI    5-10
CALVIN MURPHY    5-9
ISAIAH THOMAS    5-9

The only guy on that list I think qualifies as "great" is Calvin Murphy and he played in the 70s. Almost half that list played in the 50s. Terrell Brandon is the only guy who made at least 2 all star teams (something IT will be doing this year). Muggsy Bogues may have been fun but he averaged only more than 10ppg 3 times in his career. Spudd Webb could dunk but his best years were spent racking up empty stats for some really lousy Sac teams and is barely better than a replacement player over his career.

It's exceptionally uncommon that a player under 6 feet is really successful in this league.

[myselfonline]

You can't just plug most late draft picks into your system and turn them into all-stars. Thomas is a great individual player who was missed by most teams, even up to the point that Phoenix traded him to us for almost nothing. Sometimes a unique talent who a different physical profile or play style from what scouts typically look for falls through the cracks and you have to give Ainge credit for taking a chance on a guy like that, but it doesn't mean that every second round pick will outperform high draft picks and highly touted free agents.

Also for the record, New York is 2 games behind Boston, so it's not like Carmelo is getting nowhere with them.

IT4 was a great player before the Celtics. There were graphics comparing his production to Kyrie when he was in Sacramento. He also put up some good numbers at Phoenix. His injuries along with the guard situation in Phoenix was what landed him here.