Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
So, today’s big story line is that Isaiah Thomas is short.
Thankfully, we do not need to rely on our eyes and our own understanding of basketball and our understanding of statistics to judge whether a person who is 5′-9″ can play professional basketball at this level. The people have spoken: Isaiah Thomas is Not Good Enough at basketball.
Thomas, 27, is in the midst of a monster season, averaging 28.7 points and six assists per game. He has averaged 32 points per game since returning from a groin injury on Dec. 16 and is shooting 43-percent on 3-pointers over that span, nearly seven percent higher than his career average (36.5 percent).
IT is averaging 29 points per game, and maybe he’ll be a reserve.
Let that soak in.
29 points per game.
Probably a reserve
Because, you see, he’s short.
That’s the big qualification. It will be the big qualification that will hound him until the day he retires.
I’ve written about this before. People simply refuse to legitimize his success because of his height. This is no different than the morons who say that a black quarterback ‘doesn’t have the intangibles’, or that a white basketball player ‘isn’t athletic.’
Stereotypes like these are the very height of intellectual laziness. “I don’t have to think about whether _____ is good at _____ because he’s ________, which means (either he is or he isn’t)”
Why bother thinking, when you can slap the exact same conclusion on everyone who shares some obvious trait?
Page 2: About IT’s fourth quarter numbers
A theory making the rounds, based on a tenuous investigation of the facts, is that despite all the razzle dazzle, the Celtics are a worse team in the 4th quarter with IT on the court.
The numbers bear this out–to a certain extent–but the larger story is of atrocious fourth quarter defense, period. The best starter in the fourth quarter is Amir Johnson, and he’s logged the fewest minutes of any starter, as the Celtics have run with a ‘small’ lineup. Amir’s fourth quarter net rating is +16.4, more than twice that of the next closest starter (Jae Crowder with 7.8). Amir’s fourth quarter defensive rating is 104.6, a far cry from that of Al Horford and Isaiah Thomas (118.1, 123.1).
I can’t give you a definitive explanation of it, but I’m going to suggest that Amir Johnson’s positive impact tells more of the story: When the Celtics play Horford at the five in the 4th, it’s not good. The breakdown doesn’t appear to be strictly due to IT’s defense, because Marcus Smart’s net rating with Amir Johnson in the fourth is +15.3, while his net rating with Al Horford is -.5.
The issue with IT’s 4h quarter numbers (and indeed, the Celtics’ 4th quarter numbers as a whole), may come down to crappy interior defense with their ‘small’ lineup (Horford/Crowder/Smart/Bradley/Thomas).
Of course, the caveat here is that Amir’s numbers are almost certainly skewed because of how little he plays in the 4th. Nevertheless, the evidence is quite clear that the Celtics struggle to defend when Horford is playing center, especially when he’s on the court with Isaiah Thomas.
The solution? Get a center that can defend well and/or don’t run a three guard lineup, because it’s taking a lot of IT heroics to make that lineup work.
Whether the Celtics can upgrade their center in the near future remains to be seen. I wouldn’t expect a trade for Nerlens Noel, and I think the Sixers are just stupid enough to match any offer sheet he gets. Willie Cauley-Stein is in the same boat; the Kings don’t need him, but I don’t think they’re going to trade him because they wasted a pick on him and now they’re too stupid to cut their losses.
The rest of the links
Boston Herald: Isaiah Thomas snubbed start with Stars | Brad Stevens: Celtics ‘just not good enough defensively’
CSNNE: Blakely: Thomas will ‘absolutely’ use All-Star voting as motivation | Jaylen Brown: Still undecided on competing in dunk contest | Stevens: Felt ‘inadequate as a coach’ after meeting Belichick, Patriots
NESN: NBA All-Star Starters Snubs: Russell Westbrook, Isaiah Thomas Disrespected By Voters
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