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.
It all began in James Thomas’ Tacoma garage. This longtime inspector in Boeing’s commercial jet division had a chin-up bar, and often found his young but-not-growing son hanging and swinging by the strength in his curled fingers.
He imagined that by grabbing the bar, he could squeeze out extra inches.
Thomas was a little dismayed by his son’s goal. He didn’t know where the growth spurt was going to come from.
“Nobody in my family is tall, and his mother’s family was only a little bigger,” said James Thomas, who at 5-foot-6 now looks up at his son.
But Isaiah’s source of hunger had been identified.
“Being short,” James said. “That whole thing about being short is what drove him. The doctor kept telling him: You’re going to be 5-foot-9.”
Isaiah doesn’t remember his father’s chin-up bar story — “that’s his story, he probably has a lot of them,” he said — but does recall asking the doctor when he was going to grow.
James Thomas exhorted his son to play big anyway. Isaiah played football through junior high school, and his father thought he saw a future in the way Isaiah could run around and through bigger players. But Isaiah didn’t want to be a football player.
On the basketball court, he broke the 40-point barrier a few times and eventually led the state in scoring, and that’s where fulfillment came from — knocking down shots over the big guys.
Boston Herald – Isaiah Thomas believes
Mark Murphy really nails this article, I suggest reading it through. It includes opinions from The Kings’ TV color analyst, and covers Isaiah’s time in Kent, Connecticut.
As for Thomas’ height, it is pretty remarkable to see him play today. There have been millions of kids who genuinely wanted to play in the NBA but listened to the outside voices telling them they’re too short. When a 15 or 16 year old kid hears that, and still pushes through step-by-step all the way to the NBA, it goes to show there’s a lot more to IT than just basketball talent.
Maybe the motivation it’s part of what Ainge saw in Isaiah Thomas. It seemed odd that Ainge had reportedly told IT he thought he was as good as Kemba Walker, and then proceeded to draft E’Twaun Moore with the 55th pick. It probably came down to Ainge really expecting Thomas to go undrafted, and being able to add both players. But for Danny to then make several attempts (and maybe more that we don’t know about) in acquiring Thomas, it showed us a determination in Danny Ainge similar to that of Isaiah Thomas. On one hand, you have a guy fighting this hard to make it to the NBA. And then he sees a guy fight that hard to bring you to his team.
Isaiah Thomas has publicly acknowledged Ainge’s coveting. And in four games as a Celtic, he’s given fans much reason to believe in both the player on the court and the guy who brought him here.
Page 2: Olynyk’s reintegration will be game-by game
Kelly Olynyk could return to the floor for the Celtics as early as Sunday evening against the Golden State Warriors at TD Garden.
Olynyk’s impending return comes at a time when the player gobbling up a lot of those minutes Olynyk would normally have – Jonas Jerebko – is playing really good basketball.
Considering all of the injuries and lineup changes coach Brad Stevens has had to endure this season, this is one potential problem he would gladly embrace.
Stevens acknowledged that re-incorporating Olynyk into the playing mix will force him to make some tough decisions as far as who to put on the floor.
“We gotta think about it right? But we have to figure out what’s best for us going into every game and play the guys we feel give us the best chance of winning,” Stevens said. “Obviously some of that is dependent on matchups and who you’re playing against.”
Olynyk’s been out since late January, and during that time, the C’s have played their best stretch of basketball. As far as reintegrating Olynyk into a rotation that seems to be flowing well, Stevens and his staff will have to play it game by game (as he alludes to).
For example, let’s pretend Olynyk plays tonight. Steve Kerr already mentioned that Andrew Bogut would be a healthy scratch from tonight’s lineup (for rest). With that roster subtraction, the Warriors will be playing fairly small lineups tonight, featuring a lot of David Lee and Draymond Green as the frontcourt. This may mean a guy like Olynyk with a more expanded offensive game could see minutes over a more traditional guy like Zeller.
*Note: Festus Ezeli is suspended for tonight’s game, which means Bogut could play.
The rest of the links:
CelticsBlog – The Celtics are fun again, and gunning for the playoffs
CSNNE – Jerebko: ‘Great getting a fresh start with the Celtics’
ESPN Boston – New Big Three: Isaiah, Jae, and Jonas
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