Isaiah Thomas vents about latest Celtics loss

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2016/12/isaiah_thomas_vents_about_latest_celtics_loss




Isaiah Thomas vents about latest Celtics loss



Steve Bulpett



Friday, December 02, 2016





Credit: Matt Stone
Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas looses control of the ball as he races past Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond during the second half of the NBA game at the TD Garden on Wednesday, November 30, 2016.




The Celtics have had difficulty with their transition offense early this season, but late on Wednesday night, Isaiah Thomas decided to run a fast break.

While coach Brad Stevens was down the hall answering for the Celts’ 121-114 loss to the Pistons, Thomas took the opportunity to clean up and get out of Dodge City. It was a purposeful move.

Twelve nights after making critical comments in the wake of a 16-point loss to Golden State, he didn’t want to speak out again. He was afraid of what he might say.

“Yeah,” Thomas said yesterday as the Celts gathered for an event at Boston Children’s Hospital, acknowledging he wanted to avoid the media in that moment. “Now my thing is to just not comment on things and let myself cool down, because it’s very frustrating the way we’re losing games.

“Yeah, I was very upset. I still am. I mean, somehow, some way, we can’t lose games like that, especially on our home floor. We’ve all got to do better.”

Asked specifically what disturbed him, Thomas said, “Everything about the game, the loss. . . . And a few more other things, but I’m not going to get into that.”

Thomas went for 27 points in 33 minutes against the Pistons, but he was on the bench when Jae Crowder and a group of reserves turned a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit into a one-point lead. Detroit had gone back ahead by eight when Thomas got back on the floor with 5:08 to go, but, while the C’s were getting three treys from Avery Bradley, the visitors scored on seven of their next nine possessions to secure the game.

Thomas had been angry after the Golden State game because, in his opinion, Stevens had stayed too long with the reserves who were getting the Celts back into the game. He claimed the coaches had given up.

Though Thomas and Stevens smoothed it over later that evening after the Celts flew to Michigan, it’s clear the former didn’t want to have to address stray comments again.

He was more measured yesterday, saying of the 55-percent-shooting Pistons, “They hit some tough shots. When we answered, they answered right back. It was one of those games where sometimes you’ve got to tip your hat off to them, but there’s a few things we could have controlled and could have did better that we didn’t do, and that’s the reason why we didn’t win the game.”

Some Celts mentioned the need to be more physical when an opponent gets that comfortable.

Said Thomas: “You try to show them something different. As players, we’ve got to put it upon ourselves to show something different. If what we’re doing’s not working, we’ve got to do something different.”

He agreed the Celtics have gotten away from the defense-first mentality that served them well last season — and serves them well now when they apply it.

The Celtics are 8-0 this year when holding foes to 100 or fewer points.

But too often they have gotten into shootouts.

“Guys are getting more opportunities on the offensive end, so maybe that means they’re taking a step back defensively, which is not good,” Thomas said. “It’s hard to play both ends of the floor at a high level, and that’s why only a few players in this league can do that. But we’ve just got to get that mindset back of being a defensive team and then letting the offense take care of itself.

“It’s fool’s gold the way we’re playing offense so good.”

Stevens does believe the Celts go through stretches where they will shoot too quickly, failing to produce the kind of ball movement that gets them better looks.

But there is no doubt that leaks in the defense are what’s doing the Celts in overall, and have kept them to a modest 10-8 record entering tonight’s game with Sacramento. The leaks can show up with an adversary getting a free path to the hoop or, more frequently, when being out of position leads to the surrendering of offensive rebounds and second-chance points.

“I think, at the end of the day, we’ve got to play five guys connected, or else we’re in trouble,” said Stevens. “And that’s because, No. 1, everybody that has a good defense has to do that, and, No. 2, just size-wise, we’ve got to be there early. We’ve got to be connected. We’ve got to move with the ball to get done what we need to get done. And right now we’re not always five guys doing that. We don’t always have five guys connected together.”

It would be fair to say that Isaiah Thomas isn’t the only frustrated Celtic.



bob
MY NOTE:  Just a pet peeve, but this is written by professional writers and not just your average Joe.  Learn the difference between IT 'losing' the ball and 'loosing' it.  Spell Check doesn't catch homonyms.


.

IT dues no lika to sitter on the bench a'tall!

This is a developing issue as young Rozier continues to play well and command more floor time. Given the fact that IT struggles defending his position, coach Stevens must look to Rozier to apply more defensive pressure.

dboss

Hi,
I noticed that when IT starts hogging the ball, he scores a bunch of points but our offense stagnates and, as we all know, one player can not beat 5 players.

AK

sinus007 wrote:Hi,
I noticed that when IT starts hogging the ball, he scores a bunch of points but our offense stagnates and, as we all know, one player can not beat 5 players.

AK

The Challenge for IT is to run the offense. He is a really good offensive player but he also tends to jack up bad shots every game. This offense is designed for maximum ball movement but when the rock sticks in one player's hand everything stops.

There must be more balance and since he controls the ball he is the one to share the ball.

dboss

Thomas is one of the most efficient scorers in the last 35 years - Take Smarts shots way from him and make Thomas the DESIGNATED SHOOTER for Smart. When you got a cannon - shoot it. A lifetime TS% of.572 makes him the top choice to be the lead shooter on the team. Here's the company that Thomas is rooming with. He's ranked # 31 in the below link.

http://bkref.com/tiny/96aWr


swish

Having said that, IT is now the go to guy on offense.  Unreal game for  a player his size.  No one can stay with him one on one.  

dboss.

Great scorers are always welcome - especially when they get to the line so frequently - creating bonus free throw shot opportunities for the team - added potential for foul trouble for the opposing guard - and of course "count it and one".  So far this year he's right up there with Hardin and Westbrook (per 36 minutes) at getting to the line for back court players -  all at very high free throw percentages.

 swish

Note in below link that Thomas now ranks 4th among guards - in TS% since he came into the league in 2011. Extremely efficient scorer. Pretty nice company that he's playing with.

http://bkref.com/tiny/QwFni

swish

swish wrote:Note in below link that Thomas now ranks 4th among guards -  in TS% since he came into the league in 2011. Extremely efficient scorer. Pretty nice company that he's playing with.

   http://bkref.com/tiny/QwFni

 swish

swish,

It's even more impressive when you sort by Turnovers.  Then he is 4th fewest TOs/game.  So he's shooting well and to do that he needs it in his hands, which we know he does a lot, but not turning it over much.

Furthermore, if you look at assists/game he ranks 11th, at 5.1/game, but if you look at his 2016-2017 numbers he is averaging 8.8/game.  That means that his earlier years are dragging that average down.  

As to ftas, DWade and Kobe are on the list, both players that are on their downside (Kobe, of course, is down and out).  DWade, this season, is only averaging 5.9 ftas/36.  So, there are two players that are ahead of of IT on ftas (he is averaging 9.5 ftas/36mpg) that would be behind him if we are looking at it as "what have you done for me lately".

This is the danger of stats.  Kobe's presence on this list dilutes the results because he is retired and didn't play much his last few years anyway.  DWade is in decline.  What matters is how he is doing this year, not his first two years, in a system that didn't feature him like it does here, and his production was the lowest of his career.  Should we judge Bradley going all the way back to his rookie and sophomore years, or look at how he is playing now, with a half dozen years of experience under his belt and playing in Brad's system?

IT was an All-Star last year. His numbers, in every category, are better this year.


bob


.

swish wrote:Thomas is one of the most efficient scorers in the last 35 years - Take Smarts shots way from him and make Thomas the DESIGNATED SHOOTER for Smart. When you got a cannon - shoot it. A lifetime TS% of.572 makes him the top choice to be the lead shooter on the team. Here's the company that Thomas is rooming with. He's ranked # 31 in the below link.

http://bkref.com/tiny/96aWr


   swish

I agree. IT is the biggest part in the solution; not the problem.

bobheckler wrote:

swish wrote:Note in below link that Thomas now ranks 4th among guards -  in TS% since he came into the league in 2011. Extremely efficient scorer. Pretty nice company that he's playing with.

   http://bkref.com/tiny/QwFni

 swish

swish,

It's even more impressive when you sort by Turnovers.  Then he is 4th fewest TOs/game.  So he's shooting well and to do that he needs it in his hands, which we know he does a lot, but not turning it over much.

Furthermore, if you look at assists/game he ranks 11th, at 5.1/game, but if you look at his 2016-2017 numbers he is averaging 8.8/game.  That means that his earlier years are dragging that average down.  

As to ftas, DWade and Kobe are on the list, both players that are on their downside (Kobe, of course, is down and out).  DWade, this season, is only averaging 5.9 ftas/36.  So, there are two players that are ahead of of IT on ftas (he is averaging 9.5 ftas/36mpg) that would be behind him if we are looking at it as "what have you done for me lately".

This is the danger of stats.  Kobe's presence on this list dilutes the results because he is retired and didn't play much his last few years anyway.  DWade is in decline.  What matters is how he is doing this year, not his first two years, in a system that didn't feature him like it does here, and his production was the lowest of his career.  Should we judge Bradley going all the way back to his rookie and sophomore years, or look at how he is playing now, with a half dozen years of experience under his belt and playing in Brad's system?

IT was an All-Star last year.  His numbers, in every category, are better this year.


bob


.

Of course stats should be closely scrutinized. In this particular case I simply focused on his consistency as a scorer. I could have sorted out Kobe and Wade on basis of age or done any number of sorts like you did. Obviously his recent stats are of the utmost importance - and I assume that most fans would place great importance in them.

swish