Isaiah Thomas: The Heart and Soul of the Boston Celtics

It's been three weeks and Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas still can't stop smiling.

On January 25th, I attended my first Celtics game of the season, with Boston holding a solid, if not spectacular, 24-21 record.  In the age of the binary "contending-rebuilding" terms used to describe NBA teams, the Celtics have proven to be aberrant due to shrewd maneuvering from General Manager Danny Ainge.

Ainge has done a masterful job reshaping the Celtics over the past few seasons, starting with converting the fossils of future Hall of Famers Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett--along with fellow NBA artifact, Jason Terry--into three of Brooklyn's future first round picks in 2014¹, 2016, and 2018, a right to swap first rounders in 2017, and a $10.4 million trade exception.

After the trade was consummated on July 12, 2013, the Nets billionaire owner declared victory.  "Today, the basketball gods smiled on the Nets," proclaimed a giddy Mikhail Prokhorov. "With the arrival of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, we have achieved a great balance on our roster between veteran stars and young talents.  This team will be dazzling to watch, and tough to compete against."

The quote looks laughable years later, but it's important to remember that numerous analysts agreed with Prokhorov at the time, viewing the acquisition as a major coup by Nets GM Billy King.  The Nets would be title contenders for years to come, with the Celtics languishing away at the bottom of the standings, trapped in an inextricable state of limbo.

Or so they thought.

Much to the glee of Celtics fans, the Nets have been an unmitigated disaster since the trade, precipitously atrophying into one of the association's worst teams.  With a roster devoid of talent and management seemingly rife with incompetence, Brooklyn lacks a quick solution to pull its way out of NBA purgatory, all but ensuring the 2017 pick swap and 2018 first rounder Ainge procured from Brooklyn will yield tremendous value.  As a result, Ainge now possesses three assets, including the 2016 pick that will fall high in the lottery, that have greatly appreciated in value, a heist that would cause even Bernie Madoff to genuflect in awe.

But that was just the start of Ainge's makeover of the Celtics roster.

Last season, with the Celtics off to an uninspiring 9-14 start, Ainge jettisoned Rajon Rondo, the last remnant of the 2007-2008 title team, to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for a package including seldom-used small forward Jae Crowder.  While not highly regarded at the time of the trade, Crowder has blossomed into a versatile (he plays small forward and power forward for Boston) and indispensable two-way player for the Celtics, pairing excellent defensive skills and intensity with a still-improving yet formidable offensive game.

As good as Crowder has been for Boston, however, this move would ultimately end up being only the Celtics' second best move of the 2014-2015 season.

Remember that trade exception I alluded to in the second paragraph?  It was used to acquire Marcus Thornton and Tyler Zeller.  On February 19, 2015, the then 20-31 Celtics acquired diminutive point guard Isaiah Thomas in exchange for Thornton's expiring contract and the Cleveland Cavaliers' 2016 first round pick. It was a small price to pay for a player with Thomas' prodigious scoring ability and favorable contract², but he had developed an unfortunate reputation as a selfish, ball-dominant player during his tenures in Sacramento and Phoenix.

Since acquiring Thomas at the trade deadline, the moribund Celtics have quietly coalesced into one of the league's better teams with a record of 52-34 over the course of two seasons--good for the equivalent of 50 wins over an 82 game season. For perspective, last year's Eastern Conference champions, the Cleveland Cavaliers, won 53 games.

Buoyed by Thomas' scoring and playmaking prowess off the bench, the Celtics improved their offensive rating³by 1.9 points per 100 possessions over the final 31 games of the 2014-2015 season.  More important than the raw statistic itself, the Celtics finally had a player that could create his own shot and proficiently operate the pick and roll--the foundation of most NBA offenses. The suddenly red-hot Celtics charged into the playoffs, but were swiftly dispatched in four games by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Entering the 2015-2016 season, Thomas was not content resting on his laurels.

Asked by reporters in the preseason whether he was content as a 6th man, Thomas bristled back.  "Hell no," Thomas declared.  "Everyone wants to start.  But I'm a team player, will do whatever is best for the team."

Fortunately for Thomas, he got his wish. And fortunately for the Celtics, he has thrived as a starter so far this year, averaging career-highs in points per game (21.5), rebounds per game (3.0), assists per game (6.6), free throw percentage (90%), assist-to-turnover ratio (2.44), and PER (21.30)⁴. Moreover, with Thomas playing even more of a featured role on offense this season, the Celtics have the 9th best offensive rating in the league.

Flash back to three weeks ago on January 25th, 2016. With the Washington Wizards hosting the Celtics in the aftermath of a Mid-Atlantic blizzard, the crowd was sparse, but enveloped by Celtics fans. Showcasing his dazzling array of crossovers, spin moves, jumpers, floaters, herky-jerky lay-ups, and his league-best hesitation dribbles, Thomas was a true maestro on the court, dropping 23 points and 9 assists en route to a 116-91 blowout victory over the struggling Wizards.

With the game well out of reach, Thomas sat on the bench for the entire fourth quarter. Actually, that's not an accurate depiction of what happened. Thomas wasn't in the game, but he certainly was not sitting.

For a vast majority of the quarter, with the Celtics bench continuing to roll, Celtics fans in the arena erupted with glee. "LET'S-GO-CEL-TICS," the crowd chanted.

Who directed the chants?

None other than Isaiah Thomas.

With a beaming smile on his face and his arms fluttering towards the rafters, Thomas continued to implore the fans to cheer on his teammates. This was the look of a man in pure bliss, totally satisfied with basking in the glow of the moment. I'm not a psychologist and I generally disapprove of sports writers who pretend to be, but it 's not hard to comprehend the reasons behind his unbridled joy.

In order to understand Isaiah Thomas, you must first understand what he has overcome in his NBA career. Ever since he bolted the University of Washington for the NBA Draft in 2011, he has relentlessly battled to debunk negative perceptions about him and his game.

At first, he was told he wouldn't be drafted. He was simply too short, too much of a shoot-first point guard, and way too much of a liability on defense against NBA point guards. He was poised to join the litany of underclassmen to declare early for the draft, only to be greeted by the cacophony of crickets and haughty "I told ya so(s)." When drafted with the final pick of the 2011 NBA Draft, he was told he wouldn't earn a spot on the Kings roster. After he proved he belonged, his detractors dismissed him as a 'ball hog' on a bad team. He moved on to Phoenix, where he became a basketball pariah, a misfit on an awkwardly-constructed roster. The Suns deemed him fungible, shipping him to Boston with the ink barely dry on the contract Thomas signed in the offseason. In Boston, he was told he couldn't lead the team to the playoffs, couldn't be the fulcrum of a robust NBA offense, and couldn't be a starter.

Thomas let his performance prove his critics foolish, winning his personal crusade against them by unanimous decision. All that was missing was a knockout blow.

On January 28, 2016, that changed. Isaiah Thomas was named an NBA All-Star. Punch delivered.

Instead of unleashing his fury against the critics, Thomas was magnanimous, acknowledging his detractors without attacking them.

"I asked myself, 'What can they say now?' But they'll find something," Thomas said. "I mean, if they talk bad about Kobe and those types of guys, I'm not close to as good as them, so they'll find something. But it's not about them right now. I'm just enjoying the moment and I'm excited about what happened [on All-Star selection] night."

To say Isaiah Thomas was excited during All-Star Weekend would be a gross understatement.

Grinning wide from ear to ear throughout the weekend, Thomas' ebullience and talents were on full display for the world to see.

Isaiah Thomas smiles as he competes in the Skills Challenge.

Thomas placed second in the Skills Challenge on Saturday night before scoring 9 points and adding 3 rebounds and an assist for good measure during Sunday's game.

But don't mistake Thomas' happiness for satisfaction.

"Oh no, no," Thomas asserted. "We're trying to get more. Never satisfied, but definitely trying to get more."

No player better personifies this gritty, motley crew that is Brad Stevens' Boston Celtics more so than Isaiah Thomas, who has become the heart and soul of the team with the Eastern Conference's third best record.

And like Thomas, the Celtics aren't satisfied just yet. The fun is just getting started in Boston.

1: The Celtics selected guard James Young with the 2014 pick from Brooklyn. Although Young has yet to make an impact on the court for the Celtics in his nascent NBA career, he is only 20 years old and is capable of blossoming into a quality rotation player due to his ideal size (6'6") and purported ability to knock down three pointers.

2: Thomas signed a 4 year, $27 million deal with the Suns before the 2014-2015 season. Per terms of the deal, Thomas' salary decreases each year. Full information on Thomas' contract can be found here.

3: Offensive rating is computed as points per 100 possessions. It measures a team's offensive efficiency and is adjusted for pace.

4: PER measures a player's per-minute production. The average PER is 15. This statistic can be found on basketball-reference.com. 

In Defense of Pete Carroll and Darrell Bevell

All you’re hearing today is debate over Pete Carroll and Darrell Bevell’s decision to throw a slant route with Seattle a mere yard away from capturing a second consecutive Super Bowl title. Actually, that’s not entirely true. A debate has to have two sides and, so far, I have yet to see anyone other than ESPN analyst Danny Kanell defend Pete Carroll, a man whom I believe is being wrongfully skewered for making a sound football decision.

Let’s re-visit the situation. There were 26 seconds remaining on the clock and the Seahawks had one timeout remaining, both of which are vital pieces of information toward understanding Carroll and Bevell’s ultimately inauspicious joint venture. The Patriots lined up with seven men on the line, with linebacker Donta’ Hightower representing an eighth man lurking just behind the A gap. To Wilson, this is an easy read. The Patriots either are dropping these linemen into coverage, and thus taking away any chance they have at defending the run, or they are playing man coverage. And, as it turns out, the Patriots were playing man coverage.

On this play, Darrelle Revis lined up opposite Doug Baldwin. Trapped on Revis Island all day with only a temporary escape buoyed by a referee pick, Baldwin was not a reasonable option on this play. That is why Carroll smartly deployed him on an isolated side of the field, rendering the Patriots’ best defensive player obsolete for this play. On the other side, Jermaine Kearse and Ricardo Lockette lined up in a stack look. It’s important to note that Lockette is lined up as the Z receiver on this play, making him impossible to jam with a yard to go. It’s even more important to note who is covering Lockette—Malcolm Butler, an undrafted rookie.

Was Pete Carroll's boneheaded decision really a good decision with a bad result?

Malcolm Butler is the fifth cornerback on the Patriots roster. He was not supposed to play meaningful snaps in the Super Bowl. But with normally-reliable slot cornerback Kyle Arrington struggling mightily all day, Bill Belichick inserted Butler into the lineup due to his quickness advantage over dime back Logan Ryan. Aside from Chris Matthews, Seattle’s receivers are more quick than big, so this was a sensible deployment by Belichick.

It’s also very important to keep in mind what occurred two plays before. Still haunted by the specter of David Tyree and Mario Manningham, the Patriots were again burned by a miracle catch, this time by Seattle’s Jermaine Kearse. Who was covering him on that play? None other than Malcolm Butler, a player who wasn’t even supposed to be a part of the game plan. Oh, and did I mention he’s an UNDRAFTED ROOKIE playing in the Super Bowl?

                

Empowered by Butler’s presumed skill and confidence deficiencies coupled with the obvious man coverage read, Wilson confidently stepped into his 21^st pass attempt of the night. Everything was set up perfectly for Seattle. It was man coverage on a slant route one yard away from the end zone. The probability of intercepting this type pass is infinitesimal even for the best ball hawks in the game, let alone an unheralded rookie corner. But sometimes players make miracle plays, just as Kearse had two plays prior. Butler, aided by Brandon Browner’s stiff denial of Kearse’s attempt to set a pick on Butler, flew to the ball like a hawk, snatching the ball out of the air and deflating Seattle’s title hopes in the process. (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself with the deflating comment.)

                

Now, here is where you yell: “YOU HAVE A GUY NAMED BEAST MODE! YOU HAVE TO GIVE HIM THE BALL!” To which I reply, you had 26 seconds left with one timeout. Most of the consternation surrounding this play lies in the false belief that a Lynch touchdown was inevitable, as preordained as death and taxes. But let me deconstruct that belief. Again, the Patriots had eight men ready to stop Lynch. It’s vital to understand not just that Seattle is a great running team, but why it is a great running team, and what its fundamental weaknesses are.

                

The Seahawks, like so many teams, run the much ballyhooed zone-blocking scheme. Their offensive line is not predicated on power; it is predicated on a savvy scheme. Just because Marshawn Lynch is a power back does not mean that Seattle’s offensive line thrives with power blocks. That is an important distinction to make. Let me throw a statistic your way that Danny Kanell shared this morning: Marshawn Lynch was only 1 for 5 this year on goal-line situations with a yard to go. This is because of Seattle’s struggles with power blocking.

So now that I've established that Lynch in fact can be stymied, let’s examine what happens if he is on a second down run. The play clock would trickle down to around 21 seconds and Seattle would be forced to call its FINAL timeout. With that in mind, Seattle could conceivably run the ball again here, but it would be incredibly perilous to do so. If this third down run is unsuccessful, the game is likely over. The play clock would run down to around 15 seconds and Seattle would be extremely lucky to get another play off, let alone an effective one. The Super Bowl would end with the Seahawks leaving one play on the field.

With that in mind, what would you do on third down in this situation? I think everyone in their right mind would throw the ball now or attempt to get Wilson out of the pocket. But the thing is, Belichick would have the Patriots keenly aware of this too and, with the way New England’s secondary was blanketing Seattle’s receivers for most of the night, good luck scoring when the Patriots think you’re throwing and you only have 10 yards of the field for your receivers to work with.

And this is where the crux of the issue lies. Carroll and Bevell opted to, in their minds, ensure that they were able to get three tries at one yard. And by throwing the ball on second down, rather than third, they maintained their ability to be creative in their play-calling on potential third and fourth down plays. An unsuccessful Lynch run on second down would have left Seattle with a prisoner’s dilemma: either run it again and not get another play off if the run fails or predictably pass the ball against a great secondary.

Pete Carroll and Darrell Bevell will be chastised for this decision for the rest of their lives, but they shouldn't be. Per Danny Kanell, on the other 108 pass attempts at the one yard line this season, 66 resulted in touchdowns while ZERO resulted in interceptions. The odds of a turnover are even further reduced when you consider the facts and circumstances of the play: the man coverage read was obvious, Malcolm Butler was the targeted cornerback, and Russell Freaking Wilson is your quarterback.

There are only two types of plays that could have truly hurt Seattle in this situation: either one that forced Carroll to take his final timeout or, of course, one that resulted in a turnover. The rational fear of having to take their last timeout eliminated the possibility of the run and the equally rational confidence that a turnover was highly unlikely empowered Bevell and Carroll to pass the ball. A play-action pass was not a strong possibility either, as I've heard some people suggest, because it would expose Seattle to the exact same risk as an unsuccessful run play: that the clock would stop and Seattle would be forced to take its final timeout. Just because the outcome was disastrous does not mean that the play call was cataclysmic. As Russell Westbrook would say, Malcolm Butler just did a good phenomenal and unprecedented job of executing.