If You Don't Think Isaiah Thomas Is An All Star Then You My Friend Are A Moron
Current Eastern Conference All Star Guard Voting Standings:
There is little reason to get fired up about this, but the Celts don’t play unti tomorrow and I’m still irrationally angry about this. Say what you will about the Celtics as a whole, but this list is absolute bullshit. Jeremy Lin? Derrick Rose? Shit, Kyrie Irving has played EIGHT games this year. This is a down right travesty for IT4. Mainly, because he is having a ridiculous season, and I feel for the guy. It’s become his narrative that no one respects him, and I just don’t see why. I get that All Star voting is 1000% a popularity contest, but this has me sick. Here’s why.
– Isaiah’s 20.7 ppg ranks 4th in the entire NBA for point guards, trailing only Damion Lillard, Russell Westbrook, and Steph Curry. This is clearly ahead of Rose (14.1), Irving (16.9), and Lin (12)
– His PER of 20.93 ranks 7th in the entire NBA for point guards, and the 3rd highest if you break it down to just guards in the Eastern conference. This is higher than Rose (10.64), John Wall (19.89), Lin (15.50)
– Isaiah’s 20.7 pts and 6.8 assists combination lead all guards in the East
– The Celtics are 39-28 since acquiring Thomas at last year trade deadline. This year they are 7 games better at this point of the season from where they were this time last year.
– His usage rate of 28.5% is 6th in the entire NBA, and 3rd among Eastern Conference guards.
– Of the point guards on this list, only Kyle Lowry has a higher offensive rating (112.3 to 110.5)
But it’s more than the numbers. It’s a simple eye test. Despite his size, Isaiah absolutely dominates people (recent struggles excluded) His hesitation dribble is perhaps top 2 or 3 in the league, and I’m not sure there is a player on the planet who can keep him from getting to his spot.
That’s only half of what makes Isaiah special. I don’t think I’ve seen a player on the Celtics be so good at shooting threes in transition. In fact, I’m not sure any point guard on this list actually does this. Thomas shoots a solid 46% on pull up threes, and check his heat map on this type of shot. Nasty
So here’s the problem. On last year’s Eastern Conference All Star team, there were a total of 5 total guards that made the team. Of those 5, two of them were PGs (Irving, Wall). If the top 5 players on the current list were to make it, there would be a total of 3 PGs selected ahead of Isaiah, which is ridiculous. It really makes no sense other than he is being penalized for not being a fan favorite. The season IT4 is having is one of the best of not only his career, but of this entire season, certainly better than Lin/Rose/Lowry. You could argue that both Thomas and Wall are the best point guards in the East this season, but why let facts get in the way!
Also, Snoop Dogg doesn’t lie
Let’s get my boy @Isaiah_Thomas 2 the All Star Game #NBAVote RT to get him 2 Toronto !!
— Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) January 7, 2016
Here’s to hoping the little guy finally gets the respect he deserves, but probably won’t because All Star games are stupid and make zero sense.