Isaiah Thomas' Defense is Better than You Think

[jambr380]

Both times I have checked this thread today, I was psyched to see LarBrd had returned. I guess I am easily fooled.

[Ogaju]

actually, no it is not.

[Ogaju]

Both times I have checked this thread today, I was psyched to see LarBrd had returned. I guess I am easily fooled.

looks like he came back to hit post #20,000

[playdream]

Stop this nonsense, this is basketball, you can't be 5"9 and not be horrible on defense, you just can't

[TheSundanceKid]

a lot of times mismatches force doubles which affect the whole D

Sometimes you will have to switch but to combat mismatches Brad needs to play a system that allows the guards to fight over the top of a screen and be able to recover, ie hedging.
There is a point where you accept the deficiencies of a player because their strengths outweigh them. Isaiah is a solid one on one defender but a limited team defender. However you accept that because he sets our offense alight.

[makaveli]

i laughed out loud when i saw that someone actually voted for him on the All defense team.
yeah, it's a fact:
http://official.nba.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/06/2016-17-NBA-All-Defensive-Team-Votes.pdf

Other players receiving votes, with point totals (First Team votes in parentheses): Avery Bradley,
Boston, 46 (12); Klay Thompson, Golden State, 45 (16); John Wall, Washington, 38 (14); DeAndre
Jordan, LA Clippers, 35 (1); Paul Millsap, Atlanta, 35; Hassan Whiteside, Miami, 25 (1); Marcus Smart,
Boston, 21 (5); Jimmy Butler, Chicago, 18; LeBron James, Cleveland, 12 (1); Robert Covington,
Philadelphia, 11 (2); Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City, 10 (5); Paul George, Indiana, 7; Kevin Durant,
Golden State, 6; Dwight Howard, Atlanta, 6 (1); Mike Conley, Memphis, 5 (1); Jae Crowder, Boston, 5;
Jrue Holiday, New Orleans, 5; Wesley Matthews, Dallas, 4 (2); Stephen Curry, Golden State, 3; Andre
Iguodala, Golden State, 3 (1); Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Charlotte, 3; Ricky Rubio, Minnesota, 3; P.J.
Tucker, Toronto, 3; Trevor Ariza, Houston, 2; Nicolas Batum, Charlotte, 2; Marc Gasol, Memphis, 2;
Eric Gordon, Houston, 2 (1); Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota, 2 (1); Steven Adams, Oklahoma City, 1;
LaMarcus Aldridge, San Antonio, 1; Al-Farouq Aminu, Portland, 1; Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Detroit,
1; George Hill, Utah, 1; Serge Ibaka, Toronto, 1; Damian Lillard, Portland, 1; Luc Mbah a Moute, LA
Clippers, 1; Austin Rivers, LA Clippers, 1; Isaiah Thomas, Boston, 1; Cody Zeller, Charlotte, 1.

[Sketch5]

Stop this nonsense, this is basketball, you can't be 5"9 and not be horrible on defense, you just can't

What a load of crap. Muggsy Bogues was 5'3" and was nasty on D. While he may have not been the norm he proves you can be under 6 feet tall and a good defender.

 Watching Center Court one night the guys were talking about him and Steve Smith said he and most other PG's would back up to him at the 3 pt line because they were worried about getting stripped. They said Penny Hardaway was one of the few guys that would come at him straight up because his handles were that good. I remember watching Bogues, he used his height as an advantage. Got under people, and was strong enough to handle big guys posting him up.

Thing with Thomas is that he does at times plays good D. Yes guys are going to shoot over him. But also have to look at that he's been the sole offense, if he has to sit for a long period of time it hurts the team. So he couldn't be as aggressive as he could be.

That being said, with Hayward being here, this will be a test to that,, he should be able to be more aggressive and contribute more, if he doesn't it's either he just doesn't have it, or he lacks the will to play hard aggressive D.

[GreenEnvy]

Stop this nonsense, this is basketball, you can't be 5"9 and not be horrible on defense, you just can't

Just like you can't be 7' and not be great at defense, you just can't.

Oh wait.

[Ogaju]

Stop this nonsense, this is basketball, you can't be 5"9 and not be horrible on defense, you just can't

What a load of crap. Muggsy Bogues was 5'3" and was nasty on D. While he may have not been the norm he proves you can be under 6 feet tall and a good defender.

 Watching Center Court one night the guys were talking about him and Steve Smith said he and most other PG's would back up to him at the 3 pt line because they were worried about getting stripped. They said Penny Hardaway was one of the few guys that would come at him straight up because his handles were that good. I remember watching Bogues, he used his height as an advantage. Got under people, and was strong enough to handle big guys posting him up.

Thing with Thomas is that he does at times plays good D. Yes guys are going to shoot over him. But also have to look at that he's been the sole offense, if he has to sit for a long period of time it hurts the team. So he couldn't be as aggressive as he could be.

That being said, with Hayward being here, this will be a test to that,, he should be able to be more aggressive and contribute more, if he doesn't it's either he just doesn't have it, or he lacks the will to play hard aggressive D.

lol now I am  going to have to google Mugsy Bogues NBA defense.

[Tr1boy]

Stop this nonsense, this is basketball, you can't be 5"9 and not be horrible on defense, you just can't

What a load of crap. Muggsy Bogues was 5'3" and was nasty on D. While he may have not been the norm he proves you can be under 6 feet tall and a good defender.

 Watching Center Court one night the guys were talking about him and Steve Smith said he and most other PG's would back up to him at the 3 pt line because they were worried about getting stripped. They said Penny Hardaway was one of the few guys that would come at him straight up because his handles were that good. I remember watching Bogues, he used his height as an advantage. Got under people, and was strong enough to handle big guys posting him up.

Thing with Thomas is that he does at times plays good D. Yes guys are going to shoot over him. But also have to look at that he's been the sole offense, if he has to sit for a long period of time it hurts the team. So he couldn't be as aggressive as he could be.

That being said, with Hayward being here, this will be a test to that,, he should be able to be more aggressive and contribute more, if he doesn't it's either he just doesn't have it, or he lacks the will to play hard aggressive D.

I agree.. Nate Robinson and Phil Pressey were decent short defenders also

IT4 just seems lost on the defensive end at times

[Scintan]

His defense is every bit as bad as most people think.  It's just part of the package.

[Dino Pitino]

Muggsy Bogues was 5'3" and was nasty on D.

He was "nasty"?

[kozlodoev]

Stop this nonsense, this is basketball, you can't be 5"9 and not be horrible on defense, you just can't

It's good that he's not 5'9 then? (yes, that again ).

[fairweatherfan]

Sorry for the bad quality but this was a famous play back in the day:

[Ed Hollison]

I'm hoping the addition of Hayward takes some pressure off IT on the offensive end, and frees him up to exert more effort on D. I think that was a big part of the problem last year, namely that you couldn't ask him to carry the offensive load but also try and defend a top point guard on the other end. (Think John Wall in the playoffs, with Stevens just electing to "hide" IT on Otto Porter.)

Maybe this year with bigger 2-guards (Jaylen and Marcus) instead of Avery Bradley, and with IT saving some of his energy on O, you don't have to do this whole song and dance when it comes to defending speedy ball handlers. Just put IT on those guys and tell him he no longer has to save up his energy for offense.