Isaiah Thomas kind of typifies something I feel that people greatly underrate--how much defense matters and how much a star who can't play defense devalues his own offensive production. For example, I'm not entirely sure that the Cavaliers would have performed much better, if at all, in the 2015 Finals if they had had Irving and Love healthy. Yes, they lost firepower in losing those two, but they gained a ton more defense with Tristan Thompson and Matthew Dellavedova. In last year's Finals, after being blown out in two straight games with Love, Cleveland blew out the Warriors without Love (granted, it was at home, but going from road to home isn't worth 50+ points). They then lost at home in Game 4 with Love back. It's very hard to quantify the effects of defense and a lot easier to quantify offensive production, but when an offensive star is awful at defense, it's probably unwise to consider them essential to the team. (Also, before people use Curry as a counter-example, the stats don't bear out that he's a below-average defender and most experts that I've seen opine on the subject don't consider him a poor defender. My own observations of him are that he's an active and smart defender and his main weakness is simply size--not technique, effort or instincts.)
Boston without Thomas still gave up 66 points in the first half tonight. Personally I just think after kicking the Celtics ass for 10 straight quarters the Cav's just came out in the 2nd half over confident.
I didn't want to bring up Lillard, because my post wasn't meant to re-ignite arguments over Lillard and McCollum. And I wasn't trying to point directly at them, either.
Possibly, but the overall defensive effort was easily the best of the series for the Celtics. The Cavaliers were trying in the fourth quarter, they just couldn't get anything going.
Seemed like a veiled shot at Lillard, since everyone here is well aware of his limitations. Either way, I don't disagree with the assessment, but over the long run I still think they are better off with IT, defensive faults and all.
I like Lillard, not to mention I don't tend to hide my intentions when I disparage a player. If anything, it was more of a shot at the Cavaliers' non-LeBron stars, which is what was consciously in my mind when I wrote the post (and that's why they featured prominently). That said, I do think Lillard is probably at least a bit overrated on this forum purely because his defensive limitations aren't properly accounted for (IMO). Of course, earlier this season I was arguing that Lillard was being underrated on this forum because his ability to knock down shots from crazy distances, off the dribble, have an outsize effect on defenses. So I'm far from a Lillard detractor, I'd say.
I think in Thomas' case, it's more than just his non-existent defense. Because of his diminutive size, it's easy to shut him down by double teaming him. Throw two guys at him that are 6'3" - 6'6" and he can't even see over the double team to find the open teammate. In a playoff series, where teams ratchet up the defense, it's just too easy to shut down BOS when the guy with the ball in his hands is 5'9". I respect everything Thomas has accomplished, but in the playoffs, I think he actually becomes a liability at both ends - not just the defensive end. I think that's where Lillard has an advantage over Thomas. Thomas' scoring average is down by over 5.5 ppg in the playoffs compared to the regular season and his advanced stats have fallen off a cliff. Lillard's advanced stats also took a hit not as much as Thomas'), but in all fairness his entire post season was against the No. 1 defense in the league and his scoring average was actually slightly higher in the playoffs (27.8 ppg vs. 27.0 ppg) than the regular season. BNM
It was one off, Cavaliers were up by 18 at one point and I have no doubt they will crush them in the next game. I think it'll be a complete annihilation, 40 points or more.
Thomas is a nice regular seadon player, but any team that olays decent d can shut him down. He can't play d either.
As for Lillard, I'm tired of reading and hearing that he has limitations on D. He is one of the premiere athletic, quick pg's in the league. If he chose to put more effort on that side of the floor, he'd be better
NBA announces Celtics late-game 3 pointer shouldn't have counted. http://cavaliersnation.com/2017/05/...-shouldnt-have-counted-for-celtics-in-game-3/
Yeah I don't recall saying NBA SAYS GAME WINNING THREE WAS NO GOOD!!!! I said late game. Or is 30 seconds to go not late enough for you? Excuse me for sharing. At least i didnt create 20 new threads about it.
