Kingsfans.com will only be satisfied until Demarcus Cousins has a 100 percent usage rate, only then will this team fullfill its all world potential and win 70 plus games and steamroll their way to the title. Kingsfans.com is the only place in the basketball community that overehelmingly dislikes Isaiah Thomas for no other reason than they always need a scapegoat to blame for the mediocrity of this franchise. IT, PDA, George Karl, theres always someone to put the blame on thats not here anymore and year after year its the same story with this team. The basketball minds out there would absolutely laugh at some of the things you can read on this board.
The one and only Isaiah Thomas thread (merged)
- Thread starter twslam07
- Start date
I don't know why I bother, but your post is factually WRONG. We don't dislike IT. We (for the most part) didn't like the idea that he was only interested in being a starter and would not readily come off the bench since many of us said repeatedly we thought he could be a perpetual winner of the sixth man award. Period.
You can change the narrative all you like to fit your agenda, but it doesn't change what's there in the threads if you actually choose to go back and look.
You can change the narrative all you like to fit your agenda, but it doesn't change what's there in the threads if you actually choose to go back and look.
Why are arguments adressing IT's defense and the lack of fit with DMC viewed as a disliking of IT or the search for a scapegoat?
IT is a bad defender. That's just reality. He isn't a bad defender, because he doesn't try. He is a bad defender, because he is small and carries a heavy burden on the offensive end.
Now take into account, that DMC, much like other heavy bigs, is not the best defender, when put into pick&rolls, which is usually the main point of attack for every team with a solid guard lineup versus the Kings, and it's fairly easy to come to the conclusion that a combination of IT and DMC isn't ideal, because every team will absolutely exploit them in the pick&roll. The Celtics are clearly not the defensive team they were last year. Some of the blame goes to IT, some is because of Bradleys injury and some of it is because Horford is not a great rebounder. But Horford is laterally quicker than DMC and more dynamic when stepping out to the 3 point line in pick&rolls (you might want to watch the Celitcs W versus the Rockets on 01/25 for an example, how Horford can guard players like Harden in crunchtime). An IT+DMC tandem would simply not be ideal on D and would be worse than the IT+Horford tandem.
And on top of that, it wouldn't be ideal on offense either. IT creates offense with high screen&rolls and with kickout passes, but has troubles when trying to throw inbound passes into the post or when forced to run the offense like an oldfashioned PG (notice that Marcus Smart actually initiates a lot of the offense for the Celtics with IT running off screens to give him a head start). He is best paired with someone like Dwight Howard, Nerlens Noel, DeAndre Jordan or Anthony Davis. Someone, who can cover his ass on D with stellar rimprotection and can play off his high screen&rolls, lobs and kick outs on offense. Cousins on the other hand excels, when he can use his versatility on offense to the fullest. Would those two be able to coexist on offense? Of course - both are great players and would find ways on offense. It's the defensive side of the ball, that really would cause a lot of troubles. And we already experienced, that being a good offensive team means nothing, if you can't defend.
Therefore it was a mistake to let IT go for nothing. But it wasn't a mistake to try to pair Cousins with a different PG.
That's not hating on IT, it's no downtalking of what IT has accomplished as a player and it's not the never ending search for a scapegoat.
It's just my line of thinking, that the good of an IT+DMC pairing wouldn't be enough to overcome the bad.
This Kings team needs a legit two way PG, that is able to make smart decisions when running the offense - that's not IT's calling card.
IT is a bad defender. That's just reality. He isn't a bad defender, because he doesn't try. He is a bad defender, because he is small and carries a heavy burden on the offensive end.
Now take into account, that DMC, much like other heavy bigs, is not the best defender, when put into pick&rolls, which is usually the main point of attack for every team with a solid guard lineup versus the Kings, and it's fairly easy to come to the conclusion that a combination of IT and DMC isn't ideal, because every team will absolutely exploit them in the pick&roll. The Celtics are clearly not the defensive team they were last year. Some of the blame goes to IT, some is because of Bradleys injury and some of it is because Horford is not a great rebounder. But Horford is laterally quicker than DMC and more dynamic when stepping out to the 3 point line in pick&rolls (you might want to watch the Celitcs W versus the Rockets on 01/25 for an example, how Horford can guard players like Harden in crunchtime). An IT+DMC tandem would simply not be ideal on D and would be worse than the IT+Horford tandem.
And on top of that, it wouldn't be ideal on offense either. IT creates offense with high screen&rolls and with kickout passes, but has troubles when trying to throw inbound passes into the post or when forced to run the offense like an oldfashioned PG (notice that Marcus Smart actually initiates a lot of the offense for the Celtics with IT running off screens to give him a head start). He is best paired with someone like Dwight Howard, Nerlens Noel, DeAndre Jordan or Anthony Davis. Someone, who can cover his ass on D with stellar rimprotection and can play off his high screen&rolls, lobs and kick outs on offense. Cousins on the other hand excels, when he can use his versatility on offense to the fullest. Would those two be able to coexist on offense? Of course - both are great players and would find ways on offense. It's the defensive side of the ball, that really would cause a lot of troubles. And we already experienced, that being a good offensive team means nothing, if you can't defend.
Therefore it was a mistake to let IT go for nothing. But it wasn't a mistake to try to pair Cousins with a different PG.
That's not hating on IT, it's no downtalking of what IT has accomplished as a player and it's not the never ending search for a scapegoat.
It's just my line of thinking, that the good of an IT+DMC pairing wouldn't be enough to overcome the bad.
This Kings team needs a legit two way PG, that is able to make smart decisions when running the offense - that's not IT's calling card.