Thomas scores again
Celtics guard wins big Tommy points
Tommy Heinsohn has a pretty fair perspective when it comes to professional basketball.
“I saw the NBA when it first started,” he said. “I’ve seen it all.”
Yet when he watches Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas, Heinsohn is left shaking his head.
“I’ve never seen a player like Isaiah,” said the Shamrock legend, one of just four people to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and coach. “I mean, there’s several players that I’ve seen over the years that you say to yourself, ‘How did he do that?’
“Well, three of them are Bill Russell, Bob Cousy and Larry Bird. And this Isaiah, I don’t know how he does what he does. Plus the fact that he relishes taking the shots in the fourth quarter. He’s a guy that challenges himself, and he wins the battle. I mean, it’s terrific. What fun.”
Looking back, Heinsohn added, “Bill did it with defense. I’ve never seen anyone play defense like Russell, blocking shots, his quickness and everything else. Some of the things he did, it was just hard to believe someone could do it. And Larry loved to make the big plays at the end of the game, and Cousy certainly did, too. Cousy would make these unbelievable passes.
“But this guy is really unusual — five-nine,” Heinsohn said slowly, emphasizing Thomas’ height or, more precisely, lack of same. “Five-nine, and he challenges himself and the other team to beat him. And he just sticks it to them.”
As he watched Thomas go for 41 points vs. the Pistons and score 19 of his 44 in the last quarter against Toronto on Wednesday — efforts that helped him to win January’s Eastern Conference Player of the Month honor, Heinsohn marveled.
“He’s fearless,” he said. “He’s got a knack for using his body. He’s a great athlete. For a guy 5-9, he gets up in the air, and he’s got hang time. So he goes right into the big guys, cuts down their reaction time and can get the shot off. A lot of times he gets over the top of that guy. He’s just a special player.
“Danny (Ainge) really did a great job. Danny talked to me a long time ago about him, before we got him. He’d seen him play in high school and college, and he told me what a great offensive player he was.”