ISIAH HAS FULL FAITH IN ISAIAH
Pistons legend likes what makes C’s namesake tick
In the moments after Friday night’s unsightly 119-99 loss in Denver, Isaiah Thomas stood against a wall in the dressing room and blamed the Celtics in sneakers. He criticized the team, of which he is a part — a key part — for not performing with the required effort and intensity.
On a road trip that ended 2-3, this is to be considered progress.
Thomas has certainly not put blame elsewhere after every Celtics loss, but the fact he questioned the coaches’ decisions about rotation after the previous defeat against the Clippers has people wondering how he’ll respond.
On Wednesday, the morning of the Celts’ biggest victory of the season, a 99-86 decision over the Warriors, the All-Star guard noted with conviction that he must improve in his leadership role. He knows that, even on occasions when he may be justified in calling out authority, it isn’t always the wise thing to do from the overall team standpoint.
President of basketball operations Danny Ainge and coach Brad Stevens spoke to him about it, and so did one of his mentors make contact.
Isiah Thomas lived his whole playing career as the brightest star on his team, and he knows what comes with that. He rightfully offered support for his phonetic namesake, while letting it be known that the Celtic can get better in this regard.
“The one thing I wouldn’t do is overreact to something like this,” the Pistons legend told the Herald. “His first five-plus years in the NBA is who he is. It’s not like he changed. It’s not like he’s going to start ignoring his coach. He’s got enough good stuff built up in him as a person and his value base that he can get through something like this. And Brad is a good enough coach and then you’ve got Danny on top of the situation, so I don’t see this going any further than where it went.”
Isiah then made a very good point. He put Isaiah in perspective, characterizing him in a proper manner that helps forgive most perceived trespasses.
“When you’re pushing and you’re the underdog and you’re all in — I mean, you’re all in physically, mentally, emotionally and you’re taking every single loss hard — you want that guy on your team,” said the Hall of Famer. “I mean, he could very easily be saying, ‘Hey, look, I’ve got mine. Everything’s good.’
“And we know a lot of guys in our league that are like that. They come to the league and the first thing they do after a game is they grab a stat sheet and they’ll be like, ‘Oh, I’ve got mine, so everything’s good.’ You’re fortunate when you have a kid who’s all in.”
As for the aftermath of the Clippers game when Isaiah was clearly frustrated with some of the lineups as the Celts squandered a 13-point lead, Isiah said, “Those are teachable moments for the coaching staff. That’s when you teach. (Pistons coach) Chuck Daly used to say the best time to teach is after a loss. You have the players’ full attention. They’re receptive to all the input and information.”
Isiah was in Daly’s shoes when he took over as coach of the Pacers.
“I remember having this conversation with Jermaine O’Neal when he came from Portland and he started riding with us in Indiana,” he said. “There’s lead by example and lead by voice, and you have to understand that when you’re leading by voice, your words, they carry weight and they have significant impact on your teammates. So you always want to inspire and motivate. It’s different forms of leadership. You can inspire and motivate, or you can berate.
“I always spoke about knowing the difference between inspiration, motivation and berating and manipulation. You can choose the two forms, but the first is obviously the best. And I think Jermaine became a great leader in our league, not only with the Pacers, but every team he went to after that. He was one of the voices and one the leaders wherever he went.”
Thomas has been one of those leaders for the Celtics. And although he is a scoring star, he was hitting gritty notes Friday in Denver after the drop-off from Golden State.
“I’m surprised, but that’s one thing all year: we haven’t been that consistent for the most part,” he said. “And if we can turn that switch and be consistent, we can be a really good team. And that’s just bringing it each and every night, bring a hard hat and being what makes us really good, and that’s defending, being physical, getting loose balls.”
As they host Chicago this afternoon, it’s all about improvement for the Celtics, even off the court.