Did You See That?

Vertically Challenged is NOT in his vocabulary

1/23…

Miami @ Cleveland…

It was another night where the GM-less Heat pulled off a win behind a double double of 42 points and 10 rebounds by Kevin Durant.  No shock, he's playing 48 minutes per game and is on a tear.  Monta Ellis of all people was the leader that night for the Heat with 11 assists.  The assist leader nightly for the Heat usually belongs to the pint size terror that is Isaiah Thomas.  Not by a large margin but Thomas averages 8.0 apg while Ellis averages 6.0 apg, thus it was a night where Ellis was notched as the leader in the stat box.

Isaiah Thomas had a much larger stat box to fill up though…


Right Place at the Right Time?

Isaiah Thomas measures in at 5'10" tall.  His stat line looks something like this…

41 Games Played
41 Games Started
39.5 Minutes Per game
15.7 PPG
8.0 APG
4.1 RPG
1.0 SPG
0.5 BPG
2.4 TPG
2.7 PF
45.0% FG
83.1% FT
34.8% 3P

Isaiah Thomas is one of only 4 players in the whole Eastern Conference who are 5'11" or under.  This short list has…

Nate Robinson - Chicago - 5'9"
Phil Pressey - Atlanta - 5'11"
Shane Larkin - Orlando - 5'11"
and of course
Isaiah Thomas - Miami - 5'10"

So a lot of talk about height but why?

Well on this night when the Heat played the Cavaliers, Thomas did the unthinkable.

The 5'10" PG for the Heat pulled down an impressive 16 rebounds.  He even snuck in for 1 offensive rebound to go along with his 15 defensive rebounds.  Someone may want to talk to Kyrie about boxing out against a player that is 5" shorter than he is.  Some power forwards, hell some centers go through a season without pulling down 16 rebounds.  It is quite a feat and something that should be mentioned.  We caught up with Isaiah Thomas and he had this to say.

Isaiah Thomas wrote:It was unreal out there tonight.  You know sometimes, the ball truly does just bounce your way but tonight, they all were.  I mean, who expects to grab 16 rebounds when you get razzed about your height most of the time.  KD and ZBo were telling me to stay out of their column!  You know, the win is what matters the most but it's a night I will not soon forget.

So whoever has Miami coming up…make sure you put a body on this guy or he may be challenging for the rebound title at this pace!

I noticed something similar with Redick. He came in averaging like 1.5 boards a game with the Lakers, and so far for us, he's had a 10 and 12 rebound game.

 This "short" list   

Good to see guys pointing other team news as it happens, especially a team without a GM and yeah I saw that.

Heat are playing great basketball even without OP leading them.
About Thomas.. Well very impressed! Next time we meet I'm gonna ask Deron to box out him every single time LOL

May even start Deron at C just to have Howard boxing out Thomas, it would be a nice strategy, who knows..

He's a C in a PG body  

Durant is having a crazy year - 43/8/3 w/ 2 blks & 1.3 stls. If Miami had a GM they'd still be the team to beat in the East. Even without one they are breathing down my neck for the division lead...