Is Isaiah Thomas the next Muggsy Bogues? I know that he is not nearly as short as Muggsy was, but relative to his talent and numbers he is putting up as an un-physical rail of a player that guys the job done, he seems like he could be THAT guy?
He suffers the "I can't defend because I'm really short" disease, very good offensive player though, long term, he'd probably need to be a 6th man to win a title (he was my pick to win 6th moy until Sacramento moved him into the starting lineup), he's better than Muggsy though.
Love his game. Plays harder than anyone else in the league. Always gives 100% and I gotta root for a fellow lefty.
They are completely separate players. Isiah Thomas is a scoring PG and can't defend for jack. Best utilized as sixth man, in my opinion. Basically a more efficient Nate Robinson. Mugsy was a distributor, as Durvasa said, and also known for his on ball defense despite his height.
For his first seven years in CHA, Muggsy averaged a per year: 713 points .463 field goal percentage 724 assists 143 turnovers 242 rebounds 141 steals 3.7 blocks Isaiah Thomas hasn't had as many assists or steals in 2.3 years combined as Muggsy Bogues averaged per year his first seven years with the Hornets yet he's on track to have about 10% higher turnover rate. Muggsy averaged nearly 2x the rebounds and they are about even on blocks. Thomas (and most of the non centers in the NBA) will hold one major advantage at 3pt shooting but that's about it. It's not to say that Thomas won't progress a great deal but right now, I don't know that there's ever been someone on Muggsy's level as far as what he accomplished provided his 5'3" size. Spud Webb is a better comparison but didn't have nearly the impact on his team or the NBA (IMO) that Bogues did.
I agree with you guys that he's a scoring pg, but I'd say he's more in the mold of AB as opposed to nate Robinson; versatile play maker rather than energy off the bench. <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/UQIQP5rH37A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Check out the stretch starting from 2:54. In successive posessions in OT, he runs the same initial play with great success. First, he recognizes where the defense is focusing and creates an easy shot for Gay. In the next possession, he runs the same play, but anticipates the defensive adjustment (lebron closeout on gay) and instead finds the soft spot in the defense for an easy pull up mid range J. His defense is definitely going to cost some posessions, but he is alert and active enough to cause some disruptive plays on his own. Also, I'd like to believe the Kings will finally use their size advantage and eventually become better paint protectors. Whatever the case, he is a really underrated player on a fun team to watch.
Isiah Thomas >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Bogues Isaiah Thomas <<<<<<<<<<< Bogues Very different kettles of fish.
This guy has been impressive this year... shooting over 43% from three-point range. He posted 27 and 9 last night on the Spurs, hitting 5-6 from deep. [youtube]BmZIS-R47E0[/youtube]
