People often say not to be confused by appearance, the reason is that the essence of a person and his appearance are sometimes not the same, some people look five big and three thick, in fact, a kind and careful warm man, some people have a smile on their faces, but they are a bad boy who will lay black hands, the protagonist of this article" Isaiah Thomas is such a person, his face often has a smile, but also often ruthless under the black hand, he has a very good ability, but also has a style of football that makes people feel terrible, this article will talk about Isaiah Thomas.
Scrappy and capable "bad boy"
Thomas is 1.85 meters tall, he does not have a large muscle, but the body is tough, looking at it, this figure is absolutely good among ordinary people, but in the NBA, this figure is also average, and it will suffer losses because of short height. God did not give Thomas a good height, but gave him a good athletic talent, let him make up for the disadvantage of height, Thomas's bounce is very good, complete the dunk is not a problem, when the basket, often fly in the air to work, to make enough time for themselves to do the action.
Thomas's speed is very fast, the explosive force is very strong, which makes him very crisp when he passes, with a little opportunity to pass the opponent neatly, do not give the opponent time to remedy, such excellent athletic ability makes Thomas's breakthrough power is very large, very difficult to defend, and when the opponent intends to control his breakthrough, Thomas will also shoot at the outside, use shooting to solve the defense, can suddenly shoot, so that Thomas has a very strong scoring ability, can take the ball at any time, continuous scoring, scoring explosiveness is very strong.
As a point guard, Thomas's organizational ability is also very good, he passes the ball quickly, the ball is very tricky, can pass through the human seam, send the ball to teammates, at the peak of Thomas, four consecutive seasons of assists in doubles, also elected the assist king, in the 80s, Thomas and Magic Johnson are recognized as the best point guards, others can only be ranked behind them.
His great ability allows Thomas to accomplish a lot of incredible things on the court, and in addition to that, Thomas always makes him noticed in other aspects, such as the black hand. Thomas is a very scrappy person, but also a very tough person, even if there is an injury, he will endure severe pain, put on the field, for himself and the team to win, and more rarely, he can really bring injury to the game, play a very good performance.
In Thomas's eyes, after boarding the court, there is no possibility of harmony, in order to win, he can do anything, including very dangerous fouls, Jordan has been hurt by Thomas's very dangerous fouls, many people look down on or dislike Thomas because of this, the nickname "bad boy" also comes from this.
Thomas on the field, often smiling, while giving his opponent a fatal blow, also smiled after the evil offender, people gave him the nickname "Smile Assassin". Thomas's 13 years in the NBA are still a bit short compared to those evergreens, but in these 13 years, a lot of things have happened, it is a very wonderful 13 years.
Single-handedly drag the team out of the mire
The Pistons are a team with a long history, joining the NBA in 57 years, and by 80 years, they have been in the NBA for 27 years, but in these 27 years, the Pistons have not reached the top, but the days have become worse and worse, since the 76-77 season, they have become a fish belly team in the East, far from the playoffs, close to the lottery signing. When the Pistons were stuck in the quagmire and could not save themselves, Thomas had made a name for himself in the United States, and entering the NBA was already a sure thing, and Thomas, who grew up in Chicago, hoped that the Bulls would choose himself and realize his desire to play for his hometown, but after the Pistons management met Thomas, they fell in love with him, and told Thomas, If you have the opportunity, I will take you to Detroit.
On the day of the 81st Draft, the Pistons selected Thomas with the eye of the list as they wished, a team that has no vitality, and ushered in a young man with infinite energy and very tough spirit. In front of Thomas is a mess, the pistons as a whole are not strong enough, the talent is limited, it is very difficult to bring the team out of the quagmire, even the pistons fans do not have any hope, on the day of Thomas's NBA debut, the stadium that can sit tens of thousands of people, only a few thousand people came.
Despite his poor situation, Thomas was not discouraged at all, he burned himself and told the fans with his performance, I am coming, the team can rise. On October 30, 1981, Thomas played for the Pistons for the first time against the Bucks, this game, Thomas played 41 minutes, contributed 31 points, 11 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block, leading the team to a good start, the next two games, Thomas is still very good, the Pistons started with a wave of three consecutive wins.
Pistons fans saw Thomas perform so well and had the hope that this 1.85-meter tall man could really make a huge difference to the team. In the following games, Thomas contributed a lot of remarkable performances, perfectly displayed his strength, averaging 17 points, 2.9 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 2.1 steals per game, and the Pistons won 18 more games than last season because of Thomas's wonderful play, and they were one step closer to the goal of playoffs.
In the 82-83 season, Thomas performed better, the Pistons' record also improved, the Pistons have touched the door to the playoffs, 83-84 season, Thomas averaged 21.3 points, 4 rebounds, 11.1 assists and 2.5 steals per game, leading the Pistons to a record of 49 wins and 33 losses, and the Pistons entered the playoffs as the fourth in the East. In the third year of his NBA career, Thomas completed his goal of making the team into the playoffs, and then he had to perform in the playoffs to let people know that Thomas was still a great figure in the playoffs. In the first round of the playoffs, the Pistons and Knicks played off against each other, and in the first playoff game of his career, Thomas performed decently.
The Pistons lost by one point, but in the next three games, Thomas led the team to win two games, dragging the series into a decider. In the decider, the Pistons fell into passivity in the final moments, looking like they were about to be eliminated, just at this time, Thomas stepped forward, cut 16 points in 94 seconds, and dragged the game into overtime, although the last 4 points were lost, but no one felt that the Pistons should not be respected, Thomas should not be praised.
Thomas gave the Pistons hope with his performance, and the Pistons spokesman said bluntly after the game: "We used to be a joke, but not anymore, and you will see that Thomas will lead the team to greater achievements." Thomas did not let the words of the team spokesman become a laughing stock, and in the 84-85 season, Thomas reached the peak, averaging 21.2 points, 13.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game, being elected the assist king and bringing the Pistons into the playoffs, this time, Thomas took the team to the second round.
Once into the playoffs is accidental, two times into the playoffs is not accidental, but the embodiment of strength, Thomas in the team's main force has not changed significantly, the team from the fish belly team to the playoff team, it can be said that Thomas alone dragged the team out of the quagmire, achieved the rise of the team, the next goal is very clear, is to win the championship, complete a historic breakthrough. But the journey to win the championship has always been difficult, full of difficulties, and in the face of difficulties, Thomas showed how strong he was, how tough his spirit was, and how difficult it was for him to be defeated.
Overcome many difficulties and finally realize the dream of the championship
In the 86-87 season, the Pistons' personnel has undergone a big change, Thomas has a lot of helpers around him, the "Bad Boy Army" has taken shape, and the Pistons led by Thomas, Dumas and Lambier have begun to make opponents afraid. With helpers, Thomas continued to do well, with the Pistons making it to the playoffs, first to beat the Bullets, then the Hawks, and the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals. At this time, the Celtics were already at the end of the crossbow, but compared with the Pistons, the Celtics were stronger, and the Battle of King Mountain also achieved Larry Bird's "Thief of the Century", although the Pistons tried their best to fight with the Celtics to grab seven, and finally lost by 3 points, missing the finals.
For Thomas, each defeat can make him more sober, burst out more energy in the next battle, 87-88 season, the Pistons as the second in the East, once again into the playoffs, the first round to defeat the bullets, the second round and Jordan's Bulls, compared with the Pistons at this time, the Bulls are still tender, the fifth game of the series, Thomas contributed 25 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds and 1 steal, to help the team end the series, advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, and play against the old rival Celtics.
In the crucial Battle of King Mountain, Thomas played 47 minutes, contributed 35 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals, leading the team to victory, the sixth game, Thomas did not feel good, but also had 9 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block into the account, the Pistons defeated the Celtics and advanced to the Finals. Pistons Finals facing the defending champion Lakers, a new team that has just risen, one is an old giant who has won several championships, on the card surface, the Pistons are indeed inferior to the Lakers, but in terms of strength, the Pistons are not much worse than the Lakers, they are very aggressive, forcing the Lakers to a desperate situation, and achieving a 3-2 big score advantage.
Won the sixth game, the Pistons will be crowned the championship, but the accident suddenly happened, Thomas sprained his ankle, the injury is still very serious, walking is difficult, it is reasonable to say, he should go down, but Thomas thought about it on the sidelines, he did not want to miss the opportunity to win the championship, he gritted his teeth and continued to play, after returning to the court, Thomas with an injured leg, a single quarter of 25 points, the suspense of the game continued, but unfortunately, there was a controversial penalty at the last moment, the Lakers narrowly won by 1 point, the game entered the seventh, grabbed the seventh, Thomas continued to fight with injuries, but this time, he couldn't hold on, and after playing 28 minutes, he went off the field, and the Pistons lost to the Lakers by 3 points and missed the championship.
It is a pity that they did not win the championship due to injury, and this grief turned into strength, making each Pistons team work harder to run towards the championship. In the 88-89 season, the Pistons entered the playoffs, defeated the Celtics and bucks, and then defeated Jordan again in the Eastern Conference Finals to advance to the Finals, the opponent was still the Lakers, however, this injury plagued the Lakers, they were greatly reduced due to injuries, and the Pistons, Thomas played well, organized the team's offense, Jodumas played better, very efficient, the Pistons swept the Lakers, won the first championship trophy in team history, And Jodumas was elected FMVP. In his eighth year in the NBA, Thomas finally fulfilled his dream and won the beloved championship trophy, and the story is not over.
In the 89-90 season, the Pistons gained momentum, achieved a record of 59 wins and 23 losses in the regular season, ranked first in the East, and reached the playoffs with their heads held high, facing the Pacers in the first round, the Pistons easily swept the opponent, facing the Knicks in the second round, Thomas averaged 18.4 points, 8.4 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game, and performed well, the Pistons beat the Knicks 4-1.
Eastern Conference Finals, the Pistons and the Bulls met again, this is the third time the two sides met, this time the Bulls are much stronger than the Bulls of the previous two years, the Pistons in the first to gain the advantage, by the opponent to drag the series into the rush seven, grab the seven, Thomas played 44 minutes, handed over 21 points, 8 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 steals and 1 block of the full performance, with the help of Thomas, the Pistons easily won the victory and stepped onto the stage of the Finals.
The Pistons played against the Blazers this time, this time the Pistons played well is Thomas, the first game of the Finals, Thomas cut 33 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 steal, helped the Pistons win, the second game of the Finals, Thomas contributed 23 points, 11 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 steal, but the winner was the Blazers.
In the third game of the Finals, the Pistons played very well as the whole team, Thomas contributed 21 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 1 steal, the Pistons won 15 points over the Blazers, and in the fourth game of the Finals, Thomas contributed 32 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals, helping the Pistons to win the Blazers by 3 points and get the match point. In the fifth game of the Finals, Thomas contributed 29 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals, the Pistons narrowly defeated the Blazers by 2 points, defeated the Blazers by a big score of 4-1, defended the title successfully, and won two consecutive championships, Thomas won the FMVP with 27.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 7 assists and 1.6 steals, and tasted the taste of winning the FMVP trophy.
Before that, two consecutive championships are unprecedented in the history of the Pistons, the Pistons can achieve such a big achievement, of course, can not be separated from everyone, but in the end, it is Thomas who let all this start, without Thomas, the rise of the Pistons can not be talked about, whether it can achieve such results is even more unknown.
Wounded and sick, it is no longer the same as it was
In order for the Pistons to win the championship, Thomas consumed a lot on the court, leaving a lot of hidden dangers, after the deterioration of physical function, these injuries came, the 90-91 season playoffs, Thomas was found by injuries, his feet sprained, thigh muscle strains, wrist injuries, these injuries, so that Thomas's performance is no longer the same year, the Pistons were also swept out by the Bulls, the era that belonged to the Pistons came to an abrupt end.
After this injury wave, Thomas did not come out of the shadow of injury, injury became a shadow that Thomas could not get rid of, constantly eroding his body, Thomas's state was getting worse than a day, in his last home game, he also tore the Achilles tendon in front of his hometown father, making many fans who liked him, sorry for him, serious injuries made it impossible for Thomas to fight again, on May 11, 94, Thomas announced his retirement, ending his NBA career.
Write at the end
Thomas is a legend, although he is relatively small, but his ability is very strong, in the finals stage, Thomas also proved himself, it can be said that Thomas is a small player ceiling, it is difficult for posterity to surpass him.
After retiring, Thomas worked as a coach, but the results are average, Thomas gave up being a coach, and now often participates in TV shows to talk about his views, and this year Thomas is 60 years old, does not look like an old man with a flower armour, the mental state is particularly good, I wish Thomas all the best in the future.