Isaiah Thomas and Jordan are full of stories, and it is no secret that the two of them do not deal with each other.
Now, Isaiah Thomas has forwarded a set of data from his game against the Bulls in '85-90 and bluntly said: "Let everyone know that no hatred is just a fact." The US media that released the data was all iconic sports taking sides: "Whatever Thomas wants to say is allowed." ”
Previously, Thomas had also said that a head-on confrontation with Jordan dominated him, and he (Jordan) was not an opponent at all. In his opinion, wrist surgery in 1991 ended his career, and the confrontation between the two was no longer real competition.
Leaving aside the situation between the two in 1991 and beyond, what was the truth in the 85-90 years that Isaiah Thomas was proud of? Did he really dominate Jordan in a head-to-head confrontation?
By the summer of 1990, at the end of the 89-90 season, the two had met 42 times, with Jordan's Bulls winning 13 and losing 29.
In those 42 games, Jordan averaged 31.9 points, 6.7 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 2.3 steals, 0.85 blocks, 46 percent from the field, 24.4 percent from three-point range (21 of 86 shots in total), and 11.5 free throws per game, which can be scored 9.5 points. Among them, there have been 61 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks in a single game, as well as 59 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
Isaiah Thomas' stats are that he averaged 20.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 9 assists, 2.1 steals, 0.2 blocks per game, 43.7 percent and 30 percent from the field from three-point range (20 of 65 shots in total), averaged 6.3 free throws per game, and scored five points per game at the free throw line. The highest single-game score was 36 points, and he had 31 points, 5 rebounds and 18 assists.
From the data of the two people in the past 5 years, Isaiah Thomas in addition to averaging 9 assists per game more than Jordan's 6.2 times, three-point shooting rate is higher than Jordan's 5.6 percentage points, other data including scoring, rebounding, steals, blocks, shooting percentage, number of free throws, etc., are inferior to Jordan, and even the gap in scoring and blocking per game is relatively large.
During this period, the two met 18 times in the playoffs, with Jordan's Bulls with a record of 6 wins and 12 losses, and losing all three series (1-4 for the 87-88 season; 2-4 for the Bulls in the 88-89 season; 3-4 points for the Bulls in the 89-90 season).
In these five-year playoff encounters, Jordan averaged 30 points, 7 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 2 steals, 0.5 blocks per game, shooting 47.1 from the field, 26.8% from three-point range (11 of 41 in total), averaging 10.5 free throws per game and 8.5 free throws per game.
Isaiah Thomas averaged 19.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 8.8 assists, 2.4 steals and 0.2 blocks per game, shooting 39.5% and 26.1% from the field (11 of 42 overall), averaging 6.6 free throws and 5.3 free throws per game.
Judging from the personal data performance of the playoffs, Isaiah Thomas has more steals and assists than Jordan, and others are lower than Jordan, especially the shooting percentage, scoring, and free throws. Isaiah Thomas' playoff headcount during the playoffs has seen a decline in scoring, assists, shooting, and three-point shooting, with a lower three-point shooting percentage than Jordan.
Taken together, in the five years of 86-90, Isaiah Thomas's team was clearly superior in terms of record (29 wins and 13 losses in all meetings, 12 wins and 6 losses in the playoffs). If, in terms of team records alone, as Isaiah Thomas said, head-to-head dominated Jordan, he (Jordan) is not an opponent at all, and there seems to be no problem.
But in the comparison of the data between the two, Jordan clearly has the upper hand. Basketball games have a great impact on individuals, but after all, it is a collective project, resulting in a huge difference in the two teams' record, and what is the situation of the two teammates?
From the 85-86 season to the 89-90 season, only the 89-90 season, one of Jordan's teammates was selected for the All-Star Game that season, that is, the third-year Pippen, who averaged 16.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.2 blocks per game that season. In addition, in the 85-86 season, the Bulls' number two person was Orlando Ulrich, who averaged 20+5+3 per game but never been selected as an All-Star in his career; in the 86-87 season, the second highest scorer was charles Oakley, a second-year player. He averaged 14.5 points and 13.1 rebounds per game; in the 87-88 season, the second-highest average was Vincent, who had 13 points, 3.6 rebounds and 8.4 assists, which was Pippen's rookie season, averaging 7.9 points per game; in the 88-89 season, the team's second-highest scoring was Pippen, who averaged 14.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.9 steals per game.
Isaiah Thomas's teammates are more capable than Jordan's. In the 85-86 season, the Pistons' Tripka averaged 20+4+3 per game, Lambier averaged 16+13 per game; in the 86-87 season, Lambier was named an All-Star, Dantley averaged 21.5 points per game as the Pistons' top scorer, Joe Dumas averaged 11.8 points and 45 assists per game, Rodman averaged 6.5 points and 4.3 rebounds; in the 87-88 season, Dantley was still the team's top scorer with 20 points per game, Joe Dumas, Lamberre, Rodman, Vinier Johnson, and Rick Mahon averaged double-figures In the 88-89 season, the main lineup was basically the same as the previous season, adding a 15.5 points per game to Aguirre; in the 89-90 season, in addition to Isaiah Thomas, Joe Dumas and Rodman were also selected for the All-Star Game.
It can be seen from this that Isaiah Thomas's teammates are significantly stronger than Jordan's teammates in the same period, which is also true.
Overall, Jordan's personal data, both in the regular season and in the playoffs, is significantly better than Isaiah Thomas's team, which clearly has the upper hand in terms of head-to-head record, but his teammates provide significantly more support than Jordan's teammates. Therefore, Isaiah Thomas said that he dominated Jordan in the head-to-head confrontation, Jordan is not an opponent, if you stand in the team's point of view, the two teams at that time can be said to some extent, but if you talk about the confrontation between the two, it is Jordan who has the upper hand.