Isaiah Thomas, Washington (5-8/170): DeRozan and Holiday came into the season as the most highly-regarded freshmen in the Pac-10, but 5-8 Isaiah Thomas has easily been more productive.
Here are some season numbers:
- DeRozan: 31 min, 12.4 pts, 5.1 reb, 52% FG
- Holiday: 27 min, 9.9 pts, 4.0 reb, 3.2 ast, 1.5 stl, 50% FG
- Thomas: 28 min, 16.7 pts, 2.9 reb, 2.9 ast, 1.1 stl, 42% FG
Thomas has been especially impressive in Pac-10 play, averaging 19.2 pts, 3.0 reb, 2.7 ast, and perhaps most notably, 8 free-throw attempts per game - a remarkable number for a 5-8 player. (By contrast, DeRozan averages about 3.5 FTA on the season, and Holiday is around 2 FTA.)
Beyond being an exciting player to watch, Thomas is the kind of guy who's fascinating and kind of fun to project in terms of whether he can succeed in the league - he is so unorthodox and has such distinct pros and cons.
Not a terribly consistent shooter (just .312 3PT), Thomas does most of his damage in the lane - he is extremely quick with the ball and has a great bounce which helps make him quite adept at getting his shot off, and also drawing contact, inside.
Thomas' two-game stretch against the SoCal schools was especially impressive. USC has several long athletic bigs who really showed why rugged UW big man Jon Brockman will struggle at the next level - he can't get his shot off against NBA-type bigs. But it was no problem for Thomas, who was unfazed amidst the trees inside - he got to the line 14 times in the game, scoring 17 points on 4-10 FG.
Meanwhile, the main challenge vs. UCLA was beating the excellent perimeter defense. As mentioned, Thomas and friends (Dentmon, Venoy Overton) torched the Bruins guards. Isaiah lit up Collison especially, scoring 24 points while getting to the line 12 times. Good defensive USC bigs, good defensive UCLA guards, didn't matter - I.T. proved he could get to the basket (and the line) at will and score on both.
Rivals had a story in which UW coach Lorenzo Romar compared I.T. to Damon Stoudamire:
When Washington coach Lorenzo Romar ran into former Arizona guard Damon Stoudamire in Hawaii a couple of summers ago, he decided to let him in on a little secret.
But the word apparently already was out on Isaiah Thomas.
"Damon, I've got to tell you something," Romar said. "We've got a guy coming in."
"From Tacoma?" Stoudamire asked.
"Yeah," Romar replied.
"Isaiah Thomas?" Stoudamire asked.
"Yeah," Romar replied again.
"You're going to tell me he reminds you of me," Stoudamire said. "You don't know how many people have told me that."
...
"Damon shot more from the outside than Isaiah does and Isaiah probably penetrates more, but if you ask me who he reminds me of, I would say that would be the closest guy - Damon Stoudamire," Romar said.
I think that the comparison is valid to a certain extent - both of the sub-6' lefties have a strong ability to score in the lane (and also rebound well for their size), but I do believe that Stoudamire was both a much better outside shooter and a much better point guard in terms of running a team.
Basketball Reference has
Stoudamire's college stats. It's hard to compare freshman numbers both because Damon played only 18 minutes per game and because the overall talent level/competition in college basketball was so much higher then. For his college career, Stoudamire averaged 40% from three and 5.4 assists per game, including highs of .465 and 7.3 in the categories as a senior.
Thomas has a long way to go in both areas if he is to become a top NBA prospect. Right now, he is not even really a point guard, as he has poor court vision. He missed open players multiple times in the games I attended, and had just 1 assist, against 5 TOs, in the two games combined.
Still, I think I.T. has a good chance to stick in the league someday in a role like other small men such as Nate Robinson, Spud Webb, Earl Boykins (different types of players, granted) - as a guy who can provide a spark and instant offense off the bench.
I just increasingly believe that Isaiah Thomas can get to the basket and score on anybody, and I do believe he has the hyper-athleticism of a Robinson or a Spud, which is important for those guys in the league - watch this for proof:
I just wanna see little dude dunk on people in a game.
In any event, it's a pretty impressive rise for a guy who did not crack the
Top 61 freshman prospects on Draft Express as of Dec. 24. I.T. has clearly outplayed the many Pac-10 freshmen ahead of him on the list at the college level, and he has to at least be on the NBA radar now, even if he still has a lot to prove as a pro prospect. (For the record, I certainly do not expect Thomas to make himself eligible for the draft this season.)
