How Does Isaiah Thomas Score So Much?

At 5’9” inches, Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas is taking the NBA by storm this season as he is averaging nearly 30 points per game. Thomas was drafted with the last pick of the 2011 NBA Draft due to concerns about his height and his scoring ability translating to the NBA. Well, by now, he has erased all of those fears. Isaiah Thomas has proven time and time again that he is able overcome the massive height difference between him and the rest of the NBA. But how does he do it? As you can imagine, scoring points in the NBA is hard when you are almost a foot shorter than the average NBA player. IT has relied on creative methods in order to get the ball around and over taller defenders, and it has worked out masterfully so far.

Shooting

Isaiah Thomas is shooting 38.5% from three, 52.8% from two-point range, and a combined 46.9% overall. These are very good numbers by themselves, but when you combine them with the fact that he is making a lot of difficult shots, it is even more impressive. One of the biggest challenges when it comes to shooting at 5’9”, is physically getting the shot off over taller defenders. Here, you can see his normal shot release when he is not being guarded by a seven-foot monster of a human being. Notice the fairly normal release point and level of arc that he shoots with. Compare that with this shot here, over the 6’10” Noah Vonleh. You’ll see that Thomas leans back a little bit in order to get his release point higher and farther away from Vonleh’s outstretched arm. He also has an insane amount of arc under this shot. You hear about players shooting rainbows, and this is Example A. Thomas is a master at shots like these. He uses a variety of release points and mixes between his normal shot and a shot with a ton of arc under it depending on the defender in front of him. You can see it again here, as he leans back just a little bit to get the ball over the arm of 6’11” Dwight Howard.

There is a lots of arc under this shot, which is necessary just to get it off over a defender that is so much taller. This is incredibly difficult, because it takes a ton of practice and muscle memory just to get one shooting form up to a level where you make a good amount of your shots. When you mix up how you are releasing the ball, it is like learning half of a new shot.

Thomas is also an excellent spot up shooter, he is currently shooting 41.4% on catch and shoot three pointers and 49.1% on wide open threes. However, he can beat you with pull ups and drives as well.

Layups

Thomas is more than just a shooter. In fact, 43% of his field goal attempts come from within 10 feet of the hoop. Now, in the paint, or the land of the trees as I think it is referred to in an old 2k game, being 5’9” is tough. All of the big guys are going to be collapsing down, because they think it will be an easy block. And trust me, big guys love easy blocks. IT uses an elite mix of body control, ball movement, and unexpected angles while he is in the air in order to protect the ball and ultimately get a layup off. Now, when I say ball movement, I don’t mean passing the ball, instead, I am talking about physically moving the ball after jumping up for a layup. You can see it here, as he shifts the ball away from Willy Hernangómez and goes to the other side of the rim to avoid getting blocked. Tommy Heinsohn, the Celtics color commentator, raves about Isaiah’s ability to do this. He loves it. And he has good reason for it. It is an incredibly useful skill that he uses all of the time to get layups off. Here, you can see him keep the ball low for just a fraction of a second longer than expected to keep the defender at bay, before cycling the ball down and around to get the scoop layup off. Most of Isaiah’s layups look something like these, because there is almost always a defender he needs to evade.

Thomas also has a great level of body control that he uses to sneak through tiny gaps in defenders, shift himself around a big guy, or contort himself in some way to get a shot off. Here, you can see him propel himself through two defenders and twist himself just enough to get squared up to the hoop in order to get this layup off. When bigs leave space, Isaiah finds it.

Being 5’9” comes with one distinct advantage, no one expects you to shoot when you’re closely guarded. You can see an example of this here, where Kent Bazemore hardly contests this layup because Thomas has found an angle that Bazemore did not expect him to be able to use. Bazemore clearly expected him to dribble out, pass, or maybe use the opposite side of the rim to get a layup off, but instead, Thomas was able to sneak a layup off right in front of his face.

Moving Without the Ball

One of the best ways to score is to move without the ball. However, being the primary ball handler makes that a bit more difficult for IT. Thomas still utilizes lapses in the defenses that can be caused by off ball movement. Watch Thomas here, as he relocates after passing the ball. This is one of the best ways point guards can find themselves open shots. Ron Baker, for some reason, runs to contest an Amir Johnson three, which allows Thomas to relocate to the corner and get a wide open three.

Drawing Contact

Something else that is unexpected from a 5’9” point guard is the amount of fouls Isaiah Thomas can draw. He is shooting almost 9 free throws a game this season and making over 91% of them. This is partly due to the propensity Thomas has to exaggerate contact, he isn’t an outright flopper, but he will throw his head back and yell a bit on his drives. However, he also drives right into defenders very often and takes the contact. Doing this while still going up strong and getting a makeable shot off is one of Thomas’ strengths. Here, you can see him drive past him man while still creating the contact necessary to draw a foul and allowing himself to get an open layup off.

Conclusion

Isaiah Thomas is an elite scorer at the NBA level. He can score from anywhere on the court, but he has to uses skills that other NBA players don’t. He needs to be able to vary the arc on his shots and the release point of it in order to get it over taller players. He has to be able to protect the ball by moving it away from defenders on his layups. He also needs to surprise the defense with unexpected shots, cuts, and body control. Thomas has put all of these skills together in order to be able to score as he does in the NBA. With these skills, Thomas can reach new heights as an undersized guard in the NBA (I’m sorry I had to do at least one height pun).