Maybe Fred Hoiberg Has a Point About Isaiah Thomas Carrying the Basketball

Isaiah Thomas scored 33 points on 10-of-21 shooting in the Boston Celtics 104-95 win over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday. After the game, Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg had this to say about Thomas’s ball handling (via ESPN):

"“Let me say this, Isaiah Thomas is a hell of a player,” Hoiberg said. “An unbelievable competitor — he’s a warrior, everything he’s going through right now. He had a hell of a game tonight. But when you’re allowed to discontinue your dribble on every possession, he is impossible to guard. He’s impossible to guard when you’re able to put your hand underneath the ball and take two or three steps and put it back down. It’s impossible to guard him in those situations.”"

Carrying the basketball is something that can be called on just about every possession from pick-up to high school to college to professional basketball in any country in the world on any given day at any given moment. Is Isaiah Thomas the worst offender in the NBA at the moment? If you’re rooting for him – no. If you’re rooting against him – yes, but it’s not like he’s doing something unusual. Unless you count this no-dribble crossover he used in the 4th quarter on Sunday.