Is Kyle Lowry the best point guard in Raptors history?

[2KJ]

Roko Ukic

[JawsGT]

I'm curious, why 'arguably'?

He was 16 FT shy of being eligible. Some lists have him, some don't.

[Prophet2k]

Going from the opposite of advanced metrics(i.e. the eye test, gut feeling etc.) I voted for Damon. He was the single most relied upon player on his respective team and he put up some good numbers, put Lowry in that same position and I think his swagger would be his own un-doing, Mighty Mouse had the right amount of swag. Lowry is the best rebounding guard we've had certainly and I think that skews the numbers picture in his favour. Alvin Williams brought the hustle and D arguably better than Lowry but he was not as offensively gifted as Kyle. Calderon was the best 'point guard' in terms of running an offence, although the shade of Mark Jackson was pretty good at that too. It is a very murky situation when you start debating 'best'.

[ezz_bee]

This is why I have a hard time voting for Lowry. If he can do this for multiple years (if he's here), then it's easily him. Otherwise I'd have to go with Alvin. Alvin was pretty average offensively, but he was an excellent (and big) defender. That Philly series never gets to 7 games if we don't have him slowing down Iverson for some of them. He would frequently guard the other team's best backcourt player.

He is having the best season of a raptor point guard ever, that is for sure in my opinion.

I agree with the above statements. I voted for Alvin Williams. However, if Lowry resigns with the Raptors and duplicates his performance than I give it to him. Either way, I do believe that this is the best single season performance of a raptors point guard, based on individual stats and impact on the team.

[iblastoff]

question:

a lot of teams have been able to step it up despite losing key players to injury/trades. suns. arguably the nets without lopez. bulls especially. hawks were even doing great for a while.

what if lowry had been injured? do the raptors have enough talent/coaching/flexibility on the roster to keep the team afloat?

[Axel]

http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/forum...-Time-Raps-PGs

As per the above. Best PG season in Raps history. Longevity is very important for legacy though. Too early to tell.

[BobLoblaw]

question:

a lot of teams have been able to step it up despite losing key players to injury/trades. suns. arguably the nets without lopez. bulls especially. hawks were even doing great for a while.

what if lowry had been injured? do the raptors have enough talent/coaching/flexibility on the roster to keep the team afloat?

I don't think so. I think Lowry's freakish health has been the single biggest factor in success.

Or I should say almost everyone's freakish health this year. Starters have missed combined 6 games. Even Patterson a.k.a. Mr.Glass had the greatest healthiest stretch of his career until recently.

But Lowry stands out because he's such a major piece and had so many issues in the past. And it's not just about his contributions as a player, his leadership, or his replacements. It's also him (and everyone else) being healthy just adds stability to the roster, focus. If he misses some 20% games as usual and spends another 20% playing into shape, this season would've been much worse.

And if he misses most of the season a la Rose, Horford, Lopez etc, I think it's lottery.

[ezz_bee]

question:

a lot of teams have been able to step it up despite losing key players to injury/trades. suns. arguably the nets without lopez. bulls especially. hawks were even doing great for a while.

what if lowry had been injured? do the raptors have enough talent/coaching/flexibility on the roster to keep the team afloat?

I don't think so. Definitely not if he went down in late December-February. I do think that the team has taken oh his Identity and they might be able to hold it together for 5-10 games MAX.