The Curious case of Kyle Lowry

[Superjudge]

Ok.

We all bought in. He won us all over.

Question needs to be asked.... did Kyle Lowry pull a "contract year" Houdini act on the Toronto raptors?

[Mack North]

It's a very good question. Guess the only answer we'll have is to see what he does next year. I don't wanna believe that's the case, but we've certainly seen it here before. *cough cough Hedo turkeyjizz cough cough*

[Superjudge]

I guess time will tell.
i'd love to have been a fly on the wall in that dressing room however...something was clearly messed up.

[octothorp]

I don't think so, contract year guys tend to be guys who put in less than passable effort except in a non-contract year. The problem with Kyle isn't effort... right now it seems to be in his head. He's playing a dumb brand of basketball, he's playing selfishly, he's letting his emotions get the better of him. Honestly, you'd expect a guy to play selfish basketball during a contract year, with Lowry it was kinda the opposite of that. When DeRozan came back from his injury, it looked like he really started to understand the type of passing and team-play that you need to be successful. When Lowry came back from his, it was as though he felt he needed to put the team on his back again the way he did when DeRozan was out. Except his metaphorical (and perhaps literal) back just wasn't up to the task this time round.

There was something that bothered me about Lowry after the playoff loss last year. Obviously Lowry took a lot of responsibility for that last play, but he would talk about how he needed to make that shot, and never talked about it with the perspective that he needed to find one of his teammates in that situation. Hopefully this year his introspection is a little more thoughtful, because he has the potential to be an effective basketball player well into his 30s, but not if he keeps playing the type of basketball he's trying to play now.

[jerome]

hedo (or other contract year guys) probably would have not tried to take out a ref with a bullet pass nor punched a chair in a playoff elimination game.

[peanutwoozle]

hedo (or other contract year guys) probably would have not tried to take out a ref with a bullet pass nor punched a chair in a playoff elimination game.

amen, he would have probably shown up to the game with a massive hangover after drinking too much.

[mjt20mik]

Hero ball.. that's the issue. Our system is terrible. The coach lost the players. Fools good of a season.

[jerome]

amen, he would have probably shown up to the game with a massive hangover after drinking too much.

or from eating too much pizza

[JasonS]

Lowry (and Casey to be fair) doesn't adjust his game when hero ball isn't working, and opposing coaches have recognized that. His frustration 3-pointers are difficult to endure as a helpless fan.

The shots were falling early in the season, but again, I think the opposition figured him out and found a way to frustrate his game.

I sitll think the Raptors need a massive change to fix this dilemma, this was a concern in last year's playoffs as well.

[GuiJaeger]

Here's Lowry:

Started the year playing BETTER than last year. Was a legit All-Star, something DeMar was not in the year prior, at least in my opinion. Got beat and injured and lost his game especially after the break. Legit complementary star. Can do it all, and fights for every possession when fully healthy. Not a #1 guy though. Has a tunnel vision to drive to the basket that no PG his size should ever have in crunch moments. Played the Playoffs probably sick and injured the whole time. Was ridiculous regardless, and the main reason we got swept. I won't go soft on him because of he played hurt/sick, because if he suited up to play despite that, is because he and the Franchise believed he could perform, and he didn't.

If he was at his peak, I believe this series would have a different story. I still believe in him. I never thought he was a franchise player though, but he isn't paid like one, so I'm okay with it. I would still keep him if he's back to a high level come next season. If these injuries are to become a permanent concern, then we're in for more painful years.

[guyroch]

Ok.

We all bought in. He won us all over.

Question needs to be asked.... did Kyle Lowry pull a "contract year" Houdini act on the Toronto raptors?

Lowry proved this year why many teams gave up on him ... Great talent but his body breaks down ...

[Nilanka]

Here's Lowry:

Started the year playing BETTER than last year. Was a legit All-Star, something DeMar was not in the year prior, at least in my opinion. Got beat and injured and lost his game especially after the break. Legit complementary star. Can do it all, and fights for every possession when fully healthy. Not a #1 guy though. Has a tunnel vision to drive to the basket that no PG his size should ever have in crunch moments. Played the Playoffs probably sick and injured the whole time. Was ridiculous regardless, and the main reason we got swept. I won't go soft on him because of he played hurt/sick, because if he suited up to play despite that, is because he and the Franchise believed he could perform, and he didn't.

If he was at his peak, I believe this series would have a different story. I still believe in him. I never thought he was a franchise player though, but he isn't paid like one, so I'm okay with it. I would still keep him if he's back to a high level come next season. If these injuries are to become a permanent concern, then we're in for more painful years.

Agreed. Lowry was a legit allstar for the 1st few months of the season. That doesn't happen to guys simply motivated by contracts.

That said, Lowry needs a coach who can walk the fine line between challenging him, and allowing for creativity on the court. It's pretty obvious that Casey isn't that guy. And to be honest, there probably aren't too many coaches who could do it. Masai really needs to ask himself if Lowry is considered part of this core moving forward.

[Just Is]

Here's Lowry:

Started the year playing BETTER than last year. Was a legit All-Star, something DeMar was not in the year prior, at least in my opinion. Got beat and injured and lost his game especially after the break. Legit complementary star. Can do it all, and fights for every possession when fully healthy. Not a #1 guy though. Has a tunnel vision to drive to the basket that no PG his size should ever have in crunch moments. Played the Playoffs probably sick and injured the whole time. Was ridiculous regardless, and the main reason we got swept. I won't go soft on him because of he played hurt/sick, because if he suited up to play despite that, is because he and the Franchise believed he could perform, and he didn't.

If he was at his peak, I believe this series would have a different story. I still believe in him. I never thought he was a franchise player though, but he isn't paid like one, so I'm okay with it. I would still keep him if he's back to a high level come next season. If these injuries are to become a permanent concern, then we're in for more painful years.

Pretty much this. He wasn't just a legitimate all star at the beginning of the year. He was legitimately in the MVP candidate conversation. That doesn't just happen.

Not to mention, this was the year following the contract being issued out.

So to answer the question: no, he wasn't a contract year player.

Got worn out and hurt but didn't adjust his play style to accommodate it while continuing to play anyways.

[slaw]

I guess time will tell.
i'd love to have been a fly on the wall in that dressing room however...something was clearly messed up.

Occam's Razor. He was either injured/hurt or he simply regressed back to his career numbers.

We should keep in mind that Lowry has basically been the same guy for the last 4 seasons. Last year, he shot the ball extremely well and was given a bigger role offensively in terms of being asked to score than he had ever had before. This season's shooting numbers are more in line with his career numbers, though the 3-pt shooting took a big drop-off.

I look at Lowry the same way I look at Derozan: if you need them to take the lead for a month while your #1 guy is out then they can do the job and win you games. If you need either of them to be your #1 guy for 7 months then you got a big problem.

[golden]

Game planning. Basically, Lowry's been exposed as a second tier star, even before the injury. Superb at times, but not consistently and not against good teams when it counts. The Raptors raised their profile and Lowry raised his even higher as the defacto leader and All-Star (starter, no less). Lowry became the head of the snake and is being targeted as such. Teams started game-planning to specifically stop him, rushing his decision making and Lowry's lack of BBIQ left him looking like a cornered mouse at times.

Secondly. The idea of a 6-foot nothing go-to-guy is tenuous at best, which is why those take-over-the-game superstars are usually wing players (MJ, Kobe, Lebron,...). Those guys are physically gifted and have the ability to make shots against double & triple teams with enough height to score against bigs. Even CP3, as great as he is, hasn't gotten out of the 1st round (and is in a dogfight to get past the old Spurs this year). Same problem with bigs, because they usually can't handle the ball against double teams. Wing players are usually the best overall mix of height, length, athleticism and ball handling when that ISO is truly needed at critical points in the game.

Thirdly, Casey's system which helped Lowry's numbers initially, was destined to implode as we all know and Casey finally admitted today.

Fourthly, injuries. Only Lowry knows....