Kyle Lowry's Elbow Injury - to rest, or not to rest...

[JWash]

Didn't make it better. Ended up having offseason surgery required. He played through it, but it did not make it better.

Actually it did. It was a nagging injury that kept coming back and wasn't going to be fixed by rest, so he needed to adjust to and accommodate for it, which he was able to do.

[Barolt]

Actually it did. It was a nagging injury that kept coming back and wasn't going to be fixed by rest, so he needed to adjust to and accommodate for it, which he was able to do.

He shot 38.9% in the playoffs that year. TS% of 48.0%.

[JWash]

He shot 38.9% in the playoffs that year. TS% of 48.0%.

His injury happened in January. And his drop in efficiency from the regular season (42.0% and 51.8% TS) wasn't anything abnormal for a star player in the playoffs. Defenses are tougher, and you're carrying a bigger workload for more minutes against better teams. A 3% drop in TS% isn't unprecedented, I mean LeBron's TS% dropped by 9% in the playoffs last year for example.

If you look at his splits for that year, his best months were actually January, February and March so there's that also.

[Mess]

For argument's sake; let's say he's playing because there's a medical reason for it.

Is there than a reason for why he played for 40 minutes? More than any of his other team mates (who presumably aren't injured or they, like Scola, wouldn't have played) or even his already own high average minutes per game?

I already take part in enough silly arguments here that I don't want to start another one just for the sake of it lol



Casey just needs to turn off the competitor switch for a week or two. Yes, Kyle is their leader and does a lot of things to help them win games beyond hitting shots. Kudos to him. But for the Raps to advance in the playoffs and for Casey to keep his job he needs Kyle to do all of those things and shoot better than 25% from the field. It might help. Call it a hunch.

His 3P% is actually better than his FG% since Mar 23rd - 23.3% to 23.1%.

His FG% is worst on the team in that stretch, his 3P% is 2nd to last behind CoJo. And Biyombo is kicking his ass on FT% - shooting 71.4% to Kyle's 62.5%.

[Just Is]

I already take part in enough silly arguments here that I don't want to start another one just for the sake of it lol



Casey just needs to turn off the competitor switch for a week or two. Yes, Kyle is their leader and does a lot of things to help them win games beyond hitting shots. Kudos to him. But for the Raps to advance in the playoffs and for Casey to keep his job he needs Kyle to do all of those things and shoot better than 25% from the field. It might help. Call it a hunch.

His 3P% is actually better than his FG% since Mar 23rd - 23.3% to 23.1%.

His FG% is worst on the team in that stretch, his 3P% is 2nd to last behind CoJo. And Biyombo is kicking his ass on FT% - shooting 71.4% to Kyle's 62.5%.

I think this is spot on.

I just don't understand why he's still playing. I mean, there's LITERALLY visual evidence that there is a lot of play going through the guy while he's playing. I literally can't see any argument for him still playing in meaningless games at this point. And even, for the sake of argument, I tried to imagine if there was some reason for him to be playing ... and even that argument fails when he's leading the league in minutes per game since the injury ... and then proceeded to exceed even that minute threshold.

It just doesn't make sense.

Could only think of one possible reason ... and I bolded it.

[Bandit]

Idk how that's clear. Sounds like guessing games to me. There's no reason for the coaching staff to ignore the medical team.

Nope not a $ingle rea$on come$ to mind when i think about thi$

[KeonClark]

I think this is spot on.

I just don't understand why he's still playing. I mean, there's LITERALLY visual evidence that there is a lot of play going through the guy while he's playing. I literally can't see any argument for him still playing in meaningless games at this point. And even, for the sake of argument, I tried to imagine if there was some reason for him to be playing ... and even that argument fails when he's leading the league in minutes per game since the injury ... and then proceeded to exceed even that minute threshold.

It just doesn't make sense.

Could only think of one possible reason ... and I bolded it.

But even THAT reason holds no weight. Dwane has already past last year's win total. Running lowry into the ground does serious damage to playoff aspirations. If he thinks masai and the staffs evaluation of him will weigh any importance to these last 8 games, in comparison to the first round, well..at that point I'm convinced he's taking his advice from his Giant Rock.

[Axel]

But even THAT reason holds no weight. Dwane has already past last year's win total. Running lowry into the ground does serious damage to playoff aspirations. If he thinks masai and the staffs evaluation of him will weigh any importance to these last 8 games, in comparison to the first round, well..at that point I'm convinced he's taking his advice from his Giant Rock.

They now might have reason to evaluate his coaching in these last 8 days (and not in a good way). For a man who has always said he doesn't coach scared of being fired (paraphrased), his actions certainly seem like a man desperate to cling to regular season win totals. Perhaps he believes that another franchise record on his resume is enough for Masai to over-look any playoff results.

[Raptorsnz]

I think this is spot on.

I just don't understand why he's still playing. I mean, there's LITERALLY visual evidence that there is a lot of play going through the guy while he's playing. I literally can't see any argument for him still playing in meaningless games at this point. And even, for the sake of argument, I tried to imagine if there was some reason for him to be playing ... and even that argument fails when he's leading the league in minutes per game since the injury ... and then proceeded to exceed even that minute threshold.

It just doesn't make sense.

Could only think of one possible reason ... and I bolded it.

The only argument I can think of is that if Lowry knows this injury is going to persist into the playoffs, and that rest isn't going to help like he's said before, then he needs to learn how to play effectively with the injury and playing gives him a chance to do that. But that's obviously very far fetched.

[e_wheazhy_]

You keep ignoring the word gradual.

Did last night's effort from Lowry look like a gradual increase to you?

Eye test wise, it did. He's playing lots of minutes, sure. But he's not taking as many shots, which helps, he's looking for his teammates more, and is even dribbling with the other hand more to alleviate some of the pressure on his elbow

[Barolt]

Eye test wise, it did. He's playing lots of minutes, sure. But he's not taking as many shots, which helps, he's looking for his teammates more, and is even dribbling with the other hand more to alleviate some of the pressure on his elbow

He took more shots and more free throws than his season average.

[e_wheazhy_]

He took more shots and more free throws than his season average.

Again, EYE TEST wise. He looked to get more on his legs in his free throws, which is good. He had it wrapped, which is key, he only took 4 3s, which is high, but not terrible. Would need to see his shot chart from last night to really judge - he could have taken like 10 layups, which also count as shot attempts but don't really aggravate the elbow as much as a 18-20 foot jumper

[Axel]

Again, EYE TEST wise. He looked to get more on his legs in his free throws, which is good. He had it wrapped, which is key, he only took 4 3s, which is high, but not terrible. Would need to see his shot chart from last night to really judge - he could have taken like 10 layups, which also count as shot attempts but don't really aggravate the elbow as much as a 18-20 foot jumper

11 from inside the key (2 makes), 3 from mid-range (all misses), 1 long two from corner (missed), 4 from deep (2 misses - 1 miss was from corner).

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...603300TOR.html

[LJ2]

I don't think we need to be too concerned about the Lowry injury. He's going to be given games off between now and the playoffs to rest, but if his elbow was in real jeopardy of serious damage then MU would step in. His success as well as that of Casey and the organization rests square on Lowry's shoulder ..er elbow?

This isn't like the Redskins grinding RJ III into the ground and risking permanent damage.

[KeonClark]

I don't think we need to be too concerned about the Lowry injury. He's going to be given games off between now and the playoffs to rest, but if his elbow was in real jeopardy of serious damage then MU would step in. His success as well as that of Casey and the organization rests square on Lowry's shoulder ..er elbow?

This isn't like the Redskins grinding RJ III into the ground and risking permanent damage.

If you wouldn't mind sir, we're all busy freaking out over here. Calm rationality is not our cup of tea.