Is Kyle Lowry's impact being under-estimated?

[Matt52]

He is only signed for this year and next, so there is no guarantee he is here after the 2013/14 season. What happens after that is anyone's guess. To me his style and body does not lend itself to longevity, so at 28 when it is time to re-sign, what type of deal do you give a guy like that, has he been able to evolve his game so that he can be effective into his 30's?

I really hope he comes in and helps the team generate some excitement and win some ball games. I by no means am hoping for him not to work out, I want him to get rid of my doubts.

On a future PG that I would like to see in the organization....Aaron Craft, he just seems like that grimy player that makes your team better, maybe he is not a starter, but he could be a great bench guard for 10-12 years in the NBA.

Stop it! Stop it!

Ugh.

The knife through my heart.

Please, please, please. The agony.


*Jokes*

Seriously though if the Raptors are in a position to be a winning team combined with the fact they have the most money to offer (5th year and larger pay raises - 7.5 vs 4.5%) then I'm not worried about that.

With his body hopefully having a trainer like McKechnie solves those problems/worries.


But I do agree with your post. There are many unknowns. I can't wait for the season to get started.

[WJF]

To be clear, I want Lowry to succeed!

[Chr1s1anL]

Just thought this was interesting. Looks like Kyle really makes player pay for going under screens and if they don't he has a head of steam at the opposing big. I wonder if Casey will take any of these sets? If I remember correctly we kind run a lot of similar sets.

[footarez]

Not a lot of Lowry in this vid. but a great find. Lowry really is very good PnR player. He has range and good penetrating ability. On top of that he is good defender. I expect him to be very good this season.

[ezz_bee]

I do think that if the raps are a LOCK for 8th seed or better it'll be because of Lowry. Based on what I've read from about off season transactions the rest of the world underestimates him. Or the questions his ability to stay healthy. Also just because a player has a few injuries doesn't mean they are injury prone. Everyone pretty much wrote off Grant Hill about a decade ago and the guy is still playing. I don't think it's a case of being injury prone as it is just plain luck. The fact that he's had previous injuries has very little impact on whether he will continue to get injured.

[golden]

+1 Jose and Demar can't guard their own man consistently, especially Jose. James Johnson is nothing but a stat defender. Hits the passing lanes and blocks shots, not saying it's a bad thing, but doesn't tell the entire story. Jack was barely a better defender than Jose, and Bayless couldn't defend without keeping his hands out of the opposition's pockets.

Fields is not a defensive stopper, but nonetheless a very good on-ball defender, and is a very smart player. Kyle Lowry is in the same mold, not necessarily going to stop his man, but it will be hard to get by.

Everybody piles on Jose's defense, but it seems like Demar gets somewhat close to free pass. I would love to see one of those stat guys like Liston or somebody to break down Demar's defensive impact on the team. I suspect that it is really, really bad.

[Nilanka]

DeMar's defense gets ripped pretty hard.

But I think the fact that Jose plays PG (i.e. the first line of defense) magnifies his defensive inabilities, compared to a wing player.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Everybody piles on Jose's defense, but it seems like Demar gets somewhat close to free pass. I would love to see one of those stat guys like Liston or somebody to break down Demar's defensive impact on the team. I suspect that it is really, really bad.

I think last year in the forums DeRozan's free pass wore out, given the improved team defense. For the first time, people were starting to call him out just as much as they call out Bargnani (help defense) and Calderon (point-of-attack defense).

This year is likely going to be even tougher for DeRozan to escape the critics. With Lowry providing significantly improved point-of-attack defense at the PG position, Fields providing more consistent perimeter defense, Valanciunas stepping in as a defensive anchor (ie: help defense and shot blocking/altering) and Bargnani's most glaring weaknesses (help defense) being mitigated by the additions of Lowry & Valanciunas (less penetration and more help defense), the spotlight should be shining much more prominantly on DeRozan, as he'll likely cover the opposition's secondary ball handler.

[The Coach]

On Yahoo Fantasy Basketball's Big Board, Kyle Lowry ranks... 13th overall (Easy to forget that he was top-10 before battling the bacterial infection"). Ahead of him is:

Durant
James
Paul
Love
Wade
Jefferson
Westbrook
Aldridge
Howard
Williams
Millsap
Irving

I know fantasy basketball stars don't always correlate to winning teams; however, it is great to see what people were thinking back in May about this guy. He's going to be a stat stuffer.

[Mediumcore]

Will be great to see a Raptor player threaten for a triple double every once in a while.

[Matt52]

Will be great to see a Raptor player threaten for a triple double every once in a while.

Uzoh?


lol

[Mediumcore]

LOL, man he better hope Ross has a better career than Barnes or so help me God!

[Garbo]

LOL, man he better hope Ross has a better career than Barnes or so help me God!

Don't remind me.. Bosh and Carter needed to spend years wooing us and then dropping us to earn our hatred. Uzoh only needed one triple double. Respect

[theycallmeZZ]

Blame New Jersey, at least they've moved now to Brooklyn and to be a "contending" team so they can get the hell out of our way and get their asses kicked by the Heat.

[Matt52]

http://www.thedreamshake.com/2012/1/...paul#storyjump

[Puffer]

In the comments section they mention this sequence: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF8fN...ature=youtu.be

[Puffer]

Thanks for the link Matt. Whenever one of the Raps players is in the same conversation, for comparison purposes, as a player of Chris Paul's abilities...has to leave you a little giddy. The stats comparison was awesome. How many years do the Raps have Kyle for? Two?

[Miekenstien]

nice find. thanks matt

[Matt52]

Thanks for the link Matt. Whenever one of the Raps players is in the same conversation, for comparison purposes, as a player of Chris Paul's abilities...has to leave you a little giddy. The stats comparison was awesome. How many years do the Raps have Kyle for? Two?

2 years left ($5.75M and team option for $6.2M in 13-14).

He signed 4 year offer sheet from Cleveland in 2010 which Houston matched. http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/lowry_100714.html

He is eligible for an extension on July 14th, 2013 (3 years from previous contract signed).