Questions about Lowry

[driveshaft]

Hi guys, Raptor fan here.

Just wanted to see what your views are on Lowry. As you all probably know, our team is struggling big time. When Lowry was injured I felt like we played better with Calderon starting. Now I know there were fans here who thought Dragic did a better job.

I'd just like some input on the following questions?

1. Is he a good locker room guy?
2. Does he help make players around him better or is he more of a stat padder?
3. How is his defense overall? So far he looks worse than advertised as a Raptor

Thanks,

[M4P]

He can be arrogant at times but he's by no means a stat padder. This guy will play through multiple injuries and sacrifice personal stats if it means giving his team a chance to win. He's one of the best defenders at the PG position because of his motor and solid body.

If we had Lowry instead of Lin on this team we would easily be playoff bound.

[aznkillabeezZz]

i think that both dragic and lowry are great pgs. However not a championship contending player. We lost BOTH players, however our PG position is not that bad. You can say how bad Lin is, but he is not a bad facilitator, just a bad finisher. We had BOTH dragic and Lowry for how many ever seasons, we never made playoffs. So people tend to overrate them because they get good stats. However i dont believe they are stat padders.

Dragic hasnt made much difference for Suns in terms of win column. So hasn't lowry for tdot. You can say that they have bad players and stuff. But arguably toronto has a good team. If you look at their record last season, last season was probably better at the same time. But they have a better lineup this season. So they should be doing better, when they only have a few wins only.

Negatives, dragic is not a leader, he's not very eloquent when he speaks. He isnt servicing gortat that well. Gortat is having career lows. For Lowry, he's undersized imo, which affects his ability to drive in the rim and create his own shot (he can but not efficiently). He's not the best defender either because he's undersized, however he does hustle.
Positives, both are streaky shooters, and can be the leaders of their team on some nights.

[LarsV8]

1. Is he a good locker room guy?
2. Does he help make players around him better or is he more of a stat padder?
3. How is his defense overall? So far he looks worse than advertised as a Raptor

Thanks,

1.) Not really. He was trouble in Memphis and then got into it with McHale later in Houston. He is a hot head more or less, but if there is a hypothetical line he never crossed it.
2.) I personally never really understood this makes players around them statement because a player is the same player no matter who is on the court with them. Would you say Lebron makes players around him better? Because Varejao sure as hell looks better without him. I wouldn't call him a stat padder though. Its hard to pad rebounding and assist stats.
3.) He is a tenacious on the ball defender but his team defense/rotations are not good at times.

[driveshaft]

1. Is he a good locker room guy?
2. Does he help make players around him better or is he more of a stat padder?
3. How is his defense overall? So far he looks worse than advertised as a Raptor

Thanks,

1.) Not really. He was trouble in Memphis and then got into it with McHale later in Houston. He is a hot head more or less, but if there is a hypothetical line he never crossed it.
2.) I personally never really understood this makes players around them statement because a player is the same player no matter who is on the court with them. Would you say Lebron makes players around him better? Because Varejao sure as hell looks better without him. I wouldn't call him a stat padder though. Its hard to pad rebounding and assist stats.
3.) He is a tenacious on the ball defender but his team defense/rotations are not good at times.

Thanks for all the responses everyone.

Re:

1. This has been my primary concern. I haven't seen the Raptor's chemistry this bad in a long time. Hearing about Lowry's past troubles with coaches, I am hoping that this isn't a factor. Can any of you guys remember past examples where team performance might have dropped stemming from Lowry's on court/off court attitude?

2. Varejao is playing better I think, because he has improved and well there is no one else to produce on that team. I do believe in game changers like Chris Paul for instance, whose impact goes far beyond his stats.

3. He's slowed down quite a bit, and like others have mentioned he has a warrior mentality and plays through injuries... I've been wondering if that is what's hampering him. I also heard his performance dropped off last year. I agree with his tenacious on ball defence and I too have noticed that his team defense leaves someting to be desired at times. For instances, I find there is confusion b/w our big and Lowry as to how to handle the P&R. Also wondering what you guys think of his gambles on defense, is this a net positive or a net negative for the team?

[zapatasblood]

This has to be the 3rd or 4th thread of this nature