Tonight is a reminder that Lowry is still terrible

[Rob Diaz]

His playmaking doesn't matter much to me, pass-first PGs don't move the needle in today's NBA.

The key with Lowry is making 3s, that's it. With the addition of Gasol and Siakam's emergence, this team doesn't need Lowry to be able to penetrate/attack the rim like he used to. But he HAS to make 3s, Danny Green can't be the only reliable shooter.

Lowry didn't have a great game, but he had a good game and shot badly. I would hardly call it bad all around.

But this is a clueless opinion on what's important in basketball now or what's important to our team. Lowry hitting his shots is important but not driving and distributing and having him be a spot up shooter is just an awful idea.

I didn't say he needs to be relegated to spot up shooter. I said his ability to score off the dribble or through attacking isn't as important as it used to be.

He needs to be able to hit his 3-point shot at a high level. That's the only thing that's going to keep him effective at his age and current physical state. That's all that matters.

[Tanner]

In the playoffs, the best 3 players on the team have to be Kawhi, Gasol, and Siakam.

If Lowry is the 4th, or at best 3rd wheel, then that's the only hope. If he's counted on to be more than that, then 2nd round exit.

[Raps in 4]

Shooting efficiency is more important than passing.

No its not and if you think thats true, you're going to hate Gasol.

Gasol is a bigman, not a guard. Pass-first, low efficiency guards are only effective on teams with a glut of efficient scoring options.

[KrazyP]

Shooting efficiency is more important than passing.

No its not and if you think thats true, you're going to hate Gasol.

Gasol is a bigman, not a guard.

So what?

This is dumb thread....im done with it.

[lebron stopper]

His playmaking doesn't matter much to me, pass-first PGs don't move the needle in today's NBA.

The key with Lowry is making 3s, that's it. With the addition of Gasol and Siakam's emergence, this team doesn't need Lowry to be able to penetrate/attack the rim like he used to. But he HAS to make 3s, Danny Green can't be the only reliable shooter.

Lowry didn't have a great game, but he had a good game and shot badly. I would hardly call it bad all around.

But this is a clueless opinion on what's important in basketball now or what's important to our team. Lowry hitting his shots is important but not driving and distributing and having him be a spot up shooter is just an awful idea.

I didn't say he needs to be relegated to spot up shooter. I said his ability to score off the dribble or through attacking isn't as important as it used to be.

He needs to be able to hit his 3-point shot at a high level. That's the only thing that's going to keep him effective at his age and current physical state. That's all that matters.

His playmaking and occasional defense/hustle are nice to have, but if he's not hitting 3s (and also opening up the court as a result) then he's not playing at the All-Star level that the Raptors need him to be playing at.

[Raps in 4]

No its not and if you think thats true, you're going to hate Gasol.

Gasol is a bigman, not a guard.

So what?

This is dumb thread....im done with it.

Guards need to be able to hit their 3s at a reliable clip in today's NBA. You can only make an exception if you have high efficiency shooters around them, which we don't. Bringing in Gasol makes things better, but we're hardly where we need to be. The team was designed around Lowry's 3pt shooting.

[Johnny Bball]

His playmaking doesn't matter much to me, pass-first PGs don't move the needle in today's NBA.

The key with Lowry is making 3s, that's it. With the addition of Gasol and Siakam's emergence, this team doesn't need Lowry to be able to penetrate/attack the rim like he used to. But he HAS to make 3s, Danny Green can't be the only reliable shooter.

Lowry didn't have a great game, but he had a good game and shot badly. I would hardly call it bad all around.

But this is a clueless opinion on what's important in basketball now or what's important to our team. Lowry hitting his shots is important but not driving and distributing and having him be a spot up shooter is just an awful idea.

I didn't say he needs to be relegated to spot up shooter. I said his ability to score off the dribble or through attacking isn't as important as it used to be.

He needs to be able to hit his 3-point shot at a high level. That's the only thing that's going to keep him effective at his age and current physical state. That's all that matters.

Our offense is generated first and foremost from dribble drive. It opens up everything and all that follows comes from that. Every 3 point shot starts there. It's incredibly important.

Unrelated to Lowry but related to passing, since you don't think passing is important... name me one MVP in the last say 20 years that is not a very good passer as well?

[Ramed Nazored]

13 points on 13 shots is brutal efficiency. Wasting that many possessions against a team that isn't Atlanta will bury you.

I don't think people realize this enough or ever have when it comes to Lowry and the playoffs. This isn't something you can brush off as oh well he does other things okay after all the years, how much more evidence do people need.

I actually agree with you guys that he needs to shoot a lot better, and I think he will.

But you guys are complaining as if he's a liability out there, which he's not. In fact, he has a major impact all across the floor regardless if his shot is falling.

Yup. Never is never has been. Mind you, he has had some bad games this year, but I clearly recall him having an excellent game just a few days ago in Philly, and several other excellent games when the spot light was on.

The away game in GSW sticks out.

The issue with a lot of people on here is that they expect perfection, and they’re a lot more vocal in their criticism than they are their praise.

It’s just hard to take criticism like this as little other than trolling. He had a great game tonight.

And yes, playmaking does move the needle in todays NBA. Lowry has been one of the best pg’s in the league for several years running now. The man has sacrificed his health to make us smile.

If you don’t like him, drift. Go watch another team.

The guy’s going to have bad games. But we owe the bulk of our success over the last 6 years to him.

[Johnny Bball]

Shooting efficiency is more important than passing.

No its not and if you think thats true, you're going to hate Gasol.

Preach. And pretty sure we are at that point before one game.

[Raps in 4]

Lowry didn't have a great game, but he had a good game and shot badly. I would hardly call it bad all around.

But this is a clueless opinion on what's important in basketball now or what's important to our team. Lowry hitting his shots is important but not driving and distributing and having him be a spot up shooter is just an awful idea.

I didn't say he needs to be relegated to spot up shooter. I said his ability to score off the dribble or through attacking isn't as important as it used to be.

He needs to be able to hit his 3-point shot at a high level. That's the only thing that's going to keep him effective at his age and current physical state. That's all that matters.

Our offense is generated first and foremost from dribble drive. It opens up everything and all that follows comes from that. Every 3 point shot starts there. It's incredibly important.

Unrelated to Lowry but related to passing, since you don't think passing is important... name me one MVP in the last say 20 years that is not a very good passer as well?

No one said passing isn't important. It's just less important than shooting efficiency for a guard.

Name the last impactful pass-first, low efficiency guard we've had in the NBA? You're looking at guys like Wall and Westbrook (maybe), although they also have a dynamic driving game.

[vesku888]

Let's all hope and pray Kyle is just reserving his energy for the playoffs. I want to believe he's holding back, which results in trash play. What he showed in Philly, was the real Kyle I wanna see every night. I get it that you don't wanna go all out against the Hawks..so I don't know. We shall see. I still would have preferred Conley

[Larry Dallas]

He’s not terrible, his back is bothering him. Move on, find a new slant.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

[Johnny Bball]

I didn't say he needs to be relegated to spot up shooter. I said his ability to score off the dribble or through attacking isn't as important as it used to be.

He needs to be able to hit his 3-point shot at a high level. That's the only thing that's going to keep him effective at his age and current physical state. That's all that matters.

Our offense is generated first and foremost from dribble drive. It opens up everything and all that follows comes from that. Every 3 point shot starts there. It's incredibly important.

Unrelated to Lowry but related to passing, since you don't think passing is important... name me one MVP in the last say 20 years that is not a very good passer as well?

No one said passing isn't important. It's just less important than shooting efficiency for a guard.

Name the last impactful pass-first, low efficiency guard we've had in the NBA? You're looking at guys like Wall and Westbrook (maybe), although they also have a dynamic driving game.

Pass first? Steve Nash. Twice. If Lowry was as efficient as at the start he would be an MVP candidate when added to his passing. That's the entire problem with your expectations.

And yeah the original conversation I was having wasn't with you, so don't tell me what someone else meant.

[Randle McMurphy]

Why would anybody care how he plays a game against the worst team in the league on the road in February?

[Raps in 4]

Our offense is generated first and foremost from dribble drive. It opens up everything and all that follows comes from that. Every 3 point shot starts there. It's incredibly important.

Unrelated to Lowry but related to passing, since you don't think passing is important... name me one MVP in the last say 20 years that is not a very good passer as well?

No one said passing isn't important. It's just less important than shooting efficiency for a guard.

Name the last impactful pass-first, low efficiency guard we've had in the NBA? You're looking at guys like Wall and Westbrook (maybe), although they also have a dynamic driving game.

Pass first? Steve Nash. Twice. If Lowry was as efficient as at the start he would be an MVP candidate when added to his passing. That's the entire problem with your expectations.

And yeah the original conversation I was having wasn't with you, so don't tell me what someone else meant.

Nash was one of the most efficient shooters of all time. I said pass-first, low efficiency.

[Raps in 4]

Why would anybody care how he plays a game against the worst team in the league on the road in February?

Because it's been the story with Lowry all season (aside from the first 15 or so games).

[Johnny Bball]

No one said passing isn't important. It's just less important than shooting efficiency for a guard.

Name the last impactful pass-first, low efficiency guard we've had in the NBA? You're looking at guys like Wall and Westbrook (maybe), although they also have a dynamic driving game.

Pass first? Steve Nash. Twice. If Lowry was as efficient as at the start he would be an MVP candidate when added to his passing. That's the entire problem with your expectations.

And yeah the original conversation I was having wasn't with you, so don't tell me what someone else meant.

Nash was one of the most efficient shooters of all time. I said pass-first, low efficiency.

Lowry's TS% is .553. And that is with a really bad stretch after he came back. He's shot 40% from 3 in the last six games. But here you are tonight. And I said he isn't overly efficient right now and that's why he's not an MVP candidate because of it. Although it is clear that's the only thing to satisfy you, MVP worthy. You can be petulant and entitled all you like.

Lol if you think Nash's passing isn't the majority reason why he won and it wasn't more important. I would wager a lot you never even saw him play.

Love having a conversation with a guy that tries to tell me what someone else meant. This is **** stupid.

[Randle McMurphy]

Why would anybody care how he plays a game against the worst team in the league on the road in February?

Because it's been the story with Lowry all season (aside from the first 15 or so games).

And yet the Raptors are going to finish with 60 wins anyway. The real games start in April. If he's still half-assing it then, I'll worry. Until then, who cares?

[Rob Diaz]

Lowry didn't have a great game, but he had a good game and shot badly. I would hardly call it bad all around.

But this is a clueless opinion on what's important in basketball now or what's important to our team. Lowry hitting his shots is important but not driving and distributing and having him be a spot up shooter is just an awful idea.

I didn't say he needs to be relegated to spot up shooter. I said his ability to score off the dribble or through attacking isn't as important as it used to be.

He needs to be able to hit his 3-point shot at a high level. That's the only thing that's going to keep him effective at his age and current physical state. That's all that matters.

Our offense is generated first and foremost from dribble drive. It opens up everything and all that follows comes from that. Every 3 point shot starts there. It's incredibly important.

Unrelated to Lowry but related to passing, since you don't think passing is important... name me one MVP in the last say 20 years that is not a very good passer as well?

Who was the last pass-first PG to lead a team anywhere?

2010 Rondo(who got embarrassed in the Finals with Kobe guarding him from 20-feet back of the line)?

2007 Nash?

Shooting and/or scoring matters more today at that position. Look at the most recent champions: Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving, Tony Parker.

[everdiso]

Lowry is 2nd in the league in assists, and scoring ~15pts on average efficiency, and good defensively. He's still a really good player, even without the 3pt shot falling.

once his 3pter comes back, and it will, he'll be studly again.