Kyle Lowry: 'They’ve got LeBron James and nobody’s closing the gap on him'

[Shutdown10]

Would those Nets squads have beaten this Cavs squad over the last two seasons? Please think carefully.

They would match up better than the Raptors, but still lose. Kidd would play better D on Kyrie. R Jefferson and Kenyon Martin would make Bron and Love work a little more than Carroll and Ibaka.

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

Also Lebron has played on stacked teams for the past seven seasons, so it would be hard for any team to beat that without pieces to counter Lebron's pieces.

So then why the fukk are you using it against Lowry not getting into the Finals? And therefore using it as cause to say Kidd was better because he went to the Finals?

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

They would match up better than the Raptors, but still lose. Kidd would play better D on Kyrie. R Jefferson and Kenyon Martin would make Bron and Love work a little more than Carroll and Ibaka.

So you admit they'd still lose, yet somehow you can't see the flawed logic in you saying Kidd's better because he made it to two Finals and Lowry didn't?

 

[Shutdown10]

So then why the fukk are you using it against Lowry not getting into the Finals? And therefore using it as cause to say Kidd was better because he went to the Finals?

Because he has glaring holes in his game. Mainly too much iso play and defense. Those two factors will always get exposed in the post season.

 

[Shutdown10]

So you admit they'd still lose, yet somehow you can't see the flawed logic in you saying Kidd's better because he made it to two Finals and Lowry didn't?

Kidd's IQ and leadership of that team would win them games, but the better more talented teams always win 9 times out of 10 so I have to be realistic.

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

Because he has glaring holes in his game. Mainly too much iso play and defense. Those two factors will always get exposed in the post season.

You have absolutely no idea of what the fukk you're talking about. Especially saying that his defense is a "glaring hole" in his game. He's one of the best defensive PGs in the game, and there was a time in his career where that's all he was. He was picked for the '16 Olympic team on the strength of his ability to defend/playmake, in fact he helped co-anchor the team's defense for much of the Olympics from the perimeter. His offense (particularly his scoring/shooting) didn't catch up until his late-20s. I also don't get the sense in condeming his ISO play, as if that isn't an attribute in itself (something which Kidd didn't have), or ignore that Lowry is a helluva playmaker - something which he has also been for most of his career. Lowry is one of the best PGs in the league at balancing when to pass/shoot, he most definitely doesn't do too much ISO play.

SMH.

With gold medals already in their clutches, members of USA Basketball are now enjoying the afterglow of the Rio Olympics. For Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, the Raptors participants on Team USA, there’s plenty to be gleaned from their experience in Brazil.

Today, NBA.com’s John Schuhmann released the final on-court numbers from USA’s 13 games, both exhibition and at the Olympics. What immediately stands out is Lowry’s contributions on the defensive end.

Playing mainly as a backup to Kyrie Irving, Lowry finished with a team-best defensive rating of 78.5 in 221.4 minutes of play. This was better than Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler, who finished two and three, and are the typical names you’d expect to see topping any defensive stat category.

This helped boost Lowry’s net rating, which was the third-best on Team USA, behind DeMarcus Cousins(!) and Paul George.

Though Lowry appeared to be going through the shooting woes that plagued him sporadically during the NBA Playoffs, the fact he played meaningful defense attests to the type of player he’s become. When the rest of Team USA was lethargic or playing to their opponent, Lowry was his tenacious self. As a bench spark plug, he made it his calling to guard the point of attack, offsetting guard penetration.

Kyle Lowry puts up stud numbers for USA Basketball

Donnellon: Kyle Lowry 'the best team player' on U.S. Olympic hoop squad


You may have missed this at the end of Rio, what with all the talk of broken bathrooms and fibbing swimmers, but after the United States men’s Olympic basketball team won its third consecutive gold medal with an anti-climactic 96-66 thrashing of Serbia on Sunday, assistant Olympic coach Jim Boeheim called Kyle Lowry, “the best team player out of everybody.”


Better than Kevin Durant, who scored 30 points in the final game, including 24 in that lopsided first half? Better than three-time gold medalist Carmelo Anthony, whose experience and leadership allowed them to escape some early scares?

Better than Kyrie Irving, Paul George, Klay Thompson?


“He just really bought in and was a great leader and gave everything he had every time he went out there,” explained Boeheim. “That was important for our team.”


Boeheim’s assessment, backed by several players, is a nice start to explaining the welcome culture change brought when Mike Krzyzewski and Boeheim – whom Coach K has deemed his “co-coach” took over as Olympic coach after the debacle of 2004 in Greece, where the U.S. got only a bronze medal.

“The Redeem Team” as they were called in Beijing, actually became an operating philosophy in the two Olympics since, as players accustomed to star on the court readily accepted supportive or even secondary roles in the name of gold.

On a U.S. team that was deemed less talented than previous ones due to the absence of notable stars like Steph Curry and LeBron James, Lowry, the former Villanova star, was the latest poster child for that. He took just five shots in the final game, but played intensely over his entire 22 minutes – really, every time he was inserted into a game. After Argentina ran off to a 19-9 lead at the start of their quarterfinals matchup with the U.S., Lowry and Paul George entered the game and triggered a clampdown on defense, fueling a 28-2 run that swung the game.

In the gold medal game, Lowry collected five rebounds, five assists and scored five points. His numbers were hardly what sparked Boeheim’s comments. The tone he set, as a star player who nearly singlehandedly knocked off Cleveland in the NBA eastern conference finals, was the point. After some early scares, the U.S. team steamrolled over Argentina and Serbia to their third straight gold.
Donnellon: Kyle Lowry 'the best team player' on U.S. Olympic hoop squad

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

Kidd's IQ and leadership of that team would win them games, but the better more talented teams always win 9 times out of 10 so I have to be realistic.

They won games simply because of how great they were on defense (yes, Kidd most definitely contributed to that) and how garbage the teams they faced were offensively. This Raptors squad would beat all those teams the Nets faced en route to back-to-back Finals.

 

[Shutdown10]

They won games simply because of how great they were on defense (yes, Kidd most definitely contributed to that) and how garbage the teams they faced were offensively. This Raptors squad would beat all those teams the Nets faced en route to back-to-back Finals.

They would beat that Pistons team that had Chauncey, Rip, and Ben Wallace? They would beat that team that had Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker? I guess Indiana was garbage as well? Reggie Miller, Artest, and Jermaine O'neal. You are overrating Lowry and this garbage Raptors team.

 

[Shutdown10]

You have absolutely no idea of what the fukk you're talking about. Especially saying that his defense is a "glaring hole" in his game. He's one of the best defensive PGs in the game, and there was a time in his career where that's all he was. He was picked for the '16 Olympic team on the strength of his ability to defend/playmake, in fact he helped co-anchor the team's defense for much of the Olympics from the perimeter. His offense (particularly his scoring/shooting) didn't catch up until his late-20s. I also don't get the sense in condeming his ISO play, as if that isn't an attribute in itself (something which Kidd didn't have), or ignore that Lowry is a helluva playmaker - something which he has also been for most of his career. Lowry is one of the best PGs in the league at balancing when to pass/shoot, he most definitely doesn't do too much ISO play.

SMH.

Why can't he show these qualities when he is playing amongst NBA peers in post season play?

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

Why can't he show these qualities when he is playing amongst NBA peers in post season play?

Except he does. What makes you believe he doesn't?

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

They would beat that Pistons team that had Chauncey, Rip, and Ben Wallace? They would beat that team that had Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker? I guess Indiana was garbage as well? Reggie Miller, Artest, and Jermaine O'neal. You are overrating Lowry and this garbage Raptors team.

All those teams the Nets faced in the playoffs en route to the Finals ranged from being average to horrible offensively:

44-win Hornets - 15th offense
42-win Pacers - 16th offense
49-win Celtics - 18th offense

42-win Bucks - 2nd offense (and 28th defense) - however, Ray Allen (#1 option and leading scorer) never played in that series and their offense went to shyt without him.
44-win Celtics - 24th offense
50-win Pistons - 15th offense (they were especially horrible in that series, averaging only 81 ppg and only had two double-digit scorers)

The Raptors would be beat all those teams, with relative ease. All those series the Nets played were controlled on the defensive end - hell the entire EC playoffs during that time was controlled by defense. Folk forget that the Nets were the most dominant defensive team of the early-00s (outside of SA). It wasn't because of Kidd's floor generalship or playmaking ability why they won, as he wasn't shyt on the offensive end for most of those series', it was because of the Nets' team defense.

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

@Shutdown10 you're severely mistaken if you don't think Lowry displays those attributes during the postseason. I dare hope to God you aren't saying he isn't shyt in the playoffs because of his shooting percentages.

 

[Broad Street Bully]

He's not Whiney, he's not a snitch, he's a hard working, dedicated to his craft black man. Who's coming to snatch their souls yet again.

You nikkas forget, before he gassed out in 2015, he was on his way to snatching their souls without 2 of the top 3 players on the team

As long as Love and Kyrie are ready to go. Small chance that they lose a series to golden state.

He put the fear of God in Steph and Klay and Dray last year

And Durant has been shook of Lebron at least 2012

They all scared of him and they thinking forming a voltron gone stop that man

at thinking Lebron gone have his 4th ring taken from him by KD and friends.