http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/7331123.html [rquoter] The legend of Kyle Lowry's jump shot remained, like the best stories and tall tales, unseen by most. Recent members of the Rockets mentioned it in conversations, not knowing it wasn't public knowledge, but quickly let the subject change. Even when Lowry had his breakthrough season, earning a four-year, $23.5 million offer sheet from the Cleveland Cavaliers that the Rockets rapidly matched, that purported shooting touch rarely ventured out to where it could be seen. It remained more of an urban legend spoken of around the Toyota Center practice court. "He's been hitting them in practice for a couple of years now," Aaron Brooks said to laughter, though he was perfectly serious. "He's the best practice shooter on the team," Kevin Martin said last week, "trust me." Lowry's 37 percent 3-point shooting this season, though an improvement from his 27.6 percent career 3-point shooting, is far from legendary.He quickly pointed out his December accuracy has lasted all of eight days. But in the past four games, he has made 11 of 19 3-pointers, averaging 18.5 points and 9.5 assists. The Rockets have averaged 112.3 points with Lowry driving the offense in his customary ways, along with his sudden spate of sharp-shooting. 'It's a huge factor' "It's a huge factor," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "Most teams go under on him. Most teams like to keep him out of the paint. When you're making outside shots, it creates a lot of havoc for them. He has been shooting them well. He has to take them in his rhythm. A lot of times, he doesn't want to take that shot. He takes it as the last thing he can do. When you do that, you're not shooting it in your rhythm. If … he's in a corner and we've had a good possession and swing it, you have to take that shot. "The thing Kyle has done the best is he has done the things like the really good point guards, the Nashes and those types of guys where he is getting into the middle and he keeps that dribble alive and suddenly Luis (Scola) is standing at the free-throw line all by himself. A lot of point guards are going to get to the middle and either shoot it or look to the outside and not keep that dribble alive. A guy like (Steve) Nash has made a living on that. Kyle has done a great job of that the last six games." Lowry has not been confused for Nash as a shooter after just four games, and he has not inspired teams to go over screens to take away his shot. Lowry does not expect that to change unless he shoots well "for a whole season." Lowry laughed when asked if he would take pride in seeing a team start going over screens to take away his 3-point shot, but he would like the opportunity to drive on teams trying to defend something else. "It will make it easier for me to get into the paint and find my guys and give them more open shots and more open looks," Lowry said. "It's only three or four games that I'm shooting well. I'm not going to be proud until I'm doing it consistently, like I know I can." Between rock, hard place The Rockets missed Brooks' perimeter shooting when he went out with an ankle injury, especially late in games when opponents could clog the lane in pick-and-rolls. Lowry has burned those defenses in a few games, but the Rockets would prefer to have opponents caught between defensive choices they don't like. "Most teams would be rotating off him or letting him have the shot, but when he's making those it causes a lot of problems because now they got to run at him," Adelman said. "If they run at him, he can get back to the middle and find somebody else. They rotate off him a lot. "If he knocks them down, what can they do?" [/rquoter]
I don't know if I'd call the title of this thread 'accurate.' I will say, however, that I was surprised to hear Martin say that Lowry is the best true shooter on this team. tm
Lowry needs to take the shots no matter what his shooting percentage is. When PG can shoot, your team is in great position.
If Kyle Lowry now has an acceptable 3-pt jump shot, can anyone think of any reasons why Aaron Brooks is allowed to live?
Rick Adelman reads like my posts, we HAVE to have a PG that can hit that 3pt shot, and create space. I am glad Lowry has been doing it lately, I hope he keeps it up. DD
I am on the "Rocket's WIN" bandwagon, and believe history is a good indicator of future results. Let's hope Lowry's improvement is not like just a hot stretch like Rafer used to enjoy... DD
Lowry is improving to point where we can either bring AB off of the bench like Jason Terry or trade him in a package for someone really good
Except when it comes to your favorites. We don't need to look at their histories: Brooks- always a defensive liability, never could run the offense, or a simple pick and roll. Budinger- always showed the talent and skill, garnering top prospect status as far back as his prep days, yet never lived up to the hype because of mental weakness. Showed zero improvement throughout college, plummeting his draft stock. Surprise surprise that he has not improved this year and let a shooting slump affect all aspects of his game. See, for them, "they are still young and improving", "they are proven", "wouldn't trade Budinger for an unknown commodity like the 4th overall pick", "their ceiling is unlimited", we can ignore past histories. Yet for someone who could threaten one of your favorites, we have to look at Kyle Lowry's "history". It is already a given that he is a career backup. No way he has the potential of a Aaron Brooks even though he is YOUNGER. If he shoots good it is just a hot streak. If he wins it was only against bad teams. But wait, you are simply on the Rocket's win bandwagon. Face it, maybe you don't even realize it yourself, but proving yourself right(and convincing others) is what propels you to litter this board with your belabored topics. We will all be happy when the Rockets win, as you will, but that is not what is ultimately driving you.
Simply incorrect, he has made several good passes to Scola and Yao running it and when the defender goes under the screen takes advantage and nails the jumper. He is slumping, and if he does it the whole year, you will have a point, but since he started slow last year and was great at the end of the year, I don't give up on good players so quickly....not going to Knee Jerk about it. I don't think Cousins is all that special, just my opinion. I have been very complimentary of Kyle when he deserves it, the fact of the matter is that no one wants to deal in the reality of the hot streak being against weak defensive teams, and that until he does it for an extended time, it is just a hot streak......which I LOVE, BTW..... DD