Kyle Lowry turning things around (UPDATE: Added Lowry's highlights)

I agree with you accept I wouldn't call shooting the least of worries. Last night they sagged off of Lowry behind the arc. Teams will consider him a know factor if he doesn't shoot at least 30% from behind the arc. That means Lowry's man can always double on Yao and if Lowry has no confidence to shoot a wide open 3 than double teams become easy on Yao and even triple teams will happen frequently as Yao becomes more dominant.

That said I think he is capable of improving and if he does than I also would like to see him start with this team. If hayes can shoot 12 for 12 at the line I am confident Lowry can improve his 3 pt shooting. Plus Lowry came into camp out of shape and these grueling long minutes are helping him get back into shape but also making him tired late in the game and hurting his shooting. When Brooks comes back he will get more rest and hopefully that will help.

We have a long way to go but Lowry improvement makes me feel optimistic. Brooks as a great 6th man off the bench is exciting. Hayes improvement also makes me feel better about our backup situation for Yao. Much better. To think Morey spent much of the off seqason try to find a better backup for yao and we have right under our noses all the time. hayes is a bettr backup for the Hayes of last year.

 

Funny how you failed to mention that we were missing Yao and Brooks, but made sure to point out they were missing Lee. How very fan-like of you.

 

Well, my post was more about the difference in the Warriors between the two games.

But as for the Rockets, since Lowry missed the first GSW game and Brooks missed the second one, I consider the change in our PG position a wash.

And Yao is a non-factor because he missed both Warriors games: the first because it was the second of a back-to-back, and this one due to injury.

So as far as I can see, the biggest difference for the Rockets was fatigue.

 

Care to elaborate on this point?

In the first GSW game, Brooks shot 27%, had 13 pts, 3 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, and 3 turnovers. His counterpart, Curry, had 25/11 on 50% shooting.

Last night, Lowry shot 50%, had 14 pts, 7 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 steals, and 3 turnovers. His counterpart, Curry, had 21/6 on 42% shooting.

Looks like Lowry played much better against GSW than Brooks did.

 

Mine's a much simpler point. I meant that since we were missing one PG in each of the GSW game, it didn't seem being undermanned at the PG spot was a deciding factor. .

And yes, statistically, Lowry played better. But Lowry also played under much more favorable conditions vs. GSW than Brooks did.

 

They may not be a good team but they have a great backcourt which makes his performance more impressive.

 

Man I was having some serious doubts about Lowry after he signed that fat contract but after that game I'm happy. He played really well. Nearly a triple-double. If he can keep up this kind of play you can say goodbye to Brooks.

 

just be consistent Klow7...so we can trade shootin AB0 for another valuable player.

 

I don't care about the sagging off of Lowry. The way for Lowry to beat that sag off is to keep pressuring them, take the dribble in, pass out to a perimeter guy, get the ball back inside the circle, and penetrate further, and then kick to the wide open 3-ball shooter. It is more effective and more productive than Lowry ever learning to shoot the 3-ball. Frankly, I'm hoping he never learns how to shoot that shot. Lowry's job is to penetrate and dish, penetrate and dish, penetrate and dish, over and over to facilitate this offense getting LAYUPS and making the defense work their collective tails off.

When you understand basketball at the highest levels, the reason we won down the stretch tonight was because GS was gassed at the end from chasing us around and trying to cut off all the penetration and the massive amount of ball movement we hit them with on the offensive end. Those highlights that Clutch posted all point to the same thing. You've got a guy coming down the floor, he's looking to get it to the rim and facilitate ball movement, not take jumpers. That is pressure, pressure, pressure on a defense, much greater pressure than containing a guy and letting him shoot the 3-ball.

Lowry is quite possibly the best rebounding point guard in the game, obviously a top 5 defensive point guard, one of the most efficient finishers at the point guard position, an above average penetrator at the point guard position, and an above average distributor from the point guard position who is improving on his distribution right now. And.......he is a poor shooter from distance, which is something I can live with very easily if we have a SG and a SF that can nail the 3-ball.

 

thx 4 uploading~~ Kyle Looks really great~~ It is a good sign of Rockets, isn't ?

 

I don't get the Kyle is overweight comments that I've been reading lately. To me he looks the same, he's always had a stocky build with a big derrière. He's handled 40 plus minutes since he came back from back spasms, I haven't seen him lagging from it.

 

Brooks vs Lowry depends on the personnel.
If we keep Lowry in the starting lineup, then he needs to be surrounded by good shooters and scorers. Martin and Scola are fine at the 2/4, but we need more offensive production from the 3 spot. That way, he can focus on the things that he does best instead of trying to create offense.
If Brooks is in the starting lineup, he needs to have a defensive/rebounding 3 to cover for his mistakes.
Truth is that the two-headed monster of Brooks/Lowry is much more potent as the sum of parts than as individuals.
We can keep Battier, but we really need an upgrade at the SF spot.

 

We need one more lineup adjustment for Lowry and that is having Lee out there instead of Battier, so Lee can provide some D on the better of the opponents wing players along with upgrading Battier's offense with Lowry out there.

Our bench should be Battier, Brooks, and Yao when healthy. Hayes should start with Scola. Hayes gives our offense more ball movement and he understands where to go and what to do. He won't always go off like he did last night but he works great in combination with Lowry offensively because he moves the ball and he has a great handle for a big since he is so low to the floor. You surround those two rocks with the shooters/scorers. Then you bring in Yao and let him play all his minutes in the bonus. When the defense collapses on Yao, you've got Brooks/Battier/Budinger shooting the trey. We could even go small with Yao on the 2nd unit putting Battier at the 4, and running Budinger and Lee at the wings in a small ball, speedy, three point shooting lineup around Yao in the post, ala Orlando.

The starters for this team should be: Lowry, Martin, Lee, Hayes, Scola. And yes, I am very opinionated on this topic.

 

I like this concept, and it of course initially made me think, "Okay then, start Budinger."

But then I started thinking, "That makes sense for the half-court, but it's a full-court game where Lowry really thrives."

So, let's put another fast break guy in there with him and Budinger - Courtney Lee. He can shoot fairly well, so he fits your mandate of needing shooters around Lowry. But, he's not nearly the shooter Kevin Martin is, so...

Let's try to fit another shooter in the lineup to make up the difference between Martin and Lee. Scola's a great shooter from 15-18 feet, and that's all you can really ask of your power forward in that regard. Yao's a great shooter from the same range, but there's another player at his position that can shoot from even further: Brad Miller.

So, now we have a good mix around Lowry that will allow him to run the floor (Bud & Lee), while spacing it in the half court (Bud [ideally he's out of his slump], Miller; and to a lesser extent, Lee & Scola). Only problem is, that interior defense is going to be horrid - no shotblocking from the bigs, and minimal ability to stick with a post presence defensively. Plus, those bigs aren't exactly known for their prowess in the open court, so that affects a part of Lowry's game adversely.

Well, let's find another big that will allow Kyle to run, but still maintain that half court spacing with a decent jumper - all while giving the interior defense a boost with shot-blocking ability and the athleticism needed to stick with a post presence defensively. Jordan Hill, anyone? Hill can hit that 15+ foot jumper - not as well as Scola, but decent enough to keep the opposing defense from clogging Kyle's lane. And, he can run the floor with Lowry better than any of the Rockets other bigs. Plus, with Miller in the game for spacing, he'll keep offenses on their toes when they come into the lane.

What's that leave us with? A lineup of Lowry/Lee/Budinger/Hill/Miller.

Sound familiar? It should, because that's what our bench brigade was supposed to look like coming into the season.

 

lol DD owned

 

I'm more interested in how accurate Lowry's 3 ball is when he isn't making a pull up 3.

Perhaps Lowry is very much like Ish Smith, someone who shoots a better percentage from 3 when he can position himself properly before shooting (catch and shoot of course).

 

Yep. The ole pull up 3 ball. The second most inefficient shot in basketball right behind an Adonal Foyle turnaround jumper. Let's all go practice those.

 

lol if you think Kyle Lowry is anything like Rafer Alston. Your basketball knowledge must not be very good.

 

Nice highlights, much thanks..Clutch