He showed how is good at defense and how he is bad today. He is good enough to get the Rockets to the playoffs, but if he plays like he did today he is not good enough to help the Rockets win in the playoffs.
We don't need to him to play at an all star level. That's the beauty of a team which isn't built around a single player, as long everybody steps up we'll still win. If Everybody played like Dalembert played today we'll win every game in the playoffs.
LOL DD never got over how Lowry bumped his Aaron Brooks out of the rotation. Lowry played a little bit better than Parker in this game, but to DD's eyes Parker is the shiznit while Lowry will forever be a "backseat kind of player".
What game were you watching? In the playoffs, Dalembert has to stop players like Parker consistently which he was not doing. He was not showing on the PnR which consistently allowed Parker into the paint. And then he was no where near fast enough to stay in front of Parker in the paint or get back to his man then because there was no time to do so. He has to show on the PnR and then quickly get back to his man or if he is going to wait at the top of the key, he has to show lateral quickness enough to keep Parker in front of him. If he cannot defend that in the playoffs, the Rockets will be lucky to make any series competitive. Only reason the Spurs lost, is because during key times they stopped running the PnR with Parker and the center. Not sure why, but I bet they won't stop in the Playoffs.
The only center I know of who has the lateral quickness to defend PNRs against guys like Parker consistently is Dwight Howard. I mean seriously, you're talking about a 7 foot tall, 200+ pound man. You want him to be able to stay in front of Tony Parker, and then quickly switch and grab rebounds against the other team's center? Also we just won the game. I guess Dalembert's inability to be at two places at once isn't that big a deal.
lowry was pretty upset with all the times parker was burning him. my guess as to why is because: -the bigs weren't really doing a good job following the team plan. I noticed that Lowry was trying to hedge Parker toward his big, but often times our big didn't stop the penetration or prevent the easy pass for their man for a layup. Lowry was mad because he was trying to stick to the game plan but his guy kept on scoring/making plays because there was a breakdown on the bigs' aspect. -i also thought that he was upset with all the things that parker/spurs were getting away with. there were a lot of illegal screens and also a lot of calls that parker was getting that lowry wasn't getting at the other end. that being said, i agree with mchale's post game conference when he says that kyle needs to be more stoic when things aren't going his way (see also woman ref incident).
Lowry's still a young player, and I guess as his b-ball level has gone up he's surprised and frustrated other people aren't reaching his level of play. In this case I think they were trying to go for a "funnel defense" and trying to send Parker to the bigs, but Parker's one of the better pgs in the league things won't go that easily. I agree though a lot fo superstar calls going to Parker.
I posted about lowry being an avg defender since being a starter. He was a good defender when he came off the bench. Now, he sticks to screens like glue. Now that's not to say the bigs didn't do their part, but this isn't some new revelation. The top end pgs can get anywhere at anytime vs lowry. Parker abused him to the point dragic or lee had to guard parker. Lowry played great at the end and made the necessary plays.
Its hard to defend quick guys with the new rules. Top players can now "get theirs" no matter how good your D is. With Lowry, I can live with the "average D" if he can consistently get 6 rebs a game.
Sadly, I missed this game... how was Martin doing in the 1st and 2nd half? Did he have a dominant quarter or half... or was he productive all game long? I'm just curious.
Um my post said OR. I know Dalembert does not have Chuck Hayes lateral quickness. No one they NBA does. Because he does not, he needs to show on the PnR and then either book it back to his man get weakside help from the other big. Neither of those things were happening. Instead, Dalembert WAS letting Paul into the top of the key and attempting to stay in front of Parker which he obviously has no ability to do. Sure that inability is no big deal when you play the Spurs in the regular season when do not have Manu or Duncan. However, it makes all the difference when they pick apart every weakness in team and play all their stars in a 7 game series, which was my entire point.
He was solid. He kept us in the game in the 3rd when the Spurs could've pulled away. He went on a 7-0 run by himself.
We won, 6 wins in a row, let´s go for 7 in a difficult game against Kevin Love/Rubio/Adelman. Funny how this forum went from underrating Lowry to overrating him like crazy in one year. It went from, "Lowry is a good energy guy off the bench" to "Lorwy gets no help, he is in an all-star better then D-will" Funny how people bring PER, to say who is better. If you are comparing 2 guys at the same position, what you do is compare head-to-head. Guess what Parker gives a lot of problems to Lowry (not alone), that is just a fact that people deny. This guy completely nailed it, but for some reason we keep playing Parker as if he can go 9/10 for mid to long range. Do I love the guy because he extracts every single drop of talent he has on his body? Yes Do I love his salary per production? Yes Is Lowry crucial in what we are doing Right now in the regular season? Yes But stop with the "OMG Lowry is THE best" when he plays on a league where there are 15 great PGs. Lowry still has a lot to improve being one of them DECISION MAKING.
