I think Lowry's man-to-man D is more or less average for his position. Brooks' D is pretty danged bad -- that anyone paying attention can agree with.
Id say hes a bit above average. If only Kyle was 6-3 like Westbrook or Rose Although neither of these stats actually prove that one is a good defender but Lowry is 5th in the NBA in steals and is 2nd in blocks amongst PGs only to Rose.
Maybe someone with a mysynergy account can chime in on his 1-on-1 defense. I don't recall what it said last year.
Thanks for the analysis, and while I agree with some of it, there is some I do not agree with... Kyle is great against bigger players, because he tends to be quicker than them and he uses his aggression to get right up on them and sometimes under them to bother them. Against other PGs though, he is not as quick laterally, and gets burned a lot. Even average PGs can beat him with a decent dribble move, Kyle is most effective when he is playing guys like...well...Kmart for instance that are not that good on the bounce and not quick enough to get around him. That is my .02. DD
It doesnt matter though. A teams overall defensive impact is MUCH more contingent on smart mobile bigs than the smalls.
Here are this year's stat's at least. 2010-11 Lowry PPP Rank 0.96 303 Overall 0.77 80 Isolation 0.89 102 P&R Ball Handler 1.25 273 Spot - Up Brooks PPP Rank 1.04 348 Overall 1.32 -- Isolation 1.00 143 P&R Ball Handler 0.93 95 Spot-Up Brooks has a very small sample size, since he missed so many games. Some of stats do not even qualify for a rank, because the sample size is too tiny. No surprise that Brooks got destroyed in isolation, allowing 1.32 pts per possession. There were only 22 such possessions for this season though. Lowry has been a below average defender, this year. He is getting destroyed in spot-up situations. He allows 1.25 points per possession. For a reference, here is Rondo. Rondo PPP Rank 0.75 31 Overall 0.77 40 Isolation 0.72 33 P&R Ball Handler 0.81 39 Spot-Up
I agree that having a dominant big man defender is more valuable than a PG one -- but that doesn't mean that Lowry being the better defender over Brooks "doesn't matter." Without that big man controlling the paint, we need to upgrade on defense in as many areas as we can to try to make up for it. I don't think Lowry is a a shutdown man-on-man defender.. he's probably average to slightly above-average, just because of the amount of deflections and steals he gets.
My overlying point is that I know for a fact that bigs drive defense. But simply replacing Brooks with Lowry is not going to turn us into an elite defensive team, so touting the better defense at the position doesnt mean much to me, because even with 3/5 good defenders we are still a bad defensive team. The positions of the good defenders is what matter. Furthermore I still believe we can be an elite defensive team with the two worst defenders at the 1-2, provided you are strong at the 3-4-5. I propose acquiring Varejao, I think he would help us a lot.
Agreed, we are still a bad defensive team -- but every bit helps. Varejao would make us a better defensive team, but we still wouldn't be elite. I don't really like Varejao as much as you do, but I agree that he would certainly be an upgrade. He just doesn't strike me as a big shotblocking presence, which I think is more valuable than a good help-defending flopper.
Don't get me wrong, I freaking hate Varejao. But I think he is exactly what we are missing and he is available, which is a rare combo these days. I think having the option of Battier / Hayes / Varejao frontcourt could bump us up 10 ranks defensively no matter who is playing in the backcourt.
You gotta have more athleticism....and length. And who is playing the 5? Andy can play a bit there ...... I'd definitely be onboard with Varejao, but he must be mixed in with a balanced frontcourt.
Varejao would be perfect for us. All-NBA defender, great rebounder, hustler, and good enough offensively...PERFECT! No, he probably wouldn't make us elite right away, but he would help out tremendously. If the Cavs, who are "quietly shopping their entire roster," do decide to deal AV this season, I believe it will be to the Rockets. Out of our other competitors who are in the hunt for him (NY, OKC, Orlando, etc.), I think we possess the most to give them what they want (young talent, expirings, and picks). And I don't care which of our young talents we have to give up...they can have their pick and I won't lose sleep over it! (Although I would be happiest if it were Hill lol). Anderson is only 28 and under a reasonable contract for a big man. If we get him and he stays healthy, our center woes will be alleviated for the next few years--that's a huge relief. And I don't care how annoying he is...I'm sure I will love it when he is annoying the crap out of our opponents. ANDY TO HOUSTON, PLEEEEASE!!
yep. I'm hoping I'm wrong by saying the law of averages is taking its effect. Lowry has been looking sub par these past couple of games.
