Source – So strange is the start to Kyle Lowry’s season that an uneven performance against the Celtics on Sunday—in which the All-Star point guard’s play faded gradually into the background—made for one of his stronger efforts yet. Lowry is stuck in the mire of less. Less attacking, less scoring, less foul drawing. Less responsibility, less license, less playing time. The contrast is transfixing. When a player this tenacious goes muted, the blank space where every scoring crescendo used to be becomes glaring. 

Lowry is not at all the type to idle in the background. That he’s done so with some frequency is a blinking indicator light on Toronto’s otherwise efficient offense. Even as Lowry posts a five-year low in points per game (13.4) and a three-year low in true shooting (54.9%), the Raptors are making do. Their offense has been reoriented to rely less on both Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, and less it has. Neither star has the same measure of control in an offense with this much increased ball movement. That relief may be healthy, but it has sometimes left Lowry rudderless.

It’s easy to point fingers as fans and yell at the TV watching the Raps, specifically Kyle Lowry this year.  He seems lost.  He looks angry and uninterested in getting with the new MO Masai and Coach Casey have installed this year.

Pass the ball and be three dominant, take the ball out of Lowry’s hand option goes to the best look.  The Raps average 20 more passes a game than last year and this is what Masai wanted to move toward when he gave his famous “we have to change because what we have been doing doesn’t work” season-ending speech.

For his efforts, Lowry has turned the ball over a fucking ton and looked like a fart in a jar.

When you get 100 million over three years with a basketball IQ like Lowry’s, it’s hard to give him a pass right now.   His term commitment to the team and the team’s financial commitment to him means one thing to me.  Stay on the floor and operate in the program.  There’s no tangible reason Lowry shouldn’t be able to figure this out.  If you are one of the best at your job and they ask less of you should be able to handle it.

If you are the best widget builder at the widget factory and build the best/most widgets a year why the fuck can’t help you make these goddamn widgets at the same rate and with the same attitude and purpose?

Career lows in shooting %, PPG, and his visible frustration has fans worried, but when you change your form in anything, it’s uncomfortable.   And your confidence takes a hit when you don’t get shit right.  It’s human nature, and this city has a way of reminding you of your shitty day more than most.

Lowry is too seasoned and too good to throw his hands up in the air and tell the Raps to stuff it.   He’s a man of resolve and character, and he’s figuring it out.  There are 70 more games so relax.

If not, the Raps are fucked.