No time like go time for Lowry
Point guard’s adjustment to life after DeRozan and Casey key plotline as season opens
Kyle Lowry is always probing, always questioning, always making sure there are solutions coming to situations in which he finds himself.
It’s part of the persona that’s made him a perennial NBA all-star in the middle of his career, and it’s what has endeared the veteran Toronto Raptors point guard to his new coach.
It’s a bit of impatience, it’s a bit of keeping his coach and teammates aware of his needs. It’s Kyle being Kyle. “I really admire the way he competes,” Nurse said of Lowry on Monday afternoon. “He has been a good source of information as far as ‘when are we going to get to this?’ or ‘when are we going to get to that?’
“He’s making sure it’s on our radar and coming, and we assure him it is and all those things. He’s that kind of veteran, that calibre with that IQ … and I will do the same with Danny (Green) and Kawhi (Leonard). Is there anything defen- sively that is worrying you now that we need to get to, so I can speed up that process? I had it scheduled for Thursday, but if it’s something that is bothering you I’ll put it in on Monday.
“That’s the open line of communication I like to have.”
Lowry is nothing if not someone who likes to be in the fray. Whether it’s mak- ing sure his opinions are heard — making sure his teammates and coaches know what they’ll get from him, making sure his teammates and coaches know what he expects of them — he’s going to be clear on it all.
That goes double for this season, when Lowry is one of the mainstay holdovers from a team that divested itself of its coach (Dwane Casey) and Lowry’s allstar backcourt buddy (DeMar DeRozan) in a tumultuous summer.
How the 12-year veteran from Philadelphia handles the change is going to be a huge part of what happens with the Raptors this season. It’s entirely new for his tenure in Toronto, and it’s taking some getting used to.
“We’re not going to be clicking on all cylinders right away,” Lowry admitted after practice Monday. “There’s a lot of work we need to do, but we’ll be fine. It’s a long process. Everything is going to take time — new players, a new offence, new defence, new head coach. Everything is going to take patience and time. We want things to go fast, but we understand it’s going to be a process.
“Yeah, this is my first year since I’ve been here with a new head coach — new
system, different assistants — and everything is going to be different.”
But maybe different will be good. The Raptors have been successful ever since Lowry arrived — playoff participants each of the last five springs, Eastern Conference finalists three seasons ago — but unable to get over the formidable hump presented by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Through it all, Lowry has proven to be an intense competitor, a demanding teammate and, every now and then, a bullheaded thorn in the side of his coaches.
Now he’s got a new one to deal with — and break in — but Lowry also has a new all-star teammate in Leonard and that pairing will be fascinating to watch as the season progresses.
It’s worked out well so far, at least in practice. The two have barely played together in preseason games — Leonard sat out two, Lowry sat out two and was ejected from another — so the majority of their work has come in practice sessions.
“He just wants to win,” Lowry said of Leonard. “I think that’s why he’s going help us. He wants to win at a high level and I think that’s the one thing that makes it easier for everyone to come together. He wants to win and we all want to win, too.”
Lowry’s desire to win eclipses all other emotions once the season begins. He says “the Gold Ball” is his only goal, referring to the Larry O’Brien Trophy that goes to the NBA champion. He knows he’s in uncharted waters with this group, minus the security of a coach he knows and a former teammate he needed. Still, he sees tremendous promise.
“We’ve got a chance to be really good,” Lowry said. “We’ve got some real good talent; we’re really deep. Now we’ve just got to go out and compete.”