‘Force’ awakens Lowry
Frustrated Raptors all-star searching for quick fix after Game 1 letdown
Maybe it’s just a question of semantics — one man’s “I’m going to have to force shots” is another man’s “he has to be more aggressive” — and that an apparent disconnect among the Toronto Raptors is nothing to get worked up about. Maybe. But the one thing that emerged clearly in the aftermath of yet another playoff Game 1 failing on Saturday night is that unlocking the key to Kyle Lowry’s offence is paramount to solving the riddle of the Milwaukee Bucks.
That Lowry — who finished the series opener with four points in 33 minutes — and coach Dwane Casey have differing opinions on how that can be done is either a misinterpretation of phrases or a differing view on how to actually accomplish it.
“Put it this way: I guess I’m going to have to force shots,” was how Lowry put it Sunday. “My teammates want me to be more aggressive, so I’m going to have to force some more shots, simple as that.
“Because I felt like I made the right passes (in Saturday’s 97-83 loss at the Air Canada Centre) . . . You’ve got four arms on you (from two defenders guarding every high screen play), but I gotta be more aggressive.”
Casey wouldn’t use “force some shots” as a strategic ploy, because that’s not what any coach wants, but he’d like to see more from his all-star point guard.
“Taking the shots when he has them, turning the corner, being aggressive,” Casey said of Lowry’s challenge.
The answer is obviously somewhere in the middle: Lowry can’t go off halfcocked and fire up contested jumpers willy-nilly, nor can the Raptors rely solely on him.
Lowry was obviously frustrated during his seven-minute chat with the media on Sunday, hardly happy about having to dissect an atrocious 2-for-11 shooting night.
He missed all six three-pointers he took and did not get to the rim consistently. Whether or not it was the “four arms” and the sheer aggressive ball-pressuring nature of the Milwaukee defence, Lowry didn’t look like himself for long stretches of the game.
The 31-year-old is a bit of a contrarian, and that might have had something to do with the idea of him having to force more shots. The fact is, he just has to make better basketball plays and trust that his teammates will do their job. If there’s a breakdown in that trust, everything’s going to fall apart and a playoff of promise will devolve into ugliness and everyone connected with the team knows it.
“We can run the floor on offence better, flow better,” P.J. Tucker said. “I think a lot of times Kyle is getting out, pushing, and we weren’t back on offence yet.
“Everybody getting to spots, cutting harder, screening harder — playing harder, period — will make Kyle’s life a lot easier.”
And if Lowry’s life is easier, the game is easier and the Raptors are better.
To be sure, the Bucks know that as well as any scout who’s ever watched the Raptors knows it.
“Every shot I took was contested or ran off,” Lowry said. “They did a good job. They game-planned really well for us. That’s one thing about the playoffs: teams are going to game plan for me and DeMar (DeRozan).
“We’ve got to figure out ways to make tough shots or everybody else has got to help us. We’ve got to get other guys to get even more open looks.”
That contradictory statement — “get other guys to get even more open looks” is about as far away as possible from “force more shots” — speaks to his level of frustration with the Game 1 loss.
“We need to win — there’s no calm about that,” Lowry said. “We need to win. We don’t want to be in this situation, but we put ourselves in this situation again, so it sucks.”