LOS ANGELES — Where better to get back to basics than on the same highly polished hardwood where John Wooden crafted his legend, imparting his lasting fundamental truths to some of the greatest players in basketball history?
The Toronto Raptors were practising at UCLA Thursday at Wooden’s old gym where his original chalkboard remains, protected by glass and with one of the iconic coach’s most famous sayings on a small plaque above: “Never mistake activity for accomplishment.”
Modern translation?
Game speaks.
And right now Kyle Lowry’s game is at least hinting at a key fact for the Raptors as they try to navigate a very difficult six-game road swing that picks up again Friday night against the Los Angeles Lakers: he’s not yet comfortable with all the changes the Raptors are determined to implement offensively.
Whether it’s just a small sample size — four games is four games, after all — or something a little more, even Lowry isn’t sure.
“Honestly, I don’t know yet,” Lowry said to me the other day before he struggled again offensively in Toronto’s loss to Golden State on Wednesday, dropping the club to 0-2 on the trip. “I’m trying to figure it out myself. I had a feel for it in pre-season, but regular season is a lot different. The only thing I can do is keep working at it and keep doing what the coaches asked me to do and I think I’ve done that so far. I’m not making my shots but I’m getting OK shots, or looks. I have to find ways to make them or be better.”
Lowry is shooting just 27.6 per cent from three so far — a mark that stands out in part because the Raptors have so few proven three-point shooters in their lineup. When their best players from long range wobble, it seems to have a ripple effect throughout the lineup. The Raptors are second in the NBA in three-point attempts with 36 per game (they were 22nd last year with 24.3) but are making just 30.6 per cent, ranking 27th — a category they were 12thin last season, at 36.4 per cent.
An uptick from Lowry would solve a lot of problems. “I just need to get on one of those 20-out-30 streaks, man,” he said.
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His solution Thursday would have made Wooden proud, as Lowry stationed himself under one basket working on his shooting form from two feet, then six feet, then 10 feet and so on until he was stepping into 25-footers.
The results weren’t quite where he wanted them to be as he was spraying shots left and right, so he would come back to the basket and start the drill over again. He feels he’s close, but not quite there.
“This league? It keeps you humble,” said Lowry after his workout. “It keeps you very, very humble. I work hard so that’s why I’m not like, ‘Aww man.’ I’m a shooter, that’s why I know I’m going to make shots. It’s just taking a little more time right now.”
Lowry did seem to be favouring his right wrist — the same one he required surgery on after the all-star break last year — after taking a hard tumble in the fourth quarter against the Warriors, icing it after the game and after practice Friday. But he dismissed it as a possible issue when asked.
However, Lowry does allow that he’s having some challenges working his way through his new responsibilities — or lack of them. There’s a certain freedom in being the unquestioned catalyst of an offence — everything rotates around you. Now Lowry’s trying to find his comfort zone while making sure teammates can better participate in a more egalitarian offence designed to make it harder for opponents to key on him and DeMar DeRozan in the playoffs.
Lowry’s struggles are curious because as the Raptors ushered in their new approach, the thinking was that among their all-star backcourt, it would be DeRozan who would have to adjust more as the offence tried to play less in the 1-on-1 and pick-and-roll situations he’s thrived in.
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DeRozan, it turns out, looks the same as ever, maybe even better: his field-goal attempts are down but his shooting percentages are up and he’s still getting to the free-throw line at a high rate.
Lowry’s the one whose game has shifted the most in the early going. A year ago the engine that has always made the Raptors go had the best regular season of his career. He averaged 22.4 points, 7.0 assists and 4.8 rebounds while shooting 41.2 per cent from three on 7.8 attempts per game. All were career bests except for the assists, which was his second-best mark. His advanced numbers agreed with traditional stats as Lowry had the best offensive efficiency rating of his career, the best net rating and the best player efficiency rating overall. His True Shooting Percentage was .623 — sixth among perimeter players and tied, virtually, with Steph Curry.
Good company.
This year — and yes small sample size alert — Lowry is averaging just 12.5 points a game and his TS% is a measly .495, which would be a career-low and reflects not only his three-point shooting woes, but his plummeting free throw attempt rate — 2.2 per 36 minutes compared with 5.9 last season.
His usage rate — an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player when on the floor — is down to 18.8 per cent, a notable drop from the 25.5 Lowry averaged in his three all-star seasons prior to this one. According to play-type data on NBA.com, the Raptors are using less possessions where they finish a pick-and-roll with a ball-handler — typically Lowry or DeRozan — keeping the ball than a year ago and they are looking for teammates on cuts more.
Lowry is also getting less time with the second unit — a stretch of the game he would often dominate — as the emphasis is on limiting minutes to keep the 31-year-old fresh deep into the season and playoffs.
“Everything is different right now, and that’s one of those things about signing back up here. I knew things were going to be different,” he said earlier this week. “I’m staying positive with what we’re doing and getting a feel for it and the ball movement has been great. I have to find ways to be more efficient where I’m getting my shots and my looks and find a way to get a rhythm without having the ball.
“I just have to figure it out, man. It’s a different offence, a different system. I can adjust and I have to adjust.”
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