Even in the NBA’s era of analytics, flash, fame and sexiness remain the decisive data points for many. Hence Kyrie Irving and DeMar DeRozan being selected as All-Star starters in the East.
Irving is a killer – maybe the most unstoppable one-on-one scorer in the league. DeRozan isn’t quite as deadly – the wounds he inflicts can be bandaged – but like Irving, he makes a living producing good out of what should be bad.
The stardom of Irving and DeRozan is obvious and classical. But the shine of what they can do on a single possession – Irving’s drives that resemble a cannonball on a water slide, followed by the sweet finish off glass, DeRozan’s Kobe tribute band surveys into the paint that finish with that off-balance, falling back righty floater over a crowd – can be bright to the point of blinding, obscuring their weaknesses. Like, say, playing defence, or consistently making their teammates better.
Kyle Lowry and Isaiah Thomas do not wow you on a single play – they are full-game artists. To appreciate either, you have to delight in the ebbs and flows of the game’s 48 minutes and see how they gradually but decisively lift their teammates and crush their opposition.
Lowry is the best guard in the East, and that’s not up for debate. Maybe you want Irving for a playoff series (and you can probably drop the ‘maybe’ from that), but over the course of last season and the first half of this one, Lowry has established himself as the conference’s premier guard.
Of all the star point guards, he’s the best defender outside of Los Angeles. And that’s not in praise of D’Angelo Russell.
He’s a calculated bull and a tenacious tactician – using his absurdly low centre of gravity and core strength to navigate screens and stay close to opponents. He understands angles and he understands a little well-timed violence.
On offence, the only thing that screams superstar is Lowry’s output. He’s not graceful, not with his drives, his dribbling or his finishing. His jumper doesn’t exactly have a hitch in it, but it’s too stiff and has too many right angles to be beautiful.
But beauty isn’t Lowry’s game. With his craft, he leverages every slight athletic gift to its maximum effect. He doesn’t have singeing pace, but he’s just quick enough to beat defenders to the goal and strong enough to finish upon arrival. He’s an excellent, cerebral passer, and now that he’s hitting his threes at a vicious, likely unsustainable rate (43.8% on 7.5 attempts per game), he’s entered full-fledged, top-ten player in the league superstardom.
Isaiah Thomas is Lowry-lite, as well as every other player in the league-lite. Lowry has eight centimetres and nine kilograms on Thomas, and that’s why Thomas will never be his equal. But don’t tell Thomas that – someone whose entire NBA existence has been one giant middle finger to genetics.
Thomas’ size means he’ll always be a liability on defence, and his endeavour will never be able to compensate enough to square the ledger. He gets screened too easily and his lack of length means that he can’t really contest shots with anything more than vigour or be effective as a help defender. In the playoffs, if the Celtics see the Cavs, LeBron James will relentlessly find Thomas on defence the way he did Stephen Curry in last year’s Finals, and the Celtics will lose.
They’ll lose because they’re lost without Thomas on the floor. He’s their only penetrator, their only real creator, and their only reliable refuge when a play breaks down. Outside of James Harden and Russell Westbrook, the two MVP frontrunners, there arguably isn’t a player with a greater offensive burden than Thomas.
The fact that his tiny shoulders have been able to not just bear that burden, but grow taller underneath their weight, is enough to put Thomas second in the Eastern guard pecking order behind Lowry. His offensive output has been stupid – he’s scored at least 18 points in every single game this season, and he leads the league in fourth-quarter scoring. He’s been an absolute killer in the clutch, regularly sticking the dagger in opponents, often with that mid-range pull-up going around Al Horford’s pick.
Like Lowry, there isn’t much flash in Thomas’s star. He’s not that ‘cool’, which is strange, seeing as his closest comparison is Allen Iverson, maybe the coolest NBA player of all time. But Iverson was a cultural phenomenon, someone who came into the league with fame and pedigree, the first pick in the draft. Thomas, of course, was the draft’s final pick.
Thomas doesn’t have Iverson’s braids or tattoos or violence in his play. Iverson was iconic because he felt bigger than everyone around him. Thomas is a very short man who slithers around taller men.
But boy, does he slither. He’s all savvy and intuition, the master of stutter drives and quick pull-ups. His jumper isn’t smooth like Damian Lillard’s – although he will take and make those Lillard-type super deep threes where he eyes the rim for a while before he starts dribbling then says ‘screw it’ – and he often takes a couple of steps and follows his jumper towards the rim, the least cool and most responsible thing a player can do.
By efficiency, when Thomas is on the floor, Boston effectively has Houston’s offence, and when he hits the bench they become the Mavericks. Lowry’s statistical impact is even greater.
Irving and DeRozan are not late-Kobe Bryant type All-Star starter selections. They’re both excellent players, just like John Wall and Kemba Walker, who have their own (weaker) cases.
But Lowry and Thomas are the two guards in the East who have looked down on excellence this season. They’ve been transcendent – in output, impact, and most of all, in re-shaping our idea of what a star looks like, teaching us how nuance often shines brighter than blinding light.
Mushi
Guest
My apologies on the same author comment, Lowe's article and commentary was the basis for the article you linked (which doens't support your case!)
Mushi
Guest
He does say that yes Irving is the better shot creator in the final minutes... but if you're ~2-3 points better off having played lowry up until that point you've efecctively already made that shot
Mushi
Guest
I should have kept reading the article he drops this nugget too: "Lowry has been something like the tenth-best player in the league over the last two-plus season. He drives the Raptors; for the second straight year, the Drakes fall apart when DeRozan plays without Lowry and thrive in the opposite circumstance -- just as the Cavs disintegrate when Irving runs the show without LeBron."
Mushi
Guest
Interstingly the same author who's work you completely misinterpreted had this to say today: "The six best guards should all get in, but it's worth shouting one last time: There is no case for any of them to start over Lowry."
Mushi
Guest
I just dislike post that basically make the world less informed, which is probably why we clash. It do find your innocent key board warrior victim incredibly disingenuous. You’re more than happy to jump on stuff you think is misinformed and misleading. Now before we decide what type of poultry I am can we clarify: You said Kyle Lowry plays a lot AGAISNT bench units. … To support that you’ve put up an article that has him playing WITH 4 man bench units… For ~10% of his minutes. 3.5 a game when Derozan plays with the same guys for a bout 2… And He plays about 1.5 mintues more per game than derozan… And the unit performs better when he palys than derozan. Now I wouldn’t call 10% a lot, nor would I assume that every NBA team mirrors each other’s lineups perfectly, even then such an assumption would have Lowry always playing a starting PG 100% of his minutes by pure logic which isn’t true. Thing is adjusted +/- actually accounts for the opponent so it kind of derails your feasting on the weak argument. But I agree whole heartedly you cannot do that justice because the article has nothing about Lowry padding his stats playing against bench players rather it is how effective he is at getting the 4 bench guys to obliterate the opponent because he isn’t an and-1 show pony. You literally picked perfect article to high light the under-appreciated value of Lowry and how he’s the driver of Toronto’s success not DeRozan. First congrats on sinking to ring counting and yes becuase Kyrie is better than Matthew Dellevedova he must be the best PG in the East. Also it's incredibly valid I suppose given how many finals series Lowry has played with LeBron I'm sure there is an article written about it :)
Mushi
Guest
So you watch what less than 10 percent of games once and that gives you a reliable read on a players effectiveness. Even then if you should be able to see Irving defensive frailties
Swampy
Guest
I can't do it justice so here's a link: http://bballbreakdown.com/2016/12/26/lineup-breakdowns-the-toronto-raptors-bench-plus-lowry/ You may think you know what you're talking about but this thread is making you look like a keyboard warrior goose. Lowry plays heaps with the bench and pretty much anyone who is really into the NBA is aware of that. I got a stat for you Mushi - Kyle Lowry - NBA Championships = 0. Kyrie Irving - NBA Championships = 1 & when you say 'yeah but he has Lebron' ,well when Lebron didn't have Kyrie he lost. When Kyrie was there - bingo! James brings it home to Cleveland.
Squidward
Roar Rookie
Mate I have league pass and watch 4-5 games. I who I want in my team with some fair knowledge behind it. Go have your toilers it doesn't bother me
Mushi
Guest
Nope just that there is an abundance of evidence saying otherwise. But hey watch the sprite adds they're tops.
Mushi
Guest
Is that for just the recent stretch? His adjusted +/- is 43rd in the league, I see his basketball reference “box” +/- as mid 3s for 100 possessions which isn’t a 65 win team (Gordon Heyward is at 4.8). His total plus minus is 67, according to one source, which is 3.2 per 36 minutes. Even if you stretch that to 48 minutes then it’s 4.2. The warriors 65 win Pythagorean had 10+ Also it doesn’t makes sense if he’s a 65 win +/- on the court for 25 minutes and they are currently a ~27 win expectation they’d have to be lower than a 13 win for him off court surely to make that work? Even if the various sites are wrong you’d still have to petition the league to reduce the games to 9 minute quarters for it to have the same impact as other candidates.
Mushi
Guest
Davis started getting MVP love after playing 36 minutes a game and leading the league in PER (Embid is not top 20) and blocks whilst posting top 5 s in just about every other advanced stat. Embid is having a great rookie year but he’s not top ten in most of those and hasn’t played enough minutes to qualify for some of the leader boards yet.
Mushi
Guest
wrong spot
Mushi
Guest
Ah Street’s ahead! I get your frame of reference now. Playing street ball sure I take Kyrie. Sign him up to the and-1 tour and he’s better than Lowry. Put him in the league known as the NBA and the case for him evaporates quicker the hopes of top 3 trail blazer draft pick. Interesting fact in the past 4 years how many times has Irving posted a better offensive adjusted +/- than Lowry… zero. His games looks like he’s playing better, because it’s sexy, but until the NBA introduces a judging panel to award style points but Lowry does more to help his team on both ends of the court. Irving is a good starting NBA point guard. He’s a liability on defence but does enough to offset it on offence. Lowry is amongst the most effective starting point guards in the game on both ends of the floor. I can’t see how there is even the basis of beginning an argument to take Irving straight up over Lowry. Even Kahn wouldn’t do that move. Let’s for a second say DeRozan is the A guy (I don’t agree) are we really saying you get the same offensive space playing with Derozan being the focal point as you do with James? Is till don’t see Derozan as the A guy, he takes more shots but Lowry keys the offence. Most opposing schemes are going to be geared towards blunting what Lowry does and forcing DeRozan into isolation/creation in the few Raptor’s game I’ve watched Lowry definitely had some of the primary A defender on him or is shaded with help. But then I haven’t watched every raptors possession several times to analyse the defence’s intent . As to playing against the bench units have you got anything to back that up that wouldn’t just be typical for a guy playing 37 minutes?
Squidward
Roar Rookie
Yeah saw that a couple hours after. Glad the media and players saved that and the Zaza fan vote in the west
Squidward
Roar Rookie
Ok so everyone that reads the article must later be brainwashed by it. I pick Kyrie first. Best PG in east IMO
Sam Walker
Roar Guru
All 3 and maybe even Wall could have made the starting squad easily, it is still a popularity contest and guys like Lowry/IT will struggle against Kyrie in that regard. What I find interesting is that some media members took a vote off IT due to his defence (worst in the L) yes his D is poor but hey this is a game that has no D played at all. Lowry on the other hand has a name for himself amongst fans of being dirty (as his play today shows) and that won't win him extra votes.
Nate
Guest
I was pusing Lowry for the starting spot last year. He really has stepped up his game big time. As for Thomas, it's been awesome to watch his development this year and he is rightly being talked about as an MVP candidate even though he is no chance of actually winning it.
astro
Guest
Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Embiid fan, but he can't be included in the MVP conversation. RW, Harden, Durant, Lebron...these guys are miles ahead of Embiid, in terms of their impact on the game. As for Davis, he's averaging almost 10ppg and 4rpg more than Embiid, with fewer turnovers, playing better defense and shooting 50% from the floor (remembering he takes almost twice as many shots per game than Embiid also), so I don't think he's a fair comp. The points differential for the Sixers with and without Embiid says as much about how horrific the Sixers are as a team, than it does about how great Embiid is. When Simmons returns, I'm sure the differential will come down.
Rossy
Guest
Embiid on the floor the 76ers have the point differential of a 65 win team, Embiid off the floor a 13 win team. That's pretty damn valuable, if we are going off Most Valuable. In saying that, the season Harden is having will see him win the award, with westbrook second.
Rossy
Guest
Sigh. Feels when an entire article tries to educate fans beyond the above opinion and the first comment disregards it.