Misc Playoff Notes

I can't find any site that does rotation minutes immediately, and if I'm working on an analysis about a game, I'd like to see the progression and how certain rotations were played out. If it's a playoff series, I wanted to see any rotation adjustments as well. Starting game 2, I've been doing my own manual rotation spreadsheet, and I also started adding the score at certain key points (i.e. Gasol goes out because of foul trouble, etc.). It's not 100% accurate, as I've been rounding them up/down to the nearest quarter of the minute, but it's close enough.

I'll be posting the new ones as soon as I'm done.

My Thoughts on Kyle Lowry's Game 1

I'm a big Kyle Lowry fan. In fact, I'm a Kyle Lowry Over Everything kind of guy. When DeMar DeRozan got traded, I was sad - heartbroken, but the fact that we still have Lowry makes things easier to accept.

I too, get disappointed with Lowry's past playoff struggles offensively. Scratch that, not offensively, just the scoring part. He would have that bad scoring game that would dictate the perception of Lowry for the entire series, if not the entire post-season.

This reputation would stick regardless of how he would carry the team as the only person keeping all the parts together. How bad the team looked when he's on the floor. Whenever he doesn't score more than 15 points or if he doesn't shoot at a high percentage to compound a low scoring game, everyone was quick to throw Lowry under the bus.

I'm disappointed too. I too think that Lowry could have done better scoring wise. After re-watching the game, it sucks to see the Magic leaving Lowry wide open, pretty much daring him to hit that shot.

I guess -- and maybe this is how much of the Raptors fanbase felt --- it's disappointing because we've seen how good Kyle Lowry is. From 2014-2016, he was our Kyrie Irving or Dame Lillard. Even in 2017, he was the guy that would try to bail us out of a rut.

Unfortunately, that "peak Lowry" or "MVP Lowry" is long gone. I accept that, given his age and mileage. Right now, I see him as a Dallas Mavericks-era Jason Kidd. However, even Kidd scored well enough (he developed his 3pt shot), but not enough to get to his peak scoring average.

I don't know what to expect from Lowry heading into game 2. The Raptors played mostly 5-out offence, and the way the Magic packed the paint, there's very little opportunity for him to drive for a layup. So yeah, it's gonna come down to him hitting his open 3s.

If anything, Lowry might lose his scoring ability, but there's one thing that I don't expect him to lose anytime soon: Impose his will and determination. We've seen that a lot this season, especially in the latter half where Lowry went into this mode where he stepped up his intensity, the teammates followed suit, and that was the game.

I hope to see that version of Lowry tonight.