Kyle Lowry on being ‘Mr. Raptor’ and the chase for a second championship ring — The Undefeated
How robust was it to play for the Raptors in Tampa final season and within the NBA bubble a season earlier than as a result of pandemic?
It was ridiculous. I had a home in Toronto. I nonetheless have stuff within the storage up there that was in my house, my children’ stuff, work and schoolwork. It simply sucks that I didn’t have an opportunity to play a recreation there since February of 2020. We have been happening a West Coast journey and we had performed Utah after which the pandemic hit. My children have been already on spring break after which I didn’t return. I went straight to my hometown of Philly and it was positively robust.
Toronto was house. That was legit house. You’re spending September to June there as a result of your children are in school in Toronto, and to not be capable of go there, it was like, ‘Rattling, when will I ever return to truly benefit from the metropolis?’ I went again there final offseason. I had dinner and it was good simply having that probability to go and sit down there. And this season, I feel we’ve acquired three days there. I’m not trying ahead to [the emotion].
Was it a tough determination to depart to the Warmth?
I had a fantastic rapport with Masai and [general manager] Bobby [Webster] all through this entire final 12 months of the pandemic. We got here off the [2018-19 season] the place we have been champions and have been taking part in properly. We went to the bubble and we misplaced to Boston. After which that subsequent season, shedding Serge [Ibaka] and Marc [Gasol], us being displaced, it was like, ‘All proper, we’ve an open line of communication with Masai and Bobby, my agent, myself — plenty of it as a result of I’ve a relationship with these guys.’
I nonetheless textual content Bobby. I nonetheless textual content Masai. There aren’t any exhausting emotions. We’ve all had an open line of communication. And for me, it was very bittersweet as a result of I by no means needed to depart. However it was extra a way of: ‘All proper, my children are getting older. I wish to be someplace the place they are often steady it doesn’t matter what.’
And, yeah, all people says you may simply reside in Canada, however you’d must get a Canadian citizenship to reside there. And I don’t assume I’d’ve lived there for the remainder of my life. However I’ll be capable of return. That’s nonetheless house. Like I’ve stated, and I’ll say it now, I’ll signal a one-day contract and I’ll retire as a Toronto Raptor. That’s my all the pieces.
Do you wish to work for the Raptors after you’re finished taking part in?
I don’t know if I wish to work on this league. All people’s saying will probably be good. I respect our league. And my targets for what I’m occupied with as a league, I’m trying larger than simply working within the league. My aim is to create sufficient wealth the place I could be a part of one thing. However the candy half about me leaving was, now Freddy [VanVleet] will get all the eye, OG [Anunoby] will get all the eye. Pascal [Siakam] will get much more of the eye. I left the franchise in a fantastic place to my little brothers. They’re actually my little brothers. No, they’re household. They’re equals to me. They’re simply youthful than me.
And I’ve left the franchise in a spot the place Pascal is an All-Star, proper? He’s going to come back again, have a fantastic [season]. Freddy’s going to proceed to get higher. He’s going to emerge as an excellent higher chief. They’re guys who’re nonetheless younger. OG, you see his emergence because the offensive participant. They may get extra of the eye now. I’d take all of the blame as a result of I needed to. I by no means needed them to must take care of that stuff, as a result of I simply felt I may take the world on my shoulders. And so they can, too, however now it’s theirs. I left the franchise in a fantastic place.
They’re taking it from me and saying, ‘We acquired you.’ And it’s a proud second. I nonetheless watch their video games. I’ve talked to Freddy. I’ve talked to OG and I’ve texted Pascal earlier than his first recreation. I nonetheless speak to [ex-Raptors guard] Norm [Powell]. We’ve created bonds that we’ll have eternally. And people are individuals, these are children and guys which might be males now that I’ll help and cheer for it doesn’t matter what the state of affairs is.
Raptors Nice Kyle Lowry Says He Needs to Retire in Toronto – Sports activities Illustrated
There aren’t any exhausting emotions, Lowry stated, between him and the group. It was, by all accounts, a mutual determination for the Raptors legend to depart this previous summer time, permitting him to chase one other ring, play with Jimmy Butler, his long-time pal, and settle his household into Miami. For Toronto, it was a chance to maneuver into a brand new period and hand the keys of the group over to the lads Lowry calls his “brothers.”
“The candy half about me leaving was, now Freddy [VanVleet] will get all the eye, OG [Anunoby] will get all the eye. Pascal [Siakam] will get much more of the eye. I left the franchise in a fantastic place to my little brothers,” Lowry informed Spears.
Someday, although, as Lowry has stated earlier than, he desires to re-join the group, no less than for in the future. He plans to daybreak the purple and black, or no matter colours the Raptors might be sporting at the moment, and signal a one-day contract earlier than he rides off into the sundown.
“I’ll retire as a Toronto Raptor,” Lowry reiterated. “That’s my all the pieces.”
After that, Lowry desires to be out of basketball. Don’t count on him on the sidelines as a coach or assistant someplace or working the telephone traces as a basic supervisor. As a substitute, he has his eyes set on larger targets within the monetary world. He desires to proceed to create generational wealth for each his household and his group, he stated.
For now, although, it’s full velocity forward within the pursuit of one other ring.
“I like my ring, however I wish to have one other one,” he stated. “I need to have the ability to put on two of them”
Toronto Raptors HQ Podcast — That’s A Rap #161: Siakam deserves higher – Raptors HQ
Kyle Kuzma, Robert Williams, Mfiondu Kabengele, Udoka Azubuike, Cameron Thomas.
They’re the gamers chosen twenty seventh in every of the 5 drafts that adopted Pascal Siakam’s 12 months, when he was drafted twenty seventh by the Toronto Raptors in 2016. Are any of them going through the immense quantity of scrutiny that Siakam faces day-after-day? Are any of them remotely near being tasked with carrying the scoring burden of a #1 possibility? I get that Pascal’s meteoric rise from draft unknown to All-NBA Ahead has modified the lens with which the late first-rounder is judged, however how rapidly followers neglect to regulate the expectations accordingly.
Whereas some misguided followers might even see Siakam’s play to this point as a disappointment, Jason and Dre had no issues discovering the surprises and true disappointments of the season to date. I used to be not capable of make this week’s recording, which was accomplished earlier than Toronto’s loss to Golden State. In any case, ensure that to incorporate within the feedback under some groups/gamers which have caught your eye to date this season.
Raptors rookie Scottie Barnes solutions Nick Nurse’s problem – Sports activities Illustrated
It’s not that Barnes has proven he could be a marksman from deep, removed from it. He’s capturing simply 25% from behind the arc this season after capturing 27.5% from three-point vary in faculty. However the Raptors are attempting to get Barnes extra comfy along with his three-point stroke this 12 months and that begins with having the boldness to take them in video games.
“You guys see make his free throw proportion simply retains going larger and better and his 17-footer’s a superb shot,” Nurse stated. “He must stretch out as a result of it’s gonna be there. To me the earlier he begins making an attempt the earlier it is going to turn out to be a part of his recreation. And what are we ready for?”
Sunday evening’s loss to the Golden State Warriors was a step in the fitting course for Barnes, albeit on a down evening. He shot 2-for-3 from behind the arc and confirmed precisely what the Raptors are on the lookout for from him nowadays.
Barnes Makes 3s
0 seconds of 14 secondsVolume 90%
On each his made three-pointers, the Raptors collapsed the protection and made a kick-out go to Barnes. Draymond Inexperienced, clearly figuring out the scouting report on Barnes, made nearly no try to shut out and basically dared the Raptors’ rookie to let it go.
“That’s extra of what we wish him to seem like, catching and capturing these, as a result of they’re there in rhythm,” Nurse stated Sunday evening.
That’s the important thing for Barnes this season. He wants to have the ability to hold defenses sincere along with his three-point shot by exhibiting a willingness to take — and hopefully — make open threes. When that occurs, it’ll open up driving lanes for each himself and everybody else on the ground as a result of defenses could have no selection however to remain house on Barnes or danger giving up an open three-point try.
Josh Lewenberg: Raptors ought to contemplate simplifying defensive system for younger group – TSN.ca
Think about it an early-season id disaster for a younger group that’s nonetheless figuring itself out on the fly. With elite size, athleticism and flexibility at each place, this roster was constructed to be a nightmare for opposing offences. At occasions, you may see that imaginative and prescient come to life– a gaggle of lengthy, interchangeable defenders constructed within the picture of the pinnacle coach and his system. Nevertheless, it’s not a simple system to execute.
Nick Nurse asks plenty of his gamers on the defensive finish. Usually, a superb defence is designed to take one thing away, usually on the expense of one thing else. The Raptors’ system is formidable in that they’re making an attempt to restrict all the pieces, with out conceding a lot.
“We’ve gotta persist with what we do and what we do is we attempt to shield the paint first after which get out and problem exhausting,” Nurse stated after his group allowed 119 factors on 55 per cent capturing in Friday’s loss to the Utah Jazz. “After we’re in and we’re out rapidly and we’re flying round slightly bit is once we’re at our greatest, and we’re simply not having sufficient of that.”
4 of Toronto’s final 5 opponents have hit no less than 15 three-pointers and shot 40 per cent or higher from past the arc. On Sunday, the first-place Warriors burned them for 22 threes on 49 per cent capturing – each opponent season-highs – regardless of holding MVP favorite Steph Curry to only 1-of-6, properly under his league-leading averages of 5.4 makes and 13.1 makes an attempt.
Based on NBA.com, 30 of Golden State’s 45 three-point makes an attempt, and 17 of its 22 makes, have been vast open (no defender inside six toes of the shooter). They have been additionally 10-for-16 from the corners, the place the Raptors have been particularly susceptible.
Possession after possession, Curry or Draymond Inexperienced would leak out in transition or drive the ball into the enamel of Toronto’s defence and kick it out to Andrew Wiggins (32 factors, 6-of-8 from three), Jordan Poole (33 factors, 8-of-11 from three) or Otto Porter Jr. (15 factors, 5-of-9 from three) for an open look within the nook.
On one hand, the Warriors make it look routine. They’re that good. Nonetheless, it’s changing into a well-recognized drawback for the Raptors.
Beneath Nurse, the Raptors have at all times given up a excessive quantity of nook threes. In the event that they’re going to concede something in favour of maintaining groups out of the paint, it’s that. Nonetheless, the expectation is that they use all of that size and quickness to make these pictures as tough as attainable.
The Raptors have large plans for Valuable Achiuwa. One step at a time | The Star
The perfect recommendation he’s getting from his coaches proper now could be to decelerate slightly and take a look at to not do an excessive amount of — work out what works finest and grasp that facet of the sport earlier than shifting on to one thing else.
It’s not precisely a “much less is extra” factor, as a result of they want him to develop a number of expertise. It’s extra of a “one factor at a time” strategy to participant growth.
“He’s within the stage the place he wants to determine what his go-to strikes are,” coach Nick Nurse stated of the six-foot-eight centre. “He’s acquired quite a lot of various things he can do. He in all probability has too many issues for proper now. I attempt to inform him to go to the strengths, no matter he’s most assured in, and don’t quit on making an attempt to get to that till it’s completely gone.”
That’s the most important job for Achiuwa and the Raptors within the second season of the Nigerian centre’s NBA profession.
He’s been given way more freedom and duty with the Raptors than he may have imagined with the Miami Warmth as a rookie final season, and it could be overwhelming.
He’s had an inclination early within the season to hurry issues, to drive himself into conditions he’s not but prepared for and it’s been irritating. However it’s coming, and it’s as much as Achiuwa and the Raptors to have the endurance to let it emerge. There might be blips and hiccups and errors, however Achiuwa shouldn’t be a short-term undertaking for the franchise.
You possibly can see the incremental development already.
NBA Energy Rankings, Week 6 – Can LeBron and the Lakers flip issues round? – ESPN
This Week: 20
Final Week: 17
Toronto’s season to date has been a sequence of runs. The Raptors misplaced three of their first 4 video games, solely to win their subsequent 5 in a row. They’ve since adopted that up by shedding seven of their previous 9, together with Sunday evening’s loss to the league-leading Warriors. The stunning half? The Raptors are a top-10 offensive group and a bottom-10 defensive group. Earlier than the season, it might’ve been anticipated to have been the reverse. — Bontemps
NBA Energy Rankings: Lakers fall two tiers, Warriors and Suns on high, plus what every group ought to be glad about – The Athletic
This Week: 21
Final Week: 19
8-10, +-0.1 web ranking
Weekly slate: Loss at Blazers, Loss at Jazz, Win at Kings, Loss at Warriors
What ought to this group be glad about? The short return of Pascal Siakam into the combo. I do know some Toronto Raptors followers have been pissed off with the group seemingly taking part in worse as Siakam acquired again on the court docket, and possibly they have been at occasions. A 1-6 document with him on the ground isn’t supreme, particularly whenever you’re already jostling for place within the crowded East playoff race. However for the long-term success of this season, Siakam needs to be comfy on the court docket once more. For essentially the most half, I feel you may see actual progress with him. That stinker in opposition to Utah was brutal, however I’ve appreciated his capturing/scoring rhythm exterior of that. I’m slightly involved with the turnovers, however that’s simply getting accustomed to the rhythm and velocity of the sport. Siakam seems quite a bit higher within the early returns than I anticipated him to, and the Raptors needs to be grateful he didn’t miss extra time. Now they only have to get OG Anunoby again.
NBA Energy Rankings: One factor every NBA group is grateful for forward of the vacation season | NBA.com Canada | The official web site of the NBA
This Week: 21
Final Week: 17
Total W-L: 8-10
Final week: 1-3
Most grateful for: Dwelling, candy house. If anybody is aware of the worth of by no means taking as a right time spent with household over Thanksgiving, it’s the group that performed a complete season away from house in 2020-21. – Adams
Tip Sam Holako
Morning Espresso – Tue, Nov 23 originated on Raptors Republic.
