Many were excited when Kyle Lowry, the North Philly native, re-signed with the 76ers. Most felt Lowry covered the backup point guard role that seemed to be a point of interest during the offseason. But lately, that is far from the case. For the majority of the season, Lowry has had a good portion of his point guard duties relieved due to the surprising play from rookie Jared McCain. Recently, Kyle has not been much of a positive when he steps on the court. And quite frankly, there doesn’t seem to be a reason for the Sixers not to bench Kyle Lowry.
Kyle Lowry Does Not Need To See The Floor
A Negative On Both Ends
Fans, such as myself, would love to see Lowry contributing to the Sixers’ recent success, but the fact of the matter is that Philly struggles on both ends when he is on the court. The former NBA champion with the Toronto Raptors has scored only three points over his last four games. The team has only outscored their opponents once in Lowry’s 15 games when he has been on the court. Not to mention, the energy seems to shift whenever Lowry enters the game.
Lowry is no longer a reliable defender at 38 years old, and he’s not even being used as a ball-handler, more so as a spot-up option. When you consider the fact that he’s shooting just 3-26 from behind the arc in his last 10 games, he’s not providing much on the offensive end when he’s on the floor if he isn’t facilitating. Nick Nurse’s unwillingness to bench Lowry has already done damage for the Sixers when he’s on the court, but fortunately for Philly, they have the most obvious replacement for Lowry sitting right on the bench. He may not be the playmaker that Lowry is, even at this stage of his career, but Ricky Council IV is the correct choice over Lowry.
Much Better, Younger Option
Even though the sample size may be small, Ricky Council IV has already shown to be a better option at the backup guard position than Lowry. In his last five games, Council is averaging 9.8 points and 3.2 rebounds on 63.5 true shooting percentage, in a little over 20 minutes a game. That included a 12-point double-double against the Houston Rockets. Head coach Nick Nurse elected to sit Council the last two games, which didn’t stop the Sixers from winning both games against the Paolo Banchero-less Orlando Magic, who will also be without Franz Wagner due to injury, and the 10th-seeded Chicago Bulls. But Lowry doesn’t need to be playing any meaningful minutes anytime soon.
Now, the Sixers have been able to come out of the last four out of five games on a positive note, despite Lowry’s underwhelming play as of late, but against tougher competition, how well your second unit performs becomes much more prevalent. If Kyle Lowry is a part of the second unit, more problems are likely to come for the Sixers for the rest of the way.
The post Kyle Lowry Does Not Need To See The Floor appeared first on Last Word On Basketball.