NBA PM: Lowry NBA’s Most-Improved?
The Most-Improved Player award is a dubious distinction at any level.
For those who remember Little League, MIP usually went to the kid who was impossibly terrible, but worked hard to become just flat-out terrible.
The NBA’s version of the award isn’t as much of a backhanded compliment, but the recipients have had trouble maintaining their progress over the rest of their careers. Sure, Monta Ellis and Danny Granger are still great, but guys like Bobby Simmons, Alan Henderson and Isaac Austin were never heard from again.
Even last year’s recipient, Rockets guard Aaron Brooks, has been traded to make room for this year’s top candidate: Kyle Lowry.
The former Villanova star has been pushing his Player Efficiency Rating higher each season, from 14.23 in his second-year to his present-day mark of 16.89. And the most remarkable thing about Lowry’s PER is that it doesn’t account for his best attribute: his defensive intensity.
"He’s always been a great defender," Rockets guard Courtney Lee told HOOPSWORLD. "He’s from up north—those bulldog players from up in Philly. He has that toughness in him."
But HOOPSWORLD wanted to know what made Lowry so much more effective this season on the offensive end. After all, he’s beating his career highs in points (13.5 PPG), assists (6.6 APG), rebounds (4.1 RPG) and 3-point percentage (38%) while cutting his turnover rate (percentage of possessions that end in a turnover) to a career-low 10.1.
Some believe that Lowry was able to take the next step once coach Rick Adelman chose him over the departed Brooks.
"He’s comfortable because he’s our guy now at the point guard spot," Rockets guard Kevin Martin told HOOPSWORLD. "He doesn’t have to look over his shoulder at anything. And you can tell he worked hard this summer."
The hard work has definitely paid off. Lowry was simply a defensive substitute for most of his career. He even shot less than 40% from the field as recently as last season. But now that he’s offensively proficient, he’s seeing a career-high 33.8 MPG
"Confidence," Lee said. "Before, when I knew Kyle Lowry, he was the guy that would attack the basket and make plays. Now he’s finding his jump shot and he’s having confidence in it. He’s staying after practice, getting shots up. Repetition, once you build that confidence, understand you can do something, you’ve got to keep going forward with it. Now he’s playing great for us. He’s knocking down the jump shot and changing a lot of scouting reports for himself."
He’s also getting better as the Rockets try to close in on the eighth playoff spot in the West, which is currently occupied by Lowry’s former tea—the Memphis Grizzlies. Lowry pocketed a Player of the Week award earlier this month, thanks to a triple-double in a win over Utah, and just put the finishing touches on the best March of his career (19.8 PPG, 8.1 APG, 42.7% from 3-point range).
"He’s tough," Nets coach Avery Johnson said after Lowry dropped 16 points and 10 assists at the Prudential Center. "Because I live in the area, I know him and I watch him and I’ve watched his maturation. When [Houston matched] that offer sheet that Cleveland gave him this summer, you understand why. Then they traded the guy from last year [Aaron Brooks] just to give him the spot. He’s really turned out to be a fine guard. Good body, much-improved 3-point shooter, terrific defensively, hard nosed, you know, hard-nosed kind of player."
For once, MIP might not be such a bad thing.
Williams Aint Done Yet
The Nets are having trouble finding enough warm bodies to finish the season, but point guard Deron Williams does plan to play tonight in Philadelphia. There were some lingering doubts that he would play after falling on his injured wrist at the end of Wednesday’s loss to the Knicks, but Colin Stephenson of The Star-Ledger writes that D-Will is read to go vs. Philly.
General Manager Billy King wants to be cautious with his team’s superstar, but was very happy with the way he battled through wrist pain against New York.
"He was great," King told Stephenson. "He didn’t make a lot of shots (seven of 19), but he had a huge impact on the game."
Williams finished Wednesday’s loss with eight points and eight rebounds in addition to his 22 points.
Davis Projected as No. 1 Pick in 2012
We’re still not sure who the top pick of the 2011 NBA Draft will be (it depends on whether or not Duke’s Kyrie Irving declares), but we may already know the top pick of 2012.
Anthony Davis, Chad Ford of ESPN.com writes, could be growing into the next Kevin Garnett.
The future Kentucky forward stands 6-10, 200 pounds, but until recently he was a 6-2 point guard. And while awkwardness tends to accompany moth growth spurts, Ford believes Davis has bypassed that completely.
"Sometimes those 6-foot-10 guards in a big man’s body are the bane of an NBA scout’s existence," wrote Ford. "They want their big men to rebound and block shots. That’s where they are most valuable to a NBA team. Davis, is doing that as well. He’s an aggressive rebounder, a big-time shot blocker and isn’t afraid to dunk over people. In other words, he’s the best of both worlds. Scouts are almost uniformly comparing him to a young Kevin Garnett."
Davis could give coach John Calipari three top picks in five drafts. Of course, the Wildcats other blue chip recruit, Michael Gilchrist, could be a top pick as well.
{AUTHOR_BOX}And the Lady Bing Goes To…
Who says the Bobcats don’t get any love?
Point guard D.J. Augustin was among six winners of the NBA’s Sportsmanship Award, the league announced on Friday. Augustin, along with Chicago’s Luol Deng, New Jersey’s Deron Williams, Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge and San Antonio’s George Hill, was chosen by a four-member panel (former NBA players Rolando Blackman, John Crotty, Mark Jackson and Eddie Johnson) as the top sportsmen in his respective division. Now the current NBA players will vote to determine the recipient of the NBA’s Sportsmanship Award.
Grant Hill won his third NBA Sportsmanship Award last season.
FYI—My Twitter handle has changed to @alexraskinNBA.
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