casey’s not perfect. No coach can be. but if you’re looking for warts in high-influence positions, you can make the case that lowry is the limiting factor here. Derozan has flaws, sure, but at least derozan has a documented history of adjusting and improving. Lowry has hit roadblocks and too often curled up in the fetal position when they seemed impassable. He abandoned ship against the wizards a couple of years ago, when he knew he was no match for the quickness of john wall.
And there are those around the air canada centre who cast a sceptical eye at his decision to forgo games 3 and 4 on account of a sprained ankle. One insider wondered: Why did lowry, who often takes his warmup shots in the air canada centre’s practice court, make a show of shooting on the main court before games 3 and 4? Nobody’s saying he wasn’t truly injured. Some were suggesting it was telling that he needed to publicly demonstrate the extent of the hurt.
“it’s all a show,” said one nba source.
Speaking of lowry’s over-arching history as a less-than-reliable post-season performer, another source said: “the bright lights get to him.”
in any event, neither lowry’s inconsistency nor his unavailability is on the coach, folks. How limited are a coach’s options when your best guard, derozan, can’t make a three-pointer to save his life in a league where the three-pointer rules? How does a coach overcome the sudden irrelevance of demarre carroll, the team’s starting small forward for the bulk of the past two seasons, who at age 30 has watched the game pass him by? How does a coach overcome the perennial invisibility of patrick patterson, a key cog off the bench whose aversion to the slightest bit of pressure borders on the clinical?
In other words, patterson, an impending free agent, isn’t likely to be back. Casey has done nothing to suggest he shouldn’t be. Overpaying for lowry would be a mistake — and bryan colangelo and lowry’s hometown 76ers are sure to ratchet up the bidding. Overlooking the fact that ibaka, allegedly 27, has gotten old fast would be erroneous, too. But going forward with the coach that’s done nothing but prove he’s engaged and adaptable — it’s a no-risk move in an off-season that poses plenty of potential pitfalls.