Kyle Lowry Gets Very Honest About Pascal Siakam
Kyle Lowry got very honest about his teammate, Pascal Siakam, after the Toronto Raptors were eliminated from the NBA Playoffs on Friday night.
Although Lowry could acknowledge that Siakam didn’t quite have the series he wanted, he still insists that the 26-year-old will be a force in the league.
“I would not be surprised to see him come back even more hungry and destroying people,” Lowry said.
Siakam had a very strong beginning to the 2019-20 season, making his first All-Star game in the process. Unfortunately, his production declined significantly in the playoffs, culminating in a 13-point, 5-of-12 performance in Toronto’s most important game of the season.
Ultimately it was not enough, and they fell to the Boston Celtics 92-87 in Game 7.
You gotta give Tom Brady points for honesty. https://t.co/Q84NSTcllB
— Game 7 (@game7__) September 12, 2020
Siakam struggled for much of the postseason. Through 11 playoff games, he averaged 17 points and under eight rebounds per outing. Both totals were below his regular season averages.
What made matters worse was his poor shooting. He shot just 39.6 percent from the field and 19 percent from behind the arc. It was a far cry from the 45 percent shooting everyone came to expect from him during the regular season.
Against Boston, those numbers got even worse. He averaged 14.9 points per game on 39.4 percent shooting from the field.
Apparently now Roger Goodell is straight up telling teams to sign Kaep. https://t.co/NJBzNRDdZG
— Game 7 (@game7__) September 12, 2020
For Lowry, Siakam’s struggles in the playoffs brought back memories of similar ones he experienced earlier in his career.
“For myself, when we got swept against the Wizards [in 2015], I read every single article,” he told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
“I read every single thing that was said about me. Good, bad, evil, terrible, awesome, and I used it as motivation. And that’s what he’s going to do.”
In the end all those things made Lowry a better player – and eventually, a champion.
“That’s the advice that I would give him is that you look at everything. You go back and look at all these moments and you see who’s saying what, because you’re going to use it as fuel,” Lowry added.
“Fuel yourself, and that’s what he’s going to do. And for a guy like me who has gone through the type of things that he’s going through at this moment, he’ll be able to call me whenever, and I won’t tell him nothing wrong and I don’t think he did anything wrong.
“I think this is a learning experience, and I think it’s only going to make him a better basketball player, a better man, a better everything.”
Yikes. https://t.co/uso2b5hzGe
— Game 7 (@game7__) September 12, 2020
A lot of people expected the Raptors to take a major step back without Kawhi Leonard this season, but that didn’t happen. The team performed admirably and pushed arguably the second-best remaining squad in the Eastern Conference to a Game 7.
If Siakam works on his skills this offseason and returns with the sort of tenacity and aggression Lowry suggested, the Raptors will very much be in the mix for a title come next year.
Related: Giannis Antetokounmpo Unfollows Teammates On Social Media
A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
