I think Lou being a black hole on offense is exactly the type of deflating player this team does NOT need. Since he's come back, it's like night and day with this team. Look at how great Toronto has been without Lou. You think they miss his black hole offense? Ask any raptors fan what they think of Lou. We need to be giving him up for a bag of chips as soon as yesterday. It's the classic addition by subtraction. If a team wants to give us a couple of early second round picks for him, I'd pull the trigger in a heartbeat.
And it goes without saying that we need to fire Scott as he has not used Lou correctly....but I don't think that that's the only thing that needs to happen. I think Lou is just redundant on this roster, and he doesn't necessarily make our team better.
I actually like lou and think he's great at the very specific role he's carved out for himself. it's not his fault he's Byron's security blanket. I will say that I don't plan to watch many games unless he turns an ankle, though. scott clearly uses him (and kobe) as a means to keep the young backcourt "in check". it's horse manure. no matter, that clown will be gone quite soon.
I disagree regarding Lou and I don't think anybody can really change my mind. He's just not that good, in ANY role. Why have the Raptors been significantly better without him? It's called addition by subtraction. I think that we saw that for about a week when we didn't have Lou...our team just played wayyyy better and more TOGETHER. Having a blackhole on the squad just deflates everybody's confidence on both ends. When you don't TOUCH the ball, you become disengaged and you don't try as hard on the other end. Huertas has actually been significantly better for this team than Lou has because he shares the ball. I'm sorry, but I just think you gotta get rid of Lou. Period. I know Scott has ruined him in the way he's used him, but Lou is the one who takes TERRIBLE shots and plays TERRIBLE defense....and that's regardless of what offensive or defensive scheme we have. That's just who he is. I think we need to fleece one of these contenders in the summer and get a late first round pick for him...heck maybe a future unprotected pick from the Knicks since they love doing that....lulz.
That's what I see from Lou my friend. He's just a volume shooter and he will KILL the development of Clarkson and Russell. You gotta get rid of him like the Warriors got rid of Monta Ellis a few years back so that they could properly develop Curry and Klay.
It's just not true to say he's not good in any role. He's clearly a good score in the NBA, he clearly has a role. Personally I find great value in what he can bring when you've got two guards that are so young and can get off to slow starts. It's really great having a guard that can get hot at any moment and get you back into a game. It's not Lou's fault that Byron is an awful coach.
Someone needs to come off the bench who can frequently get hot, can score. Do not agree he takes nothing but terrible shots. I like him in that role a lot more than Nick as his offensive skill set is larger. The guy seems like a good teammate and guys like him. I see NO reason why he would not play any variation of that role according to the wishes of a good or at least competent coach. The Lou hate from some seems way over the top. IMO.
I think both of you guys are right. I don't think Lou is a good fit for this team. I think he could bring value to a contending team who needs scorers off the bench, in a Vinnie "The Microwave" type role. For this team, he cuts into the young player's minutes and Boron uses him wrong. That results in a net negative for our team. On the other hand, someone like Cleveland could have used him last playoffs when Kyrie got hurt.
But is it really that he's a terrible fit or that Byron uses him terribly? I think moving forward our young guys are good enough to carry the load, but for the length of Lou's contract he'd be useful for when the kids go through tough stretches.
Byron's misused Lou just like he's misused several guys on this roster. He's the most glaring though. Lou's a sixth man of the year for good reason. He should come off the bench, not start or play starter's minutes. That was stupid and it hindered the growth of our young guns, particularly DAR. I think Lou's a good player and I was happy we got him this offseason. However, if Boron is brought back I'd rather see Lou gone because he'll just overplay him again. It's like Mike Brown's love affair with Steve Blake. But worse in this case because we need to develop DLO and Boron's allocation of minutes to Lou handicaps that.
Lou gives Byron an excuse to sit DAR or Clarkson for an inexplicably long stretch....that's really my main issue with him. And when you play Lou for that inexplicably long stretch...he tends to stop the ball movement and take terrible shots. He's also a TERRIBLE defender, so you're gaining nothing there. I do like his contract, but that's exactly why we should be selling him very high this summer or using him in a bigger deal to get a Demarcus Cousins type of player. His contract luckily is very tradeable and we should be getting a very nice asset out of it, whether it be a first round pick or a superstar player (of course we would have to package one or two of our young pieces with Lou)
I like Lou, but I wouldn't mind if he was used to get us over the top with Top Tier talent. I know most of the guys here don't like him, but I think he's got a place on a good team.
I imagine Lou is going to like Luke and the huge upgrade in the offense and people around him a lot. Luke should be able to find great utility and combinations of lineups to use him.
