What I gathered from making this video is that the Kyle Lowry + Serge Ibaka pick-and-roll is absolutely unstoppable. Especially if you’re Andre Drummond. Maybe my judgement is clouded by my amazement, but it really seemed like, every time Ibaka scored, it was because Lowry was finding him in the pick-and-roll. Now that I stop and think, Lowry was finding him in non-PnR situations too. So the conclusion I’m forced to make is that Ibaka can only be good at basketball if he gets to play with Lowry while also getting to play against Andre Drummond, who cannot deal with Ibaka’s combination of speed, shooting, and physicality.
Despite the Raptors’ success with the pick and roll, I feel like Ibaka’s ability to be a midrange assassin is not being used properly right now. Even as recently as last year, Ibaka was shooting a high volume of midrange shots, supplemented by corner threes. Now Ibaka is simply moving out a bit to make more of those shots into three-point attempts. Can’t we go back to the 2013-14 season where Ibaka made like 250 midrange jumpers while shooting 47% on them? The fact that I didn’t make a midrange-ilation for Ibaka that season, and that I’ll never get to make a mdirange-ilation for that season, destroys me on the inside. I honestly think that some of my internal organs are nonfunctional after ruminating on this for too long. Do I even need my pancreas anyway?
So, if the Raptors want to make a highlight maker with failing internal organs happy, they’ll tell Lowry and Ibaka to spam the pick-and-pop for midrange jumpers until Ibaka’s arms fall off. He should make at least two hundred of those shots this season. Then I can make a midrange-ilation and I won’t have to start planning my funeral arrangements with Japurri.