Chris Lowe

Chris Lowe had a strong junior season for the Minutemen, helping to lead his team to the Finals of the NIT while dishing out 6.3 assists per game on a very strong 2.16 assist-to-turnover ratio. The quick 6’0 lefty point guard had a nice set of scorers to set up in guards Gary Forbes and Ricky Harris, though with Forbes now gone, more of that burden will fall on him.

Lowes’ offensive game starts with his outstanding first step, something he combines with a very strong combination of shot fakes, ball fakes, and hesitation dribbles to take his man off the dribble at will. He’s able to break his man down going left or right, though prefers his dominant left hand. While he does an excellent job using craftiness to get his initial first step, he’s a bit more predictable in the lane, opting mostly to go with straight-line drives, not being the greatest with making quick changes of direction, though he’ll occasionally mix in a spin move and he does do a good job changing hands with the ball.

At the rim, he’s a good finisher against most competition, but struggles a bit when matched up against strong interior defenders, as evidenced by him shooting 2-for-26 combined against Syracuse and Ohio State in the NIT Tournament. He finishes much better with his left hand, even stubbornly forcing to it at times, but he’s shown some ability with his right as well. He has an unorthodox push shot floater that he has decent effectiveness with in the lane, and given his size and struggles against strong help-side defense, this is definitely something he’ll want to work heavily on.

Lowe’s jump shot is a major work in progress, and is not something he was very effective with last season. While he scored 1.05 points per possession on drives to the basket last season, according to Synergy Sports Technology, he scored a woeful 0.62 PPP on jump shots, which is a large reason why his TS% was a disappointing 51%. A large portion of the problem stems from the fact that he takes the majority of his shots pulling up off the dribble, often off balance and sometimes with a defender in his face, not showing the best decision making in this regard, often doing so early in the shot clock for no reason. His decision making isn’t the only problem, though, as evidenced by his sub-par 68% FT%. His shot has quite a few inconsistencies, namely inconsistent balance and body control, most of which stems from his Lebron James-esque shooting motion, unnecessarily fading away on every shot attempt.

As a point guard, Lowe is pretty efficient and effective, mostly relying on simple drive-and-kicks, finding open shooters, and pushing the ball ahead in transition. He doesn’t strike as a very creative point guard, and his court vision won’t blow you away, but he more than gets the job done, managing his team’s offense and dishing the ball in a variety of ways. In the aforementioned NIT Tournament games against Syracuse and Ohio State, where he struggled scoring the ball, he managed to pick up the slack in the assists column, dishing out a combined 21 between the two games, even though the Minutemen fell short of winning the title.

As a defender, Lowe is pesky and quick, showing a great motor, good fundamentals, and having the ability to play very effective pressure defense. He gets far up on his man well, sticks to him without the ball, and makes good use of his length and hands both in man-to-man defense and in the passing lanes. His Achilles heel at the moment would be pick-and-roll defense, where he goes under the pick very often and doesn’t fight hard when going over. He also has a tendency to overreach in man defense, trying to pick the ball from behind and completely giving up positioning in the process, though he does have a decent success rate making the plays.

Looking towards the next level, Lowe appears to be physically capable of playing in the NBA with some work, passing the athleticism test with some useful skills to boot, even if his size may be considered a hindrance. How much he improves his shooting will likely be what makes or breaks him, especially seeing how his dribble-drive game might not translate extremely well given his struggles against interior defenders. With Gary Forbes out of the picture, Lowe should have a good chance to shine this season, and should be a perfect candidate for the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament in April.