He may be the least talked about Warriors player this season, and yet he owns it and is its second-best rebounder. At 25, Kevon Looney is one of the executives alongside Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and of course Klay Thompson. The only pivot of the workforce while waiting for the return of James Wiseman, he lived the best years of the franchise with two titles in 2017 and 2018, but also the worst as in 2020, and for Steve Kerr, his presence is essential.
“What he does is not obvious. This is not the player who is going to amaze you with his athleticism, his shooting skills or anything. It is more subtle what he brings to our team. But we set him apart because he’s been doing it for years. “
“Bringing additional possessions to my team is important to me”
These little “subtle” things are ” all the details when he “switches” to the rear, when he puts up a delay screen, his physical presence inside, his verticality near the circle, his screens placed in attack, and the fact of always being in the right place Steve Kerr lists for NBC.
Every night, he finds himself facing the best pivots in the league, and the Western Conference has no shortage of them. Without complaint, he fights, he blocks his opponents on the rebound and sets screens for his attackers on the other side of the field. A taste of sacrifice that rubs off his teammates since Golden State is ranked 3rd in the ranking of the best rebounding teams. All without having great rebounders in its workforce, and with a sizeable deficit.
“The ball ends up finding you… Usually when I take a lot of rebounds in the first quarter, I’m going to take a lot of them the whole game. It’s something I focus on, to bring some extra possessions to my team. Its important to me. This year, we have a great rebounding team, and that is close to my heart. “
“He knows how to play with Steph and Draymond, and it’s not that easy to do because it’s almost unique”
What seduces Juan Toscano-Anderson is the seriousness and knowledge of Kevon Looney. ” It is a real anchor point. He’s not going to intercept all the balls, he’s not going to block all the shots, but he’s got us at arm’s length and we all know we can count on him. He knows the systems like the back of his hand. He knows his role, and everyone’s habits. »
Same observation with Steve Kerr: ” He knows how to evolve in our game, how to play with Steph and Draymond, and it’s not that easy to do because it’s almost unique. »
Hard as it was seen during the 2019 Finals, Kevon Looney does not care to stay in the shadows. ” My teammates value me a lot, so do my coaches. As long as they give me my chance and play time, that’s what interests me. »
| Kevon Looney | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Tirs | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Until | Pd | Fte | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2015-16 | GOS | 5 | 4 | 57.1 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.8 |
| 2016-17 | GOS | 53 | 8 | 52.3 | 22.2 | 61.8 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 2.6 |
| 2017-18 | GOS | 66 | 14 | 58.0 | 20.0 | 54.5 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 4.1 |
| 2018-19 | GOS | 80 | 19 | 62.5 | 10.0 | 61.9 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 5.2 | 1.5 | 2.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 6.3 |
| 2019-20 | GOS | 20 | 13 | 36.7 | 7.1 | 75.0 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 3.3 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 3.4 |
| 2020-21 | GOS | 61 | 19 | 54.8 | 23.5 | 64.6 | 1.9 | 3.4 | 5.3 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 4.1 |
| 2021-22 | GOS | 21 | 18 | 52.8 | 0.0 | 55.6 | 2.5 | 4.1 | 6.6 | 1.1 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 5.4 |
| Total | 306 | 15 | 56.2 | 17.5 | 60.3 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 4.2 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 4.4 | |
