Kevon Looney is not an NBA caliber player

[ChuckS]

Damn... let’s talk about over-analyzing what a min player doesn’t do. If you want to talk about being pushed around, look at how KD can’t hold position. How KD tries to get post position and how far out he got pushed out by the time he catches the pass.

I respect your knowledge and enjoy your posts, so I'm not trying to be a smart a(leck). I read one other poster who made that claim, but I must have missed it/them.

I'll just say, therefor, that I do not see it as a KD weakness.

BBRef has KD as third on the team with a 0-3 feet percentage of 75.2. Dre, who predominantly dunks, is 85.6 and Damion Jones (a center in size and weight) is 79.3. Both of course have smaller sample sizes.

Kevin is second on the team from 3-10 feet at 54.1%, if you want to count Lee's minuscule sample at 58.3%.

KD is third on the team from 10-16 feet at 51.7%. Jerebko is 60% and Looney 58.3%.

Durant is second on the team from 16 feet to the 3 point line at 53.5%. Livingston is 55.6%.

Some of the numbers on NBA.com are even higher, but they use different distances. They have Kevin at 91.7% from 0-5 feet, just ahead of Dre at 90%. (*Those numbers seem high to me so maybe I screwed something up.)

It's been said that, when critics complained about General Grants drinking, Abe Lincoln said "I wish some of you would tell me the brand of whiskey that Grant drinks. I would like to send a barrel of it to my other generals."

I feel that way about this complaint against KD.

* I did err. The above numbers are from the playoffs. For the season from 0-5 feet KD was 72.9%, behind Dre at 82.1%.

[likashing]

Hey this is what this forum is about. Discussing and voicing our views about the Warriors.

I guess you want to point out that KD is still very efficient shooting mid-range to the 3-pt line.

However, it doesn't change the fact that he is even better when he is closer to the basket. Especially for plays which started with him at the low block, back to the basket, trying to hold his position while catching/waiting for the the pass. Nearly always, by the time he caught it, he was very far from optimal position.

Actually, his weak base and being pushed out by defenders, were documented by *his own* ESPN+ Detailed episode, which he himself nit picked and narrated play by play on what he could do better during the 2018 playoffs, and what he can improve upon.

After that I started looking at that part of his game, and he is still pretty much the same this season. And I also learned to notice he couldn't hold position boxing out offensive rebounders too. He would start off at a good rebounding position when the shot goes up, and a lot of times he would end up being pushed underneath the basket and the opponents end up with an offensive rebound.

But ya, that would be nit picking on KD's game.

Damn... let’s talk about over-analyzing what a min player doesn’t do. If you want to talk about being pushed around, look at how KD can’t hold position. How KD tries to get post position and how far out he got pushed out by the time he catches the pass.

I respect your knowledge and enjoy your posts, so I'm not trying to be a smart a(leck). I read one other poster who made that claim, but I must have missed it/them.

I'll just say, therefor, that I do not see it as a KD weakness.

BBRef has KD as third on the team with a 0-3 feet percentage of 75.2. Dre, who predominantly dunks, is 85.6 and Damion Jones (a center in size and weight) is 79.3. Both of course have smaller sample sizes.

Kevin is second on the team from 3-10 feet at 54.1%, if you want to count Lee's minuscule sample at 58.3%.

KD is third on the team from 10-16 feet at 51.7%. Jerebko is 60% and Looney 58.3%.

Durant is second on the team from 16 feet to the 3 point line at 53.5%. Livingston is 55.6%.

Some of the numbers on NBA.com are even higher, but they use different distances. They have Kevin at 91.7% from 0-5 feet, just ahead of Dre at 90%. (*Those numbers seem high to me so maybe I screwed something up.)

It's been said that, when critics complained about General Grants drinking, Abe Lincoln said "I wish some of you would tell me the brand of whiskey that Grant drinks. I would like to send a barrel of it to my other generals."

I feel that way about this complaint against KD.

* I did err. The above numbers are from the playoffs. For the season from 0-5 feet KD was 72.9%, behind Dre at 82.1%.

[a8bil]

I'm still not on the Looney bandwagon. Unless it's as a 10th man type, in which case fine.

I didn't get to see the Bucks game though, so I've missed his best.

How do you think Looney compares to Brandan Wright? They have similar wingspans and standing reach. Wright is clearly far more athletic, but Looney seems to have a better understanding of the game, has better hands, and is a more polished rebounder. I could see Looney having a similar career...maybe better.

I know I'm going back in time ... but Brandan Wright was a much better player than Looney. In Wrights case his body just couldn't hold up to more than 15 minutes a game. Look at his time with Dallas in 2013-14 through being traded in 2014-15. He was awesome in his time on the floor. In 2014-15 with Dallas in 27 games he had a net rating of +44 in 18 minutes a game. Not even Iguodala does that. I thought he should have been a finalist for 6MOY.

I'm okay with my take. Looney has become everything I thought he could be, and he's got more in him in my estimation. BTW, I think you WAY over estimate Wright's abilities.

[a8bil]

A big man with a giant wingspan and very good hands is a rare commodity. Looney is only going to get better from here.

Did anyone think he was going to get worse? I don't think that's the issue.

There is also the static view that he's not going to get better or worse, he'll just stay where he is, and as he is, he is not NBA caliber. I don't agree. He's 21, coming off of two hip surgeries. He's got great standing reach and wingspan, great hands and he understands the game better than players with 5+ more years of experience than he does. He has a real nose for rebounds on the offensive boards, and has offensive skills. I'm encouraged by his performances this year. Bell certainly headlines the highlight reel, but Looney is currently the better player, IMO.

Bumping my actual view of Looney, which i think is spot on.

[likashing]

Attitude and hard work define these late/2nd round picks. Looney has both boxes checked. From what I have read, McCaw and Bell only check off 1 of 2 boxes at most.

[ILOVEIT]

Looney is on the rise. I have insisted from the beginning that he is being underutilized. He's smart....GREAT defensive IQ and quick feet and long arms to match. He's starting to hit mid range jumpers ala David West. And I think he has 3 point range.

He is a KEY reason why Warriors survived the Houston series last year and, if we get past Houston (if we play them...I think up 3-1 they are about to choke) then we'll need his quick feet on the perimeter.

He, Draymond and Bogut have the highest defensive IQ in the league as a front court.

Nah...Looney's not flashy..but he's super effective. He's a keeper.

[Scoots1994]

How do you think Looney compares to Brandan Wright? They have similar wingspans and standing reach. Wright is clearly far more athletic, but Looney seems to have a better understanding of the game, has better hands, and is a more polished rebounder. I could see Looney having a similar career...maybe better.

I know I'm going back in time ... but Brandan Wright was a much better player than Looney. In Wrights case his body just couldn't hold up to more than 15 minutes a game. Look at his time with Dallas in 2013-14 through being traded in 2014-15. He was awesome in his time on the floor. In 2014-15 with Dallas in 27 games he had a net rating of +44 in 18 minutes a game. Not even Iguodala does that. I thought he should have been a finalist for 6MOY.

I'm okay with my take. Looney has become everything I thought he could be, and he's got more in him in my estimation. BTW, I think you WAY over estimate Wright's abilities.

Hehe, maybe, but when Wright managed to stay healthy and play on reasonably good teams he put up great numbers. Problem was that was not too much time in his career. But seriously, look at his 2014-15 games with Dallas ... he really was great.

[a8bil]

I know I'm going back in time ... but Brandan Wright was a much better player than Looney. In Wrights case his body just couldn't hold up to more than 15 minutes a game. Look at his time with Dallas in 2013-14 through being traded in 2014-15. He was awesome in his time on the floor. In 2014-15 with Dallas in 27 games he had a net rating of +44 in 18 minutes a game. Not even Iguodala does that. I thought he should have been a finalist for 6MOY.

I'm okay with my take. Looney has become everything I thought he could be, and he's got more in him in my estimation. BTW, I think you WAY over estimate Wright's abilities.

Hehe, maybe, but when Wright managed to stay healthy and play on reasonably good teams he put up great numbers. Problem was that was not too much time in his career. But seriously, look at his 2014-15 games with Dallas ... he really was great.

He wasn't bad, and I had hopes for him to do more, seriously. Aside from the injury problems he was just too slight to hold position, and his lateral movement wasn't notable. With Looney's defensive impact, i think he's already the better player, and he's a better rebounder. It's hard to know whether Looney will match BW offensively as that is not Looney's role on GSW.

[Mylie10]

Here's a video I posted a long time ago from Kevin in high school. This was preinjury, so it gives you an idea of what he's capable of doing offensively.

Of course the normal caveat that it's high school players, but it shows you that at one point he was an offensive player.

But since he had the injuries, and also his role with our team, his offense has been stifled.

However, we ate seeing glimpses, more and more, or him expanding his game and also shooting range. I guarantee that within 2 or 3 years, he will be shooting threes and being a guy with confidence on the offensive side. It can't be understated how young player confidence is the biggest hindereance to expanding. Especially when you play with All Time HOF players.

The sky is high for Kevon. The Warriors will pay him.

Watch on YouTube

[Scoots1994]

I'm okay with my take. Looney has become everything I thought he could be, and he's got more in him in my estimation. BTW, I think you WAY over estimate Wright's abilities.

Hehe, maybe, but when Wright managed to stay healthy and play on reasonably good teams he put up great numbers. Problem was that was not too much time in his career. But seriously, look at his 2014-15 games with Dallas ... he really was great.

He wasn't bad, and I had hopes for him to do more, seriously. Aside from the injury problems he was just too slight to hold position, and his lateral movement wasn't notable. With Looney's defensive impact, i think he's already the better player, and he's a better rebounder. It's hard to know whether Looney will match BW offensively as that is not Looney's role on GSW.

They are an interesting comp at any rate.

[likashing]

Here's a video I posted a long time ago from Kevin in high school. This was preinjury, so it gives you an idea of what he's capable of doing offensively.

Of course the normal caveat that it's high school players, but it shows you that at one point he was an offensive player.

But since he had the injuries, and also his role with our team, his offense has been stifled.

However, we ate seeing glimpses, more and more, or him expanding his game and also shooting range. I guarantee that within 2 or 3 years, he will be shooting threes and being a guy with confidence on the offensive side. It can't be understated how young player confidence is the biggest hindereance to expanding. Especially when you play with All Time HOF players.

The sky is high for Kevon. The Warriors will pay him.

Watch on YouTube

Aside from Greg Oden, Looney has got to be the oldest looking young NBA player ever.

[shazam_guy]

Greg Oden looked like he got bitten by a radioactive Abe Vigoda.

[jamesnamida]

Looneys a good Big off the bench depending on matchups. Can’t complain since he re-signed on the cheap ( lack of market?)
Should be more confident in shooting his 15 footers if he is open.

Though I’m still on the Damian Jones train. One of the quickest leaps for a big man. Good alley oop and clean up man for the starters. Just work on getting a big screening butt

[Warriors Analyst]

Looneys a good Big off the bench depending on matchups. Can’t complain since he re-signed on the cheap ( lack of market?)
Should be more confident in shooting his 15 footers if he is open.

Though I’m still on the Damian Jones train. One of the quickest leaps for a big man. Good alley oop and clean up man for the starters. Just work on getting a big screening butt

Jones is an All-NBA caliber athlete but he's not an NBA player at this point in his career and I have trouble believing he'll ever be one. He doesn't have good basketball instincts and blows a lot of rotations but the biggest problem I see with him is that he's contact averse, much like the last first rounder the Warriors picked based on physical abilities rather than basketball ability; Harrison Barnes.

Jones is a poor rebounder and a mediocre finisher. He's a great lob toy because he jumps high, but he's not going to be an effective interior finisher or rebounder as long as he shrinks away from contact. Jones has a bad habit, especially in the pick and roll, of making himself small and shrinking his body away from his defender rather than getting wide when he jumps to the rim. This makes it harder to actually, you know, get to the rim and finish and leads to a lot more instances of throwing the ball up rather than playing above or at the rim.

If Jones wants to have a future in the league he needs to get his sh-t together on defensive rotations or start using his body and hitting people in the paint. If he does neither, he won't last more than another three years in the league as a reclamation project.

[ILOVEIT]

Looneys a good Big off the bench depending on matchups. Can’t complain since he re-signed on the cheap ( lack of market?)
Should be more confident in shooting his 15 footers if he is open.

Though I’m still on the Damian Jones train. One of the quickest leaps for a big man. Good alley oop and clean up man for the starters. Just work on getting a big screening butt

Jones is an All-NBA caliber athlete but he's not an NBA player at this point in his career and I have trouble believing he'll ever be one. He doesn't have good basketball instincts and blows a lot of rotations but the biggest problem I see with him is that he's contact averse, much like the last first rounder the Warriors picked based on physical abilities rather than basketball ability; Harrison Barnes.

Jones is a poor rebounder and a mediocre finisher. He's a great lob toy because he jumps high, but he's not going to be an effective interior finisher or rebounder as long as he shrinks away from contact. Jones has a bad habit, especially in the pick and roll, of making himself small and shrinking his body away from his defender rather than getting wide when he jumps to the rim. This makes it harder to actually, you know, get to the rim and finish and leads to a lot more instances of throwing the ball up rather than playing above or at the rim.

If Jones wants to have a future in the league he needs to get his sh-t together on defensive rotations or start using his body and hitting people in the paint. If he does neither, he won't last more than another three years in the league as a reclamation project.

Imagine if Damion had Looney's IQ...dang...
BTW...in rating basket ball IQs?
Looney, Damian................................................................................................................Jordan Bell

Eh....just another game against the Rockets where Looney shows AGAIN what he can do. I'm trying to remember the last time I saw Looney make a mistake??? Did he have a turnover last night? That might be the first mistake he's made all year!

[a8bil]

Looneys a good Big off the bench depending on matchups. Can’t complain since he re-signed on the cheap ( lack of market?)
Should be more confident in shooting his 15 footers if he is open.

Though I’m still on the Damian Jones train. One of the quickest leaps for a big man. Good alley oop and clean up man for the starters. Just work on getting a big screening butt

Jones is an All-NBA caliber athlete but he's not an NBA player at this point in his career and I have trouble believing he'll ever be one. He doesn't have good basketball instincts and blows a lot of rotations but the biggest problem I see with him is that he's contact averse, much like the last first rounder the Warriors picked based on physical abilities rather than basketball ability; Harrison Barnes.

Jones is a poor rebounder and a mediocre finisher. He's a great lob toy because he jumps high, but he's not going to be an effective interior finisher or rebounder as long as he shrinks away from contact. Jones has a bad habit, especially in the pick and roll, of making himself small and shrinking his body away from his defender rather than getting wide when he jumps to the rim. This makes it harder to actually, you know, get to the rim and finish and leads to a lot more instances of throwing the ball up rather than playing above or at the rim.

If Jones wants to have a future in the league he needs to get his sh-t together on defensive rotations or start using his body and hitting people in the paint. If he does neither, he won't last more than another three years in the league as a reclamation project.

Imagine if Damion had Looney's IQ...dang...
BTW...in rating basket ball IQs?
Looney, Damian................................................................................................................Jordan Bell

Eh....just another game against the Rockets where Looney shows AGAIN what he can do. I'm trying to remember the last time I saw Looney make a mistake??? Did he have a turnover last night? That might be the first mistake he's made all year!

If Looney had Jones' athleticism, or Jones had Looney's BBIQ, neither would be Warriors. They'ld have been top 3 picks in the draft, if not #1.

[KevinMcreynolds]

was Looney stoned last night? God damn he was awful. He usually does a decent job with Harden but he was a traffic cone, and he put people on the line twice for no reason when we were in the penalty.

[xdrta+]

was Looney stoned last night? God damn he was awful. He usually does a decent job with Harden but he was a traffic cone, and he put people on the line twice for no reason when we were in the penalty.

I agree, first bad game he's had in the playoffs. I'll give him that one and count on him to bounce back Saturday.

[Warriors Analyst]

Jones is an All-NBA caliber athlete but he's not an NBA player at this point in his career and I have trouble believing he'll ever be one. He doesn't have good basketball instincts and blows a lot of rotations but the biggest problem I see with him is that he's contact averse, much like the last first rounder the Warriors picked based on physical abilities rather than basketball ability; Harrison Barnes.

Jones is a poor rebounder and a mediocre finisher. He's a great lob toy because he jumps high, but he's not going to be an effective interior finisher or rebounder as long as he shrinks away from contact. Jones has a bad habit, especially in the pick and roll, of making himself small and shrinking his body away from his defender rather than getting wide when he jumps to the rim. This makes it harder to actually, you know, get to the rim and finish and leads to a lot more instances of throwing the ball up rather than playing above or at the rim.

If Jones wants to have a future in the league he needs to get his sh-t together on defensive rotations or start using his body and hitting people in the paint. If he does neither, he won't last more than another three years in the league as a reclamation project.

Imagine if Damion had Looney's IQ...dang...
BTW...in rating basket ball IQs?
Looney, Damian................................................................................................................Jordan Bell

Eh....just another game against the Rockets where Looney shows AGAIN what he can do. I'm trying to remember the last time I saw Looney make a mistake??? Did he have a turnover last night? That might be the first mistake he's made all year!

If Looney had Jones' athleticism, or Jones had Looney's BBIQ, neither would be Warriors. They'ld have been top 3 picks in the draft, if not #1.

Looney with Jones' explsoiveness would be a borderline HOF player. Of course if Looney had grown up that athletic he may never have become as smart a defender and might have gone the Bell route of cutting corners with explosiveness, but I do think that Looney's body will (hopefully) continue to round into shape and I think he'll be able to add some more weight to his frame and maybe gain a little more athleticism. Even a little more would make him a monster finisher.

[the_dinks]

I was a Kevon Looney stan since late 2017 so I'm just drinking in the tearz from Damian Jones stans. You were fools.