Every team needs a player who doesn't get a lot of attention, but he does everything that needs to be done. Looney hasn't really gotten the flowers he deserves, and his talent seems so mediocre compared to his more popular and recognized teammates. The Warriors have two consecutive MVP Curry, All-Star player Klay Thompson, and brilliant defensive expert and offensive organizer Dream Green.
Even discussions about the team's young players have made Looney even more marginalized. Poole has recently been closely watched for his performance explosion and potential as a second organiser. Cumming's faster-than-expected performance also attracted more attention. What's more, the Warriors' leader, Wiseman — the center widely believed to replace Looney one day in the future — has garnered more attention this season.
Judging by Looney's match stats, it seems understandable that he didn't get attention. Averaging 6.2 points per game could be the second-highest score of his career, averaging 7.2 rebounds per game, a career high. Averaging 1.6 assists per game is also expected to be a career-best.
He didn't fill the data field as a starting center, but the Warriors were very happy with Looney's role. After all, Looney is just a puzzle to fight for the title, and his contribution is already excellent enough relative to the core players. Perhaps the number one factor determining a role player's success is to look at how well he performs around Curry. Projection ability is a must, and the space they provide allows Curry to have more room to operate, and the library has gravity to help these players get empty shots.
For those non-shooters, they have to be aware that defenders don't pay too much attention to them when Curry is on the court. If you lack outside ability, you must learn how to cover Curry, complete the double cooperation with Curry, become the axis of organization on the field, and take advantage of the empty cut line that Curry pulled.
When we talk about the right puzzle around Curry, Looney deserves enough respect. Although he and Curry did not have the tacit understanding of Kuchai's cooperation, he was a qualified substitute. Looney is a capable underling, especially when doing blocking on the weak side. Whenever Curry attracts two defenders, Looney gets a straight line under the basket.
When he was in a 4-3 situation after blocking Curry, he needed to be the decision-maker on the pitch and he would always read it correctly. Although his organizational offense has not reached Green's level, he has repeatedly shown the right choices for when to attack and when to pass.
Looney's cover on the ball is only half his value as Curry's partner, and his no-ball cover is known throughout the league (which is even infamous for opponents) because his cover is very solid, especially the Warriors performing their best passing fits in the low post.
For those centers who move faster and react slower, they have no idea what tactics the Warriors are running, but they know that Looney doesn't have any scoring and projection threats, so they shrink within the three-point line, which helps Looney block Curry's defenders directly when covering.
Of the 174 players who have averaged at least 20 points per game and played in at least 35 games this season, Looney ranks 21st in the league for cover assists (2.9) and 20th in the league for points scored by cover assists (7.4 points). That's enough to prove how well he and Curry have a good understanding, and given Curry's sluggish feel in the last month or so, the ranking of the two figures should have been even higher.
Looney's value on the offensive end isn't just about having cover and no-ball cover, he's still an offensive basketball machine this season. The Warriors' 13.1 percent of the shots conceded this season have been grabbed by Looney, who has the highest offensive rebounding ratio in the team. Not only that, but out of the 174 players mentioned above, Looney's offensive rebounding rate ranked third.
As a master of the team's "wiping butt", this job is usually not the most glorious and does not get much gratitude. Looney's control of the timing of offensive rebounds allowed him to make up for his lack of height, and his ability to take off consecutive jumps and card positions helped him grab a lot of offensive rebounds. In simple terms, Looney helped the Warriors fight for more offensive rounds, but at the same time, Looney could directly calculate the team's secondary offensive scores by making up the basket himself.
On the defensive end, Looney has never been an interior player characterized by blocks. To date in his career, he has never averaged more than 1 block per game in a single season. He averaged just 0.6 blocks per game in his career, but his presence was as important as his midpoint on the offensive end.
He can also defend without losing his defensive position when defending, especially when paired with teammates who have the ability to defend from the outside, who can always stick to the opposing ball carrier to ensure that he does not lose his position. Looney's play style is biased towards the floor, so he rarely interferes with opponents' air connection attempts. When he was in the space between the pointer and the cover, he was also often passed by the opposing defender. But he's astute enough to hold the space under the basket, making the opposing ball-handler more hesitant, giving teammates the opportunity to cut off the opponent's passing route, or forcing the opponent to complete a mid-range shot or throw, and Looney does a good job of defending both types of offense.
In addition, Looney is probably the most underrated defensive big in the league. His pace and movement speed are slow, making him often the object of the opponent's choice to change defenses. Ball carriers feel that luring Looney to the outside for a single can take advantage of him.
As far as block removal is concerned, Looney is not the perfect defender. He's easily overtaken by a speedy and athletic defender, but he seems to eat very little and isn't fooled by the fake moves on the other side. Some of the bells and whistles of dribbling didn't seem to affect him, and he rarely went on the opposite side, which proved his defensive qualities and strong defensive discipline.
The round he defended Against Bojan below is a good illustration of his ability to defend from the outside.
As the Warriors become more and more fond of using smaller lineups — with Green playing as center for most of the time — looney has spent more time on the bench than he has played this season, despite looney's role as the starting center of the season. It's also understandable, given that the Warriors need to make the most of space, speed, and organizational core when they play their best basketball — all of which are traits that players like Green possess, which is why they're elite.
But Looney's performance on the court was no less impressive, and in his playing time, the Warriors scored 8 points more than their opponents per 100 rounds. When Looney was in the fifth position, the Warriors scored 6 more points per 100 possessions than their opponents. That's due to his value as a cover on the offensive end. The Warriors gave the shooters a great deal of opportunity through his cover with and without the ball.
Because of Looney's blue-collar performances, he may not get enough praise. But the team appreciates his value and the fit of the system, which is probably why they're not keen on finding another big man in the market.
He's not the strongest, he's not the most eye-catching, he's not even the most talented big man on the team. He has most likely reached his talent cap, far from the young players the team is cultivating and will replace him in the future. But Looney is the Warriors' most suitable interior lineman, and he is always in the right place at the right time. His game is not much ornamental, even aesthetically pleasing, but he exists to win the game.
By Joe Viral
Compile: Fontaine