Without Rooney, the Warriors would probably have been eliminated by the King by now. This statement is not an exaggeration at all, as long as fans who watch every playoff game of the Warriors will agree. He made it difficult for Sa Jr. to move under the basket on the defensive end, making the center who is likely to make the best team suffer.
Of course, Rooney's most critical role is still in the rebound. In yesterday's battle of Tianwang Mountain, Rooney played 34 minutes, 2 of 4 with 4 points, 22 rebounds and 7 assists. 22 rebounds, including as many as 7 frontcourt rebounds.
Against a team like the Warriors, it's a crime to give him one more shot, because the Warriors' outside shooters are likely to receive a pass from Rooney and shoot it. I've seen Rooney grab a frontcourt rebound more than once this season until Curry shoots it.
Rooney is now the first in the league in total rebounds in the playoffs, averaging 14.4 rebounds per game, but his minutes per game are only 50th among all players. If it weren't for the fouls in some games, Rooney's rebounding numbers would have been even more terrifying.
G3 and G5, Rooney has 20+ rebounds and 5+ assists per game, he has scored less than 5 points in a single game three times in the playoffs, but has 20+ rebounds and 5+ assists, ranking first in history, after him only Chamberlain and Russell 1 each.
Perhaps you would say that the king's interior line is too weak, and the only little sa is still too soft. But in last year's series against the Grizzlies, Rooney also grabbed rebounds. He rebounded 21.62 percent while on the court in the playoffs last year, and Duncan's career-high playoff year was 21.38 percent.
We often say that the Warriors have "gravity", and Rooney seems to have gravity, and those rebounds will always fall in his direction. Rooney is only the height of a striker, but he has an arm span of more than 2.20 meters and a strong body. But most importantly, Rooney has his own knack for grabbing rebounds.
We should have said this funny thing before, in order to develop Wiseman, the Warriors brought in Milojevic, a coach from Europe who had coached big men such as Jokic and Boban. As a result, Wiseman did not practice, but trained Rooney.
Rooney said: "I talk to coach Milojevic a lot and try to be more scientific and efficient. He's always giving me advice on that to make me better, and we'll talk about things like posture when fighting for rebounds, and we've been looking at those details all year long. ”
Rooney doesn't try to imitate anyone when it comes to grabbing rebounds, he keeps learning by watching a lot of videos, constantly trying to change what he can make himself better. A lot of experience watching videos has allowed Rooney to master a set of his own board grabbing skills.
When asked by a reporter about Rooney's secret to grabbing the rebound, Rooney jokingly said: "I can't tell you the secret of grabbing the rebound, I'm afraid of being stolen by others." Rooney later revealed: "Through my figure, height, understanding of where the ball landed. I also know where the team shooters come from and where they miss more often. ”
We often watch Warriors games and probably know where Curry, Klay and Poole are going to shoot. Curry is the top of the arc and two 45-degree angles, Clay's bottom angle and 45-degree angle are more, Klay's shot arc is not high, and the shots are more likely to produce long rebounds, and Rooney will always predict the landing point of these balls in advance.
Of course, Ironman's general attendance is also a big reason why Rooney can become a rebounding monster. For the first six seasons of his career, Rooney averaged only 47.5 games per season. For the first two seasons of his career, Rooney was plagued by injuries and even had gastrointestinal problems from time to time.
Later, Rooney stopped eating any meat except fish, and stopped the intake of various sugars and dairy products, so that his body gradually recovered to health. Rooney has not missed a single game in the last two seasons, and is second only to Bridges in the league in consecutive appearances.
You may know that Rooney's template in high school was Durant, and if there were no serious hip injuries, Rooney would certainly be an offensive style of play even if he couldn't become a striker at Durant's level, not the pure blue-collar one he is now.
In college, Rooney took the initiative to choose to transform, was selected by the Warriors, and grew step by step to the current rebounding king. Taking a step back may not open the sky, but it can at least give you more options.