Explain: Kevon Looney's Three Offensive Rebounding Secrets; Gary Payton II's flying block vs Kings
Explain: Kevon Looney's Three Offensive Rebounding Secrets; Gary Payton II's flying block vs Kings
Plus Santa Quiniones
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Kevon Looney continued his tear of inspired offensive rebounding, which is leading the entire NBA despite his erratic playtime. We look at four of his OREBs from the game 2023.04.07.GSW-SAC. We also look at the dazzling Gary Payton II chasedown block into a counterpunch three.
Co-starring Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry. With Jordan Poole and Lester Quiniones. Also with Alex Len, Keegan Murray and Terence Davis.
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There are of course many theories as to why the Warriors did not play to their presumed potential this regular season; and multiple theories can be true at once. But to my mind the most compelling one is mental exhaustion.
Honestly, even I get a bit tired rooting for a team through tight games, tense moments, playoff series. You know, just a bit. And I'm just a fan, not responsible for anything. The players? Steph, Klay, and Draymond have been to six Finals, extreme high pressure moments that lasted months. In particular, the last few years have required incredible mental fortitude to persist and prevail through Klay's two devastating injuries, covid, being a terrible team, reacclimating to new teammates, contract issues, media chatter about them being done; and somehow scaling the mountain again in 2022.
It's just human nature to not be able to get up for every regular season game the following year. In every profession, doing a thing for a decade with top focus is asking a lot.
Yet this also gives me great hope, because of the "turn it on in the playoffs" concept. We have the players, we have the coach, we have the talent, we have the experience. What we need are the focus, and hey, some road wins.
There is no other current team as able to coast in the regular season and turn it on in the playoffs. Because to do that, you have to have a core that has gotten it done many times before and can throttle the intensity back up. Of course we don't want the Dubs to do this to themselves, to be fighting for some ignominious "hope I don't play-in" spot. But if they show their true selves in the playoffs, I will once again be walking away with the Larry O'Brien for my fandom efforts.
I experienced no stress regarding the Clippers-Blazers game this afternoon by getting involved in doing something else & totally forgetting about it until a few minutes ago. Would that I could treat the Dubs-Blazers game the same way tomorrow...