Explain One Play: Kevon Looney is a defensive rock against Harden and Durant
Explain One Play: Kevon Looney is a defensive rock against Harden and Durant
Plus bonus coverage of the Blake Griffin MMA audition
A list of all Explain One Play articles and videos is at The new Explain One Play index.
Kevon Looney was a defensive rock which helped the Warriors pull off the big win against Brooklyn in the 2021.11.16.GSW-BRK game. Not only are his rotations solid, but he stood up against repeated isolations by two of the best in the NBA, James Harden and Kevin Durant.
Co-starring Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins and Gary Payton II. Also with LaMarcus Aldridge, Blake Griffin auditioning for the Ultimate Fighting Championships using Steph Curry’s face, and a very special cameo by slide tackling expert LeBron James.
Free Version
9+ minutes of video analysis and my usual ramblings, free for everyone. If you can, please watch this on the YouTube site and like and subscribe to the DNHQ channel. If you can’t afford to subscribe to the web site, it’s a free way to support our work.
No Ads Version (subs only)
The full 9+ minute experience with no annoying ads.
To watch this, you’ll need the subscriber password (click to get it, this is different from your site password).
Also, Looney has never been bouncy, to put it mildly, so I believe his concentration is on his timing and positioning rather than jumping at ball handlers which gets so many defenders in trouble.
If Wiseman can acquire even a partial of that defensive discipline it’s going to be a problem for opposing offenses. The hope is that James’ struggles were “lack of installing of the playbook” variety. Being able to rotate two bigs allows Dray to save his legs for crunch the time minutes he specializes in. Going to be fun to watch!