Golden State Warriors: 3 takeaways from Game 2 vs. Pelicans

2. Underrated Looney a mystery

There is one thing that the mainstream talking heads and deep-diving NBA writer’s community seem to have in common: They do not understand Steve Kerr‘s love of Kevon Looney.

TNT‘s Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley attributed his +34 rating in Game 1 to the other players on the court, while many media members question Kerr’s insistence on playing Looney over the team’s other bigs.

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It’s a strange phenomenon. Looney has been terrific over the last couple months, and has been particularly useful in this series. He is the only center on the team who can approximate Davis’ blend of length, agility and strength, and has been as big a reason as any for The Brow’s 23.0 points per game on 47.7 percent shooting from the field, 25.0 percent from 3 and paltry 2.0 free throw attempts per game.

Offensively, Looney is acceptable. He does not provide the vertical spacing of JaVale McGee or Jordan Bell, nor does he pass, shoot or post up like David West. But he is a beast on the offensive glass, a savvy lane occupier in transition and a fluid enough athlete to catch high and finish close out of the pick-and-roll. In Game 2, he scored eight points on perfect 3-of-3 field goal shooting and 2-of-2 free throw shooting, while adding eight rebounds, a steal, an assist and zero turnovers.

Through seven games, Looney is second to Green in terms of on/off differential (+16.8). To both the rejectors and appreciators of advanced stats, this number should garner attention — and Looney should garner respect.