The Warriors‘ first practice of the season was a valuable learning experience for James Wiseman, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Wiseman closed today’s session by working one-on-one with starting center Kevon Looney while big man coach Dejan Milojević looked on. Wiseman could only watch last season while recovering from a knee injury, so just being on the court is an important step forward.
“Watching Loon the last couple years has helped James,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “But now playing against him, he’ll be able to see and feel those tricks of the trade Loon is so good with — flipping the screen, catching the ball in the pocket, (dribble handoffs), all those things.”
Wiseman enters his third NBA season as the primary backup for Looney and may even start a few games when Looney rests. Looney played every regular season and playoff game last year, and the team doesn’t want to put that kind of strain on him again.
“I definitely want to play 82 again,” Looney said. “But I’m not going to compromise myself to do it. If I feel like I don’t look good or the training staff thinks I’m not moving as well or something is nagging me, I’ll take the break. But if I’m healthy, I’m going to play. I’m not going to sit because it’s a back-to-back just cause. I’m 26. I feel good. I missed a lot of years, so I have some games to make up.”
There’s more on the Warriors:
- Kerr was encouraged by Draymond Green‘s performance in today’s practice session, Slater states in the same piece. Green came to training camp straight from the Olympics last year, but there were concerns he wouldn’t be as sharp without an offseason competition to push him. “His conditioning looked good, his body looked good,” Kerr said. “He was really moving well both laterally and sprint speed up and down the floor. He was mentoring the young guys, coaching them up in drill work. Then on the floor, the blue team — with Looney, (Stephen Curry), (Andrew Wiggins) — that group just demolished everybody.”
- The only player not at today’s practice was Andre Iguodala, who announced Friday that he will play one more year, Slater adds. Iguodala will report to practice Monday and will accompany the team on its trip to Japan. “He was planning on retirement,” Kerr explained. “This was sort of a last-minute decision for him. We gave him the freedom to do the things he already had scheduled. … His presence is going to mean the world to us. We have so many young guys. The more mentoring and coaching from within, the better.”
- The Warriors’ history of success played a big role in attracting free agent Donte DiVincenzo, tweets NBA journalist Mark Haynes. “I wanted to get back to that winning culture,” DiVincenzo said. “The joy of playing simple winning basketball. I think I thrive in that.”
Kevon Looney is the oldest 26 year old in NBA history
He could play a great tin man if they remake Oz.
Huh? What are you babbling about?
What problem do you have with Looney? What makes you an expert on what it takes to be successful in the NBA? It is obviously some delusional fantasy you have about yourself. So, why do you hate Looney?
Defensive much
@ghostrobot Huh? What? Are you another self-proclaimed basketball genius? The 3 of you seem to have a problem with Looney. Anonymous dudes on the internet coming up with ****** comments about players is pretty weak. Looney has done a great job for the Warriors. That’s undeniable. So, I don’t understand your need to make prissy little comments. Do you guys not get enough attention? If you read the article, it sounds like the Warriors are having FUN. Which translates into a FUN SEASON. A’s fan has always got to scream, ‘Hey, look at me and my micro-****.
Calm down there Kevon! Saying that you’ve done a “great job” is a stretch. You have been average (and I’m being generous). You don’t get many minutes (you’ve never averaged half of a game for a season when you’ve been available) and are pretty mediocre when you do get on the court. Your injury history has been more impressive than your play – – you’ve missed almost half your career so far. Sounds like you’ve been listening to Jack Handy
He was one of 5 players that played 82 reg season games last season. He started 80 of them.
He’s been a key contributor in three of the 4 GSW titles.
OK Cindy. Explain to me how the Warriors won the 2022 NBA Finals if Looney was such a bad player. Coming into the Finals, the Celtics had the better Front Court. With Draymond injured, and Klay not 100%, it would have been easy to double team Curry, and the Celtics win 4. Porter and Bjelica were OK at the 5, but nothing special. How did the Warriors win.
First – – it’s nsideindy. Second, I never said he was a “bad” player. In fact, I called him average. How did GS win? Uh…I’m assuming you’ve heard of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, etc. Did Looney play a part? Yes. But he didn’t do anything that won the championship for them…and nothing that other average big men can’t do. But assuming you are a Warriors fan, i understand why you overvalue him.
WOW Cindy. Thompson and Curry are Guards, Backcourt Players. Thompson was clearly rusty and not what he was prior to his injuries. Looney was clearly their best consistent Front Court player. Wiggins game went missing for 2 months after the All Star game. Draymond and Wiseman were injured. Kuminga and Moody were just rookies. There is no way Wiggins could have handled the Celtics Front Court all by himself. Looney had to be above average to give the Warriors a chance. Dunks are much higher percentage shots than 3 pointers.
I think DiV is going to be a great fit with this team. Sounds like a good 1st day in camp.
He is not as good as GPII defensively; he is much better offensively. He just might force the Warriors to re-think there extension plans.
Draymond and GPII were #1 and #2 defensively last season in EPM defensive rating, so saying DiV isn’t as good is kind of a no-brainer.
You might be surprised to check out the EPM offensive ratings for last season though – GPII was way better than DiV there as well (168th to DiV’s 356th out of 496 players).
Your EPM ratings need some serious reworking. Draymond was hampered by a back injury all season long, and he still came up at #1 in your ratings? If you have trouble moving, how can you be #1 at anything physical?
They aren’t my ratings. The website responsible is dunksandthrees
It’s an adjusted +/- based stat created by Taylor Snarr, and was shown to be the most accurate of the comparable advanced stat models (RPM, RAPTOR, etc).
If you prefer the standard NBA def rtg, GPII was at
102.3 and dray 102.8, which was best in the league for any player playing over 25 min/gm.
It just shows how good Dray was before his injury in the 37th game.
IMO
Trade Draymond and a future First for a good rookie contract or someone like OG Anunoby.
Its about the future
Pacers get Draymond
Raptors get Turner and Warriors First
Warriors get OG
You trade Draymond Green and you can kiss a championship goodbye this year.
More trades needed for all 3 teams
@sillyman So, the Warriors should create a whole in their Championship winning line up, and give up a 1st, for a rotation player at a position they basically have a log jam at. The Pacers are rebuilding. So, no 32 yr Olds. The Raptors have like 12 Front Court players. Why would they need another one?
@ Sillivan
In case you’re not aware, the Warriors have a proven system that wins titles based on ball movement and defense.
Draymond is a huge part of that. This is a dynasty team trying to repeat. They will not be trading Draymond.
Looney plays 82 before lbj lmao. The goat lmao what a joke