Mike Brown is incredibly familiar with the Golden State Warriors. The Sacramento Kings head coach spent six years with the Warriors before assuming his role as the head coach for Sacramento. It was fitting that Brown’s Kings team faced the Warriors in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
Sacramento ended a 16-year postseason drought with its appearance, having vastly improved under Brown’s tutelage. Nevertheless, the Warriors ended up taking the series in seven games. Steph Curry dropped 50 points on his former assistants’ new team during that final game. Yet, for Brown, who was speaking with Sportskeeda’s Mark Medina as part of an exclusive interview, Kevon Looney had the game-winning performance.
“I’ve been a part of many NBA championships with Steph knowing that everybody is game planning to stop him,” Brown said. “He still goes and gets his. Where we lost that series is the rebounding department. Kevon Looney has a heck of a series. In that Game 7, if we could’ve controlled the boards, even with Steph’s 50, I thought we would’ve had a much better chance of winning the game.”
Looney’s ability to play bigger than his size on the glass has been a key factor in his becoming a consistent contributor under Kerr. The 6-foot-9′ big man has had countless dominant rebounding performances, and his 18-board Game 7 performance was another example of how he can change the flow of a game.
Golden State lacks size heading into the new season. As such, Looney will likely be expected to play another big role for the team he’s spent his entire career with. Especially if the Warriors aim to have another championship banner.
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