UCLA Center Kevon Looney was a consensus NBA Draft lottery pick during the regular season, but that’s gone by the wayside now. He’s the Tom Petty of this draft…”and I’m free. Free Falling.”
“Free falling now I’m free falling now I’m…..”
Looney was once talked about in the top five; now he’s down into the late teens, early 20s. The people close to Kentucky Coach John Calipari were telling him this back in December.
When previewing his game against UCLA in Chicago, Coach Cal said this:
“He’s (Steve Alford) also now done it with Kevon Looney. I mean, they’re telling me he’s the fourth or fifth pick in the draft.”
The Milwaukee native is a terror on the glass, but he needs to improve his mid-range game. Kevon Looney was one of the few very few things that went right for the Bruins in their 83-44 annihilation at the hands of the Wildcats.
And he wasn’t even that “right.” Looney did not have one of his better games. Though through his first 11 games, Looney averaged 13.9 points, 10.9 rebounds, two assists and 1.6 blocks. For a freshmen to average a double double, it’s impressive. However, he certainly cooled off later.
Here is the Kevon Looney highlight reel:
Kevon Looney is reminiscent of another player from UCLA, Kevin Love, in that he’s been a double-double machine. However, to see Looney match up against the tallest team in the nation, was very telling.
Kentucky is taller than every NBA team except the Portland Trail Blazers.
“It was pretty difficult, hard to get scoring angles on your layups and try to finish over the top, the real long, great shot blockers,” said Kevon Looney.
He was nowhere near as efficient and productive versus all that future NBA talent on UK. That’s rather telling and served as foreshadowing to what would happen with his draft stock.
Here’s where we have him in our latest NBA mock draft.
19. Washington, Kevon Looney, PF, UCLA, 6-9, Fr.
The Milwaukee native is a terror on the glass thanks to his length and athleticism but also has a nice face-up game. He would bring some athleticism and versatility to the Wiz frontcourt.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports Digital. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous sports talk radio stations all across the country.
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