He had already done it in 2018. As soon as he arrived in Minnesota, Robert Covington had transformed the Wolves defense with his activity, his wandering hands and his sense of placement.
The winger has now been with the Clippers for ten days and his impact is already underlined by Tyronn Lue and by the numbers. With him on the floor, Los Angeles only collects 103 points out of 100 possessions.
“He deflects the balls with almost every possession”, admire the Clippers coach. “He has his hands on the ball all the time. He does a great job defensively. He’s one of those guys who takes it seriously. “
“I probably have the fastest hands in the league in this area”
This season, only two players have managed to deflect more balls than Robert Covington (173), and they are two All-Stars: Dejounte Murray (198) and Fred VanVleet (194). And these two play more than the Los Angeles winger.
“I say it all the time: I probably have the fastest hands in the league in this area”assures the former Portland for the Los Angeles Timeswho has worked hard to become this balloon hunter.
“I’ve always had good hands, but it’s in Philadelphia, with Todd Wright (former Philadelphia trainer, now Clippers), that I have progressed”, he says. “He used exercises with lights (two lamps separated by a few centimeters and you have to pass your hand in front of it as quickly as possible) and I continued to do that during the summer sessions with my personal coaches. It is an exercise in repetition and instinct. ”
“Proud to be a troublemaker” in defense, Robert Covington also has a large wingspan of more than 2m30 for him. So much so that we can fantasize about his association with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, who are also very good at cutting pass lines. Before that, the two stars will have to return this season or Robert Covington, who was elected to an All-Defensive Team in 2017/2018, will have to be extended, because he is out of contract.
| Robert Covington | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2013-14 | HOO | 7 | 5 | 42.9 | 36.4 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 2.3 |
| 2014-15 | PHL | 70 | 28 | 39.6 | 37.4 | 82.0 | 0.9 | 3.6 | 4.5 | 1.5 | 2.7 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 13.5 |
| 2015-16 | PHL | 67 | 28 | 38.5 | 35.3 | 79.1 | 1.0 | 5.3 | 6.3 | 1.5 | 3.5 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 12.8 |
| 2016-17 | PHL | 67 | 32 | 39.9 | 33.3 | 82.2 | 1.4 | 5.1 | 6.5 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 1.9 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 12.9 |
| 2017-18 | PHL | 80 | 32 | 41.3 | 36.9 | 85.3 | 0.7 | 4.7 | 5.4 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 12.6 |
| 2018-19 * | All Teams | 35 | 34 | 43.1 | 37.8 | 76.4 | 0.8 | 4.7 | 5.5 | 1.3 | 3.6 | 2.1 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 13.3 |
| 2018-19 * | MIN | 22 | 35 | 43.3 | 37.2 | 77.3 | 1.0 | 4.8 | 5.7 | 1.5 | 3.7 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 14.5 |
| 2018-19 * | PHL | 13 | 34 | 42.7 | 39.0 | 73.9 | 0.5 | 4.6 | 5.2 | 1.1 | 3.5 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 11.3 |
| 2019-20 * | All Teams | 70 | 31 | 42.2 | 33.5 | 79.8 | 0.9 | 5.7 | 6.6 | 1.3 | 3.1 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 12.4 |
| 2019-20 * | MIN | 48 | 29 | 43.5 | 34.6 | 79.8 | 0.8 | 5.2 | 6.0 | 1.2 | 3.1 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 12.8 |
| 2019-20 * | HOO | 22 | 33 | 39.2 | 31.5 | 80.0 | 1.2 | 6.8 | 8.0 | 1.5 | 3.3 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 2.2 | 11.6 |
| 2020-21 | ORP | 70 | 32 | 40.1 | 37.9 | 80.6 | 0.9 | 5.8 | 6.7 | 1.7 | 2.8 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 8.5 |
| 2021-22 * | All Teams | 52 | 29 | 38.8 | 34.3 | 82.2 | 0.9 | 4.7 | 5.6 | 1.4 | 2.7 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 7.7 |
| 2021-22 * | ORP | 48 | 30 | 38.1 | 34.3 | 83.3 | 0.9 | 4.9 | 5.7 | 1.4 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 7.6 |
| 2021-22 * | LAKE | 4 | 19 | 48.0 | 33.3 | 77.8 | 1.0 | 2.8 | 3.8 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 9.0 |
| Total | 518 | 30 | 40.4 | 35.7 | 81.2 | 0.9 | 4.9 | 5.8 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 11.6 | |
