Stephen Curry a top prospect?

[ponder276]

Stephen Curry is obviously an extremely special scorer - he has an incredible jumper that he can get off with even the tiniest amount of space, and he's actually a decent slasher too, with a very solid handle. The concern with him has been that he's only about 6'2" in shoes, and has a SG game. However, it's always seemed to me that he does have PG potential, as he has a nice handle, and shows flashes of some pretty good court vision. In his first 2 seasons he averaged 2.8 and 2.9 APG, but through his first 3 games this season he's averaging 7.3 APG. Actually, his stats in general are insane through his first 3 games:

35.3 PPG, 7.3 APG, 2.7 RPG, 5.0 SPG, 2.7 TO/G, 2.3 PF/G, .515 FG%, .433 3P%, .920 FT%

Obviously there's no way he can keep these stats up, but I'm most interested in his playmaking. With Jason Richards gone, has he been playing PG this year? Does his playmaking seem significantly improved? Any other thoughts from people who've seen him play this season? Because if he can even play PG at even a Jameer Nelson or Derek Fisher level, I'd have to think he'd easily be a mid lottery pick, and would be a great fit on a team with another playmaker at the 2 or the 3 (someone like Kobe, Joe Johnson, Brandon Roy, TMac, Iggy, LeBron, Hedo, etc.).

[Cammo101]

I have my doubts about Curry as a prospect, but it is hard to keep them when you watch him play. He seems like a player without a position in the NBA, but he passes the eye test with flying colors every time I see him.

Someone would need to build an offense around him, similar to what Philly did for AI. If they do, he can be an all star. If they don't, he may be Dejuan Wagner 2.0.

[wilt]

i really don´t know, but cammo puts it perfectly : No matter what rational thinking suggests, seeing him play is just incredible.

Dajuan Wagner really isn´t a good comparison, even AI isn´t as both had vastly different games/strength. Not that i could come up with one on my own...

All i know is that i will keep my fingers crossed for him to be successfull in the NBA, there´s few players i ever wanted to be able to watch more ...

[DayofMourning]

Could be a younger version of Mo Williams?

[treefi]

in my mind he will be a devin harris with an even better jump shot and a better understanding of the game. we must remember he has consistently gotten davidson to compete against, sometimes beat, some of the best teams in the country. that amazes me, something i've never seen before.

i took 20 minutes and wrote a couple paragraphs explaining why but somehow my backspace key turned into 'go back a page' key and i lost it all.. does anything piss you off more than that? my god.

[ChilliWilly15]

"Top" meaning top 15; than yes.

"Top" meaning top 10; than maybe.

"Top" meaning top 5; than no.

[ponder276]

In his 4th game Curry had 13 assists (along with 30 points on great shooting, and 3 steals). In 4 games he already has 3 huge assist games (13, 10 and 9 in 3 different games), and he's currently averaging 8.8 apg, which puts him top 5 IN THE ENTIRE NCAA. His 34.0 ppg are obviously #1 in the NCAA, by a very large margin. He also leads the entire NCAA in total steals (18 steals in just 4 games), and is top 3 in 3-pointers made and free throws made. His increased FTA/G makes me think he must be slashing more - in his first season he averaged 4.3 FTA/G, in his second season he averaged 4.2 FTA/G, but this year he's averaging a massive 8.8 FTA/G.

Again, this is based all on stats, as I haven't seen any of his games this season. His stats definitely suggest that he's vastly improved his ability to find his teammates and slash, but there's nothing like seeing him play to really evaluate any changes/improvements in his game. A scouting report from someone who has seen any of his games this year would be great (any Davidson students on this board?).

[riehldeal]

top 10 no doubt in my mind

what sealed the deal -- not sure if anyone else remembers this but it was against oklahoma and he spun baseline and shielded the ball nicely with his body and maintained the necessary comfort and ability in traffic to still get off that floater off the glass, and acted like it was nothing.....when in fact, it was special

[treefi]

Unreal... Scored 39 tonight on 61.9% shooting while his team shot 27.6%.

For some perspective, J.J. Redick had an unbelievable year as a Senior and ending up going #11. He showed no ability as a PG. Curry has.

Let's compare Redick's amazing year to Curry's year through 5 games and adjust their minutes to an equal 40 per game...

Curry - 43.8ppg - 3.5rpg - 9.8apg - 4.5spg - 0.5bpg - 3.3tpg - 53.3% - 90.9% - 45.1%

Redick - 28.9ppg - 2.2rpg - 2.8apg - 1.5spg - 0.1bpg - 2.5tpg - 47.0% - 86.3% - 42.1%

He's absolutely demolishing him.

[Cammo101]

Unreal... Scored 39 tonight on 61.9% shooting while his team shot 27.6%.

For some perspective, J.J. Redick had an unbelievable year as a Senior and ending up going #11. He showed no ability as a PG. Curry has.

Let's compare Redick's amazing year to Curry's year through 5 games and adjust their minutes to an equal 40 per game...

Curry - 43.8ppg - 3.5rpg - 9.8apg - 4.5spg - 0.5bpg - 3.3tpg - 53.3% - 90.9% - 45.1%

Redick - 28.9ppg - 2.2rpg - 2.8apg - 1.5spg - 0.1bpg - 2.5tpg - 47.0% - 86.3% - 42.1%

He's absolutely demolishing him.

They played Florida freaking Atlantic tonight. Can we please calm down on the Steph Curry hype? He is clearly a very good player, but comparing him to JJ when Davidson plays roughly 6 teams with a pulse all year is a bit misleading. Curry should put up better numbers than JJ considering JJ did it in the ACC, not a mid major.

Curry is a very good player and a solid prospect, but the hype is getting out of hand on this guy.

[NBAMAN2006]

The hype is in the assist numbers right now, and they will inevitably go down. I think he ends the year with like 4.5apg. Tere is no way he can keep up 7+ with such terrible talent aroun him. Down with the apg and down goes his stock.

That being said, I would rank him around my #12-10 prospect right now. The kid has some special offensive talent, and isnt a bad defender to boot. I think he can be a very nice PG in a 'later career' Jason Terry type mold.

[ponder276]

Unreal... Scored 39 tonight on 61.9% shooting while his team shot 27.6%.

For some perspective, J.J. Redick had an unbelievable year as a Senior and ending up going #11. He showed no ability as a PG. Curry has.

Let's compare Redick's amazing year to Curry's year through 5 games and adjust their minutes to an equal 40 per game...

Curry - 43.8ppg - 3.5rpg - 9.8apg - 4.5spg - 0.5bpg - 3.3tpg - 53.3% - 90.9% - 45.1%

Redick - 28.9ppg - 2.2rpg - 2.8apg - 1.5spg - 0.1bpg - 2.5tpg - 47.0% - 86.3% - 42.1%

He's absolutely demolishing him.

They played Florida freaking Atlantic tonight. Can we please calm down on the Steph Curry hype? He is clearly a very good player, but comparing him to JJ when Davidson plays roughly 6 teams with a pulse all year is a bit misleading. Curry should put up better numbers than JJ considering JJ did it in the ACC, not a mid major.

Curry is a very good player and a solid prospect, but the hype is getting out of hand on this guy.

True, but Curry has shown over and over again that he doesn't miss a beat against tougher competition, and if anything he often puts up better numbers against the better schools. His highest scoring game this year was against the best team he's played (he put up 44 against Oklahoma), and he has so far put up better stats in March Madness than he has in the regular season. I think it's pretty fair to call him a better prospect than Redick - Curry puts up much better stats, has had better March Madness performances, shows a more diverse offensive skill set (better playmaker, has a better handle, is a better slasher), and he's a better defender. The only thing JJ has over Curry is height, but while Redick is decently tall (6'5" in shoes), he has tiny little t-rex arms (6' 3.25" wingspan, 8' 1.5" standing reach), which make him play like someone quite a few inches shorter.

[Cammo101]

I'm not trying to badmouth Curry, I love the kid. I just don't want a bunch of people calling him the greatest player ever and forcing me to argue against him.

[ponder276]

I'm not trying to badmouth Curry, I love the kid. I just don't want a bunch of people calling him the greatest player ever and forcing me to argue against him.

Fair enough, he is after all a 6'1"-6'2" guard, without a huge wingspan or great athleticism, who's main skill is scoring, so he's obviously not at all as good of a prospect as his numbers would suggest. Still, there is a special quality to his game, and if he continues to show decent PG skills, I do still think he is at the very least a low lotto pick, and certainly a better prospect than Redick was (Redick went 11th overall, but that was in a very weak draft year).

[Sarlonus]

I like Curry as a prospect. I have only seen a couple of Davidson games this year so I will hold out on any full judgment. He does show some interesting things in terms of PG potential. I just have one question. Maybe somebody who knows more about Davidson can answer. Curry's APG is really good. However, from the games I saw, many of those assists seemed like products of the system. He wasn't really creating shots all the time for teammates. The offense just ran the course. I am not trying to take anything away from Curry but does anybody else think the system inflates his assists?

[fatlever]

as someone who lives in charlotte (about 15 minutes away from davidson) and has seen many of curry's games as well as just about every damn game JJ played, i can tell you with no hesitation, curry is a better basketball player than JJ, by a decent margin, imo. curry is the best shooter i've ever seen at the college level. he's incredibly smart, he's a very good passer and has quick hands on defense. he's not just a shooter either. he is great cutting backdoor and can put the ball on the floor and create a shot. plus, he worked all summer on his ball handling knowing he would be playing pg and it shows.

to the person who said curry would finish with 4.5 assists, i beg to differ. he will have no problem keeping up high assist numbers in conf play. he will be triple teamed leaving his teammates wide open. curry is a great passer. he will find them and will have no problem handing out assists. in fact, his assists will probably be higher against lesser comp. he may not average 8+ but 6+ should be easy. then again, it wouldnt suprise me to see him keep up the assist rate all season.

curry is also not surrounded by "terrible talent". davidson is a solid mid-major and they have been for a long time. while the talent level certainly isnt ACC level, its not "terrible" by any stretch.

i'll refrain from trying to predict his NBA future or where he is drafted, cause frankly is hard to predict combo guards in the nba.

anyway... i still wouldnt be suprised to see curry return for his senior year. he doesnt need the money and from what i can tell, dude loves college.

[fatlever]

what does tonights game say about curry? 0-3 0 pts, 3 asts, davidson won by 30. probably not much other than curry is a team player.

loyola decided to sell out to stop curry playing most of the game in a triangle and 2 (basically 2 guys following curry around everywhere and while trying to play 4 against 3 elsewhere). curry, took it in stride and didnt force anything (only took 3 shots), instead he basically said "OK, fine, i'll just hang out here on the perimeter and let my teammates play 4 vs 3... so the other davidson players had a field day and destroyed loyola, not like that is some great feat or anything.

just goes to show that curry is not some gun/chucker looking to pad his stats.

i wonder if other teams will try to follow suit with this defensive strategy.

[Cammo101]

JJ Redick would have scored.

Talk about the hype guys jinxing this kid.

[wilt]

Talk about the hype guys jinxing this kid.

really not, read some recaps/articles on the game, supossedly it was pure comedy in that Loyola put 2 defenders on him without the ball almost every time no matter where he was on the court, so Curry basically camped in the far corners and had a front seat watching his teammates go 4-3 and have a good time. The fact that he shot just 3 times will not be held against him by scouts, propably few people ever helped themselves with a 3 shot, zero point game but Curry might have just done so.

[Bobbcats]

best college player i've ever seen.

this last game is his most impressive shows what a great team player he is