Get Curry back to his normal rotations

[xdrta+]

Don't know why anyone thinks his rotations have something to do with Poole. His rotations have to do with the makeup of the whole roster and having Steph begin and end quarters. I doubt they will change when Klay is back, does that mean the rotation is because of Klay? Makes no sense.

[The-Power]

does he though? he's been trending up every year in terms of 3s to 2s he takes. last year he had a career high of 12.7 3s per game, only to beat that this year with 13.4 per game. it seems like he's drifting away from that 2016 balance he had more and more every season, and I don't think it's a coincidence that he's been more inconsistent than ever with the more 3s that he's taking.

Steph doesn't have the burst he had in 2016 any longer, though. He can't get to and convert at the rim as easily. He not only gets to the rim less frequently, he also shoots a lower percentage (58.6% this year – that's more than 10% lower than in 2016!). Just taking more (tough) shots at the rim isn't a solution to his most recent struggles, I fear.

Two other things are also important to mention.
– First, going to the rim more increases the risk of injury. Curry knows how important it is to stay healthy and with the team playing this well, I think it's perfectly understandable if he avoids heavy contact around the rim more often if he can. And if it's about midrange-shots: only his long 2s are down compared to 2016, whereas shots from 3-16ft are up – so he's essentially only trading shots at the rim for 3s.
– Second, the team now is better than ever at getting Steph good looks from 3. Especially Curry and Green have perfected working off each other, and some of the off-ball actions have only blown up in past two years, I feel like. So it makes some sense to really milk the shot that Curry usually shoots at something like 65% eFG and that reduces the risk of contact-injuries.

Because of the fact that Curry is probably acutely aware of injury-risks, because this team currently doesn't need him to do a carry-job, and because Curry has historically improved his performance after the All-Star break, I'm not yet worried and don't see a reason change things up in terms of play-style or even rotation. If he enters the playoffs and still struggles without being able to change things up if needed – that's the time to be concerned. But until and unless that happens, I don't see the point in getting worked up over regular season performances of a 33 year old superstar on a team that cruises to the playoffs.

[Scoots1994]

It may be that he's taking more 3s and harder 3s because he knows with this team those shots, even when they miss, is creating space for teammates, and it's working.

I hope things change when Klay gets back.

[clyde21]

does he though? he's been trending up every year in terms of 3s to 2s he takes. last year he had a career high of 12.7 3s per game, only to beat that this year with 13.4 per game. it seems like he's drifting away from that 2016 balance he had more and more every season, and I don't think it's a coincidence that he's been more inconsistent than ever with the more 3s that he's taking.

Steph doesn't have the burst he had in 2016 any longer, though. He can't get to and convert at the rim as easily. He not only gets to the rim less frequently, he also shoots a lower percentage (58.6% this year – that's more than 10% lower than in 2016!). Just taking more (tough) shots at the rim isn't a solution to his most recent struggles, I fear.

Two other things are also important to mention.
– First, going to the rim more increases the risk of injury. Curry knows how important it is to stay healthy and with the team playing this well, I think it's perfectly understandable if he avoids heavy contact around the rim more often if he can. And if it's about midrange-shots: only his long 2s are down compared to 2016, whereas shots from 3-16ft are up – so he's essentially only trading shots at the rim for 3s.
– Second, the team now is better than ever at getting Steph good looks from 3. Especially Curry and Green have perfected working off each other, and some of the off-ball actions have only blown up in past two years, I feel like. So it makes some sense to really milk the shot that Curry usually shoots at something like 65% eFG and that reduces the risk of contact-injuries.

Because of the fact that Curry is probably acutely aware of injury-risks, because this team currently doesn't need him to do a carry-job, and because Curry has historically improved his performance after the All-Star break, I'm not yet worried and don't see a reason change things up in terms of play-style or even rotation. If he enters the playoffs and still struggles without being able to change things up if needed – that's the time to be concerned. But until and unless that happens, I don't see the point in getting worked up over regular season performances of a 33 year old superstar on a team that cruises to the playoffs.

i dunno, he's getting plenty of bunnies this year, he's just missing a lot of them...i don't remember Steph ever missing as many clean layups as he's missed this year to be honest, so I don't think it's an issue of getting those clean looks.

i disagree that going to the rim increases chance of injury vs. running through picks/screens and getting held and pushes all game long while he's slashing and running on the perimeter, I think that's taking more of a toll on his body overall than a lot of us are willing to admit. it still should be a part of his game obviously, especially in PO and high leverage games...but do we need to run him like that in meaningless RS games? i'd much rather see him on ball running half court sets tbh at this point and then take him off ball based on the match up.

[clyde21]

It may be that he's taking more 3s and harder 3s because he knows with this team those shots, even when they miss, is creating space for teammates, and it's working.

I hope things change when Klay gets back.

yea, he's def creating insane amount of space for the other guys, I think that's pretty indisputable, but it's coming at his own expense at this point, and in the POs we're gonna need Steph to be hitting his shots more than anyone else, because if he's not hitting them it's not gonna be Wiggy or Poole that are gonna carry us to a chip.

[michaelm]

It may be that he's taking more 3s and harder 3s because he knows with this team those shots, even when they miss, is creating space for teammates, and it's working.

I hope things change when Klay gets back.

yea, he's def creating insane amount of space for the other guys, I think that's pretty indisputable, but it's coming at his own expense at this point, and in the POs we're gonna need Steph to be hitting his shots more than anyone else, because if he's not hitting them it's not gonna be Wiggy or Poole that are gonna carry us to a chip.

Who knows what Poole's ceiling is, although he may not get there this season of course. Obviously GSW need Steph to shoot better for many reasons, if he keeps shooting like the last game he will no longer command the defensive attention which creates space for his team mates anyway.

[Romulus]

I'm not sure what exactly is going on with Curry these days. He's been off for a while now. It seems he started the season as his usual self and then Kerr started messing with his minutes and he really hasn't been the same since then. Actually, none of us (including Curry himself) know what Kerr will do from game to game when it comes to deciding when he comes out and when he stays in. It's never the same two games in a row.

As a Curry fan, I find Kerr's "coaching," a killer to enjoying what has unquestionably been a successful season. There is nothing consistent about his decisions, who plays, who doesn't. Porter starts against Phoenix and wins the game for them in the 4th quarter. The next game, he's on the bench (with Draymond still out).

In the past, with all of Kerr's strange moves, the one consistent thing was Curry playing the entire 1st and 3rd quarters and then coming in at roughly the 6 minute mark of quarters 2 and 4. It gave Curry those long stretches where he could have huge quarters and often allow the Warriors to put away teams by the 4th quarter (giving Curry rest).

Who knows if this has anything to do with Curry's struggles this season. I won't profess to say that in fact is the reason for it. But I do know Curry himself has talked about not liking it, trying to adjust to the constant changes and rotations.

For me, it's just taken all the fun out of the season. It seems most games do have a pattern with Curry: he plays about half the first quarter, usually takes 1 to 3 shots and then is on the bench. He's playing catch up the entire game just to get to 20, 25, 30 points. And in those shorter duration of minutes (though he actually seems to be playing MORE minutes) there are never any designed plays to get Curry shots.

But, the Warriors keep winning so there isn't much complaining. I get that. But I also believe once the playoffs begin that in order for the Warriors to win the championship, they'll need Steph Curry playing his best, not his worst. And whatever the reasons for Curry's struggles, they need to be figured out sooner rather than later.

[WarriorGM]

There are things that could be changed to accommodate Curry more and help him with his shot if he thinks it will help but I'd try other things before changing the rotation back. Maybe they can run more on ball plays or Steph can take more 2 point shots or try to increase or narrow the variety of plays he's running first. Maybe the team can even practice not having him run around as much and treat him like a catch and shoot player.

[Crazy-Canuck]

Steph is getting looks, he's just missing. Slumps happen, even for steph.

[Impuniti]

Steph is getting looks, he's just missing. Slumps happen, even for steph.

This is a season slump that's heading into ASB. That's not a slump.

[and1GS]

Steph is getting looks, he's just missing. Slumps happen, even for steph.

This is a season slump that's heading into ASB. That's not a slump.

I disagree. He was actually fine to start the year and has been putrid for a month.
October (6 games): 42% FG and 38.8% 3pt on 28.7/7.5/6.5
November (14 games) 46.6%, 42.3% on 27/4.9/6.6
December (12 games) 40.4%, 37.4% on 27.6/4.7/4.7
January (2 games) 31.4%, 31.8% on 18.5/4.5/9.5

Based on that it is a tale of two halves, not of one awful season. But both are below his standards.

[clyde21]

Steph is getting looks, he's just missing. Slumps happen, even for steph.

he's shooting 38% from the field the last 15 games, by far the worst of his career during a 15 gm stretch, this isn't a 'slump', something is going on and it should be addressed at both the Steph and coaching levels. not sure if it's mental, physical, or Kerr's **** rotations, maybe a combo of all of these things, but I don't think we can chalk this up to 'just another slump'.

these bad games are starting to happen with much more frequency now, and we can't afford a couple of these games in a PO series.

[clyde21]

I'm not sure what exactly is going on with Curry these days. He's been off for a while now. It seems he started the season as his usual self and then Kerr started messing with his minutes and he really hasn't been the same since then. Actually, none of us (including Curry himself) know what Kerr will do from game to game when it comes to deciding when he comes out and when he stays in. It's never the same two games in a row.

Kerr's rotation are actively **** with Steph but no one here wants to talk about it, been saying this day one, and it's not surprising to see his rhythm is completely off because of these rotations...been saying it's going to come back and bite us in the ass since the beginning

and if these crappy rotations don't get rectified soon we're not making it out the 2nd round.

[Impuniti]

Steph is getting looks, he's just missing. Slumps happen, even for steph.

This is a season slump that's heading into ASB. That's not a slump.

I disagree. He was actually fine to start the year and has been putrid for a month.
October (6 games): 42% FG and 38.8% 3pt on 28.7/7.5/6.5
November (14 games) 46.6%, 42.3% on 27/4.9/6.6
December (12 games) 40.4%, 37.4% on 27.6/4.7/4.7
January (2 games) 31.4%, 31.8% on 18.5/4.5/9.5

Based on that it is a tale of two halves, not of one awful season. But both are below his standards.

All those shooting numbers are below what we've expected of him since he elevated himself into an MVP. I'm not comparing him to other elite scorers which makes most of the months fine, I'm speaking in general. All that is below what we've seen out of him.

[cpower]

Curry had 15 good/great games out of 34 games. which leaves us 19 bad games.... that is some astonishing numbers.

[and1GS]

I get what you're saying, but November is very close to his career averages. I don't think it's a year long slump is my point. It is definitely fair to say he isn't the Steph we expected for the entirety of this season. I do think the rotations play into it and hope we get back to the normal approach soon as it seems to be more of a mental fatigue thing than anything else given he's missing wide open shots.

[Impuniti]

I get what you're saying, but November is very close to his career averages. I don't think it's a year long slump is my point. It is definitely fair to say he isn't the Steph we expected for the entirety of this season. I do think the rotations play into it and hope we get back to the normal approach soon as it seems to be more of a mental fatigue thing than anything else given he's missing wide open shots.

I just don't like using career numbers for Steph. He's not like KD, Lebron. He and Kawhi are cases that simply put elevated their games so much after a certain amount of time of playing ball. That's why it's better to start comparing him either by his 1st MVP season or the year beforehand.

[The-Power]

I get what you're saying, but November is very close to his career averages. I don't think it's a year long slump is my point. It is definitely fair to say he isn't the Steph we expected for the entirety of this season. I do think the rotations play into it and hope we get back to the normal approach soon as it seems to be more of a mental fatigue thing than anything else given he's missing wide open shots.

I just don't like using career numbers for Steph. He's not like KD, Lebron. He and Kawhi are cases that simply put elevated their games so much after a certain amount of time of playing ball. That's why it's better to start comparing him either by his 1st MVP season or the year beforehand.

Curry's November splits are absolutely comparable to 2017 or last year, though. He was playing at close-to-peak level to start the season, which is why he was considered the favorite for MVP early on.

[a8bil]

I'm not sure what exactly is going on with Curry these days. He's been off for a while now. It seems he started the season as his usual self and then Kerr started messing with his minutes and he really hasn't been the same since then. Actually, none of us (including Curry himself) know what Kerr will do from game to game when it comes to deciding when he comes out and when he stays in. It's never the same two games in a row.

Kerr's rotation are actively **** with Steph but no one here wants to talk about it, been saying this day one, and it's not surprising to see his rhythm is completely off because of these rotations...been saying it's going to come back and bite us in the ass since the beginning

and if these crappy rotations don't get rectified soon we're not making it out the 2nd round.

That's a whole lot of conviction you have in your take...which has no basis in fact. It's fine to speculate, but to rant as if your take is the indisputable truth?

[WarriorGM]

I've said it before but if there is a problem with the rotation I think it has to do more with how Steph has ended up playing more minutes than it does with rhythm.