The Stephen Curry Thread (2015-16 Pt. 1)

[murphadam420]

Curry had a few hesitation moves that seemed to be new. He has the famous one against CP3 (not the behind the back) but where he acted like he was going to shoot at the 3 point line, kept the dribble alive, then blew past CP3. Curry was able to hesitate/fake the shot while keeping his momentum going forward against NO, and he was able to easily get to the bucket because of that momentum. Pretty excited to see what other ball handling tricks he has up his sleeve.

[DreDay]

Curry had a few hesitation moves that seemed to be new. He has the famous one against CP3 (not the behind the back) but where he acted like he was going to shoot at the 3 point line, kept the dribble alive, then blew past CP3. Curry was able to hesitate/fake the shot while keeping his momentum going forward against NO, and he was able to easily get to the bucket because of that momentum. Pretty excited to see what other ball handling tricks he has up his sleeve.

He showed off some nice new footwork I noticed. Less straight line driving and finishing, but maneuvering around the defender instead for an easier shot. Small change, but it can do wonders for his game in terms of finishing at an even higher level.

[AussieBuck]

Skill player like Nash, just keeps improving. Would be interesting if the team wasn't quite so good, I'd love to see him set some unbreakable shooting records.

Don't think he is anything like Nash. I think guys fear Curry much more on the floor than they ever did with Nash on it.

Comprehension brah.

[The-Power]

So I'm going to bump this one. Not the most spectacular performance by him, but didn't need to go off. Still put up 25/7/6/1 with only 1 TO in - like so often last year - just 27 minutes on 0.781 TS% (using actual PbP-data).

Two points to take away early from the season:

1. The Dubs are looking exactly as dominant as last season on both ends of the floor and arguably more composed on offense. Only 8 TOs last night and the almost the whole team looked sharp but we have to wait and see if this could be a tendency or not. But it looks like the team might have taken another step on offense by the eye.

2. Curry seems to have improved compared to last season in a couple regards, even though - again - we have to wait until we can draw further conclusions. He seems to have improved on some hesitation moves to use the fear of his shooting better and he also looks like he worked on cutting down his turnovers. There have been less boneheaded plays so far, he visibly worked on reacting to blitzing and double teams - which the team did as a whole as well, most likely - and he seems to be more cerebral overall in his game. Defensively he continues to look really good, aside from a couple of possessions here and then when he tends to come to help too early or in the wrong position. Other than that, he really reached a level of being clearly more than average for a PG.

And by the way, last night's game was another testament as to why I believe Green is clearly the second most important player on the team. He was a terror on defense and extremely important as a secondary initiator on offense, in fast-break situations as well as in the half-court offense. Oh, and he's now really exploiting mismatches in the post when he's switched onto smaller players, something of great value considering this happens quite often when he sets screens for Curry. This could be an underestimated improvement if it is for real, although he already showed glimpes of it last year.

[Dr Spaceman]

So I'm going to bump this one. Not the most spectacular performance by him, but didn't need to go off. Still put up 25/7/6/1 with only 1 TO in - like so often last year - just 27 minutes on 0.781 TS% (using actual PbP-data).

Two points to take away early from the season:

1. The Dubs are looking exactly as dominant as last season on both ends of the floor and arguably more composed on offense. Only 8 TOs last night and the almost the whole team looked sharp but we have to wait and see if this could be a tendency or not. But it looks like the team might have taken another step on offense by the eye.

2. Curry seems to have improved compared to last season in a couple regards, even though - again - we have to wait until we can draw further conclusions. He seems to have improved on some hesitation moves to use the fear of his shooting better and he also looks like he worked on cutting down his turnovers. There have been less boneheaded plays so far, he visibly worked on reacting to blitzing and double teams - which the team did as a whole as well, most likely - and he seems to be more cerebral overall in his game. Defensively he continues to look really good, aside from a couple of possessions here and then when he tends to come to help too early or in the wrong position. Other than that, he really reached a level of being clearly more than average for a PG.

And by the way, last night's game was another testament as to why I believe Green is clearly the second most important player on the team. He was a terror on defense and extremely important as a secondary initiator on offense, in fast-break situations as well as in the half-court offense. Oh, and he's now really exploiting mismatches in the post when he's switched onto smaller players, something of great value considering this happens quite often when he sets screens for Curry. This could be an underestimated improvement if it is for real, although he already showed glimpes of it last year.

Draymond running the break with Curry and Klay flanking is literally the scariest thing in basketball right now.

I don't know that I've ever seen a title winning team come out with MORE motivation in the following regular season, but here it is. Curry as you said has improved in a lot of marginal areas, but the big thing for me is he's starting to understand just how capable he is as a scorer. Strange as it seems, even with his scoring outbursts he always seemed reticent to "take over" and prioritized flow above all else. This season he's really out to prove something, I mean some of the shots he's taken and made already this season are alarming. After the Finals I think he's realizing that great things can happen when he goes off script and just murders teams for giving him an inch.

Think he's going to push his scoring average up to around 27-30 and I'm now starting to think back to back MVPs are in play, as GSW is clearly the best team by a margin right now

[cpower]

So I'm going to bump this one. Not the most spectacular performance by him, but didn't need to go off. Still put up 25/7/6/1 with only 1 TO in - like so often last year - just 27 minutes on 0.781 TS% (using actual PbP-data).

Two points to take away early from the season:

1. The Dubs are looking exactly as dominant as last season on both ends of the floor and arguably more composed on offense. Only 8 TOs last night and the almost the whole team looked sharp but we have to wait and see if this could be a tendency or not. But it looks like the team might have taken another step on offense by the eye.

2. Curry seems to have improved compared to last season in a couple regards, even though - again - we have to wait until we can draw further conclusions. He seems to have improved on some hesitation moves to use the fear of his shooting better and he also looks like he worked on cutting down his turnovers. There have been less boneheaded plays so far, he visibly worked on reacting to blitzing and double teams - which the team did as a whole as well, most likely - and he seems to be more cerebral overall in his game. Defensively he continues to look really good, aside from a couple of possessions here and then when he tends to come to help too early or in the wrong position. Other than that, he really reached a level of being clearly more than average for a PG.

And by the way, last night's game was another testament as to why I believe Green is clearly the second most important player on the team. He was a terror on defense and extremely important as a secondary initiator on offense, in fast-break situations as well as in the half-court offense. Oh, and he's now really exploiting mismatches in the post when he's switched onto smaller players, something of great value considering this happens quite often when he sets screens for Curry. This could be an underestimated improvement if it is for real, although he already showed glimpes of it last year.

Draymond running the break with Curry and Klay flanking is literally the scariest thing in basketball right now.

I don't know that I've ever seen a title winning team come out with MORE motivation in the following regular season, but here it is. Curry as you said has improved in a lot of marginal areas, but the big thing for me is he's starting to understand just how capable he is as a scorer. Strange as it seems, even with his scoring outbursts he always seemed reticent to "take over" and prioritized flow above all else. This season he's really out to prove something, I mean some of the shots he's taken and made already this season are alarming. After the Finals I think he's realizing that great things can happen when he goes off script and just murders teams for giving him an inch.

Think he's going to push his scoring average up to around 27-30 and I'm now starting to think back to back MVPs are in play, as GSW is clearly the best team by a margin right now

He has been more aggressive offensively and start to take more shots, and that's big for the dubs because he is the most efficient scorer on that team. I've noticed Klay's volume goes to Curry, not sure this is the plan but in general it makes the dubs better by letting Thompson focusing more on D and let Curry do his thing. Before we jump on them, we still need to see if they can handle Spurs, Cavs or OKC to indicate they are the best team in the league right now.

[picc]

Said it on the GB but bears asking here: I honestly think Curry is the most skilled offensive player the league has ever seen. As far as shooting, ballhandling, and passing goes, the 3 main components to any offensive maneuver, he's at a 10/10 in nearly all of them. He can do whatever the hell he wants on any given possession, your only choice is to hard trap and hope a wide open teammate misses a shot.

I can't prove this, but from the first two games I get the impression he's even more confident now. Don't get me wrong, he's always been a cocky player, but for some reason he looks like he thinks the defense is his bitch even more than last year.

Having to flip between the GS/Houston game and GOATbrook against the Magic last night was the most nerve-wracking experience of the month. Just knew whatever game you were watching, some incredible stuff was gonna be going on in the other one. The two most exciting players in the NBA for sure.

[tsherkin]

I thoroughly enjoy watching Curry play. At any moment, you expect a 3bomb, but he's got some nifty and crafty ball-handling moves that get him high-percentage looks near the hoop, too. And he'll pop from mid-range pretty well, too. He just looks so comfortable and confident, and no one is disproving him.

[weekend_warrior]

He seems even more in control on the pitch so far this season. Most likely a result of condidence, offseason work and increasing experience. The turnovers in the first two games support this although it is still a small sample size.

[picc]

Curry's dribble move from last night.

https://vine.co/v/e3K1gLBzb51

And I'll just leave this here.

[DreDay]

Amazing how he looks even better than last year. Much more assertive, and with a more variety of moves to show for it. He's also punishing hard traps much more efficiently.

[tsherkin]

Curry's dribble move from last night.

https://vine.co/v/e3K1gLBzb51

And I'll just leave this here.

He's so casual, but he's completely got the ball on a string as soon as one hand touches it, even if he gets bumped, and he's got very good vision, especially for a small guy. Just so smooth.

[MisterHibachi]

Heat check alert. 13 of last 15 points

[rich316]

every night is showtime for this guy right now. Un-!@#ing-believable.

[The-Power]

Oh my god. 28 points in the 3rd quarter.

[MisterHibachi]

43 points, at the end of the 3rd. 28 points in the quarter.

He is clearly so much more aggressive looking for his shot this year.

[DreDay]

He's so much better this year

[SideshowBob]

Guys I can totally do this every night, this is **** fantastic.

[MisterHibachi]

43 in 29 minutes heh

[shoefly1]

He looks like a pro playing in a rec league right now. It's incredible to see the ease he has when doing this, like it's fun.