Pelly24 wrote:
I don't think that's all there is to his game. He's an above average passer and is a really good ballhandler and a surprisingly solid defender. He's got amazing touch off the backboard and is an incredible finisher for his size. But, when it comes to breaking people down off the dribble, getting by defenders and just being a night in and night out scoring superstar in the vein of LeBron, Kobe, Harden, KD, MJ, DWade, etc. he is significantly behind. When he isn't hitting more than three three pointers, Steph usually looks kind of pedestrian. You won't see him showcase a diverse array of shot-making or get to the line like 20 times, etc. In the 2016 finals it was actually crazy how normal he looked at times. There's no way you can scheme the other guys out like that.
Then I suggest you watch the 13 and 14 versions of Curry. This was before the Kerr-system came in that put him in primarily an off-ball roll to catalyze the Warriors's movement based offense. He played the traditional heliocentric high pick and roll basketball that the other superstars do and took the Warriors to six games against the Spurs and seven against the Clippers, both of whom were contenders. The Warriors then were known as a perennially losing team and featured the likes of Jarred Jack and David Lee instead of Draymond and Klay.
If your point is that Curry's play tends to have more volatility than say Lebron's, then I would agree with you. But I think it's disingenuous to judge players soley by their poor series. All superstars have had them. The difference with Curry, I think, is that it stands out more because he doesn't look the part, whereas the other guys do, so the thought when he struggles isn't "wow, look at the great defense being played on him to limit him" but "hmm...he looks like he can't physically impose himself". But there are multiple series, among all those players you listed, where they have struggled to score effectively and efficiently against great defenses.
Moreover, a key thing that makes Curry particularly more difficult to judge is that his off-ball play is unlike any that we've ever seen (save for maybe Reggie, whose impact has also traditionally been underappreciated), so his actual impact on the game tends to be more understated than his production would indicate, in a way that isn't the case with ball-dominant players.
And if we're talking scoring production in the playoffs compared to his superstar contemporaries, he sits at third (Lebron and KD ahead of him) in points per 100 possessions and is 1st in scoring efficiency.
