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

[euliss]

It's crazy to think that even in the playoffs last season team s were daring him to shoot from 3

[picc]

It will be very interesting to see who Jordan fans support in the finals rematch...

Kobe.

[Moonbeam]

I was excited that my father-in-law, who never watched basketball before I came to Australia 10 years ago, got to see the game. He was as awestruck as I was.

[therealbig3]

One thing that's not being mentioned...I really liked Curry's defense. Westbrook struggled on a few possessions trying to get past him. I thought Curry did the best job guarding Westbrook out of everyone tbh.

[picc]

One thing that's not being mentioned...I really liked Curry's defense. Westbrook struggled on a few possessions trying to get past him. I thought Curry did the best job guarding Westbrook out of everyone tbh.

He's a good defender and has been for a while. Anyone who hasn't noticed isn't paying attention on that end.

Its very rare you see someone just drive past Stephen Curry.

[DreDay]

One thing that's not being mentioned...I really liked Curry's defense. Westbrook struggled on a few possessions trying to get past him. I thought Curry did the best job guarding Westbrook out of everyone tbh.

He's a good defender and has been for a while. Anyone who hasn't noticed isn't paying attention on that end.

Its very rare you see someone just drive past Stephen Curry.

His main problem historically was being in no mans land off ball, but now he's improved that beyond my wildest dreams and has become one of the best at playing the passing lanes.

[Prez]

We're witnessing the new GOAT in the making. Who would've ****ing thought some skinny teenage looking chucker would become the most unstoppable player in history. His rise to the top is seriously the stuff of video games and stories.

[Swoop4]

I feel like if he surpasses Jordan, the general populace will be a lot more likely to accept it than if LeBron or Kobe did.

He doesn't just have the game, but the likability factor LeBron and Kobe never quite had as the face of the league.

I think maybe it was because he wasn't anointed from the start, and no one really saw this coming until about November.

[toodles23]

I'd be curious to hear Steve Kerr's thoughts on MJ vs. Curry.

[Doctor MJ]

I feel like if he surpasses Jordan, the general populace will be a lot more likely to accept it than if LeBron or Kobe did.

He doesn't just have the game, but the likability factor LeBron and Kobe never quite had as the face of the league.

I think maybe it was because he wasn't anointed from the start, and no one really saw this coming until about November.

On the likability part, that's very true but I would add that much of Jordan's likability edge over those other two guys came as a result of media being much more easily controlled back then. Jordan looked utterly iconic when he said very little. He wouldn't be able to do that today.

From a sports icon perspective, I think Curry has the most potential since Jordan back in the day. He won't be the "next Jordan" because there will be aspects of Jordan's persona that Curry just can't be, but he's charming, good looking, intelligent, and people are always going to see him as a kind of David going up against Goliaths and winning. It seems only a matter of time before he's the biggest athlete on the planet.

[kayess]

I'd be curious to hear Steve Kerr's thoughts on MJ vs. Curry.

This is what I've been waiting for ever since he flashed GOAT-level ability

[Doctor MJ]

Wasn't Westbrook supposed to be a "Curry stopper"?

[DreDay]

Wasn't Westbrook supposed to be a "Curry stopper"?

I can barely remember Westbrook on Curry. Hell Singler covered Curry rather than Westbrook during stretches of OT.

[The-Power]

Wasn't Westbrook supposed to be a "Curry stopper"?

As you know, this was a myth from the beginning. Just as Curry can't handle Westbrook full speed (very few can, obviously, but I liked what I saw as far as half-court defense was concerned), Westbrook isn't good to take away 3's by Curry. The only players in single coverage who can make life difficult for Steph are long players with quickness who are completely locked in and willing to do nothing but bothering Curry. Of course even then he's going to get his and defenders also tend to be overly aggressive which Curry uses against them, but these are the players (say Kawhi or KCP) who make Curry usually take less shots unless he feels like he has to take over more.

Anyway, Westbrook one-on-one has the speed and physicality to bother your normal PG on defense but Curry plays unlike everyone else and this is where Westbrook, like most PGs, struggles. He doesn't fight over every screen, he gambles a lot on drives, he allows players to back-cut frequently because of his on-ball focus and arguably most importantly, he will lose contact to Curry off-ball because it's not in the nature of Guards who are used to play the passing lanes to stay connected to and focused on your man every damn second. I actually believe there is not a single offensive star out there I would want to defend Curry for more than just a few crucial possessions or on switches simply because a) it's usually not worth the energy players have to expend and b) these guys are simple not used to defend someone like Curry with the necessary intensity for long stretches. Curry uses screens on-ball, moves amazingly off-ball - which, by the way, tends to go unnoticed at times but it's honestly insane how much he works off-ball to get in good positions on top of all the ball-handling and playmaking duties he has - and if he goes one-on-one, he either bombs a three from far away or goes by you when you fall for the fake; there's not much you can do by yourself.

Completely locked in, players like LeBron, George, Durant etc. are great perimeter defenders but they - and even someone like Kawhi - are not really used to defend someone like Curry, the way he scores and gets into his myriad spots is unprecedented. Defending Curry is a team-strategy and requires team-effort, he's the player you can keep in check the least one-on-one in the history of the game aside from maybe Shaq. Whenever Curry struggles to score, it's either because a) he misses shots he ususally makes much more frequently (and yeah, that includes tough shots for other players) or b) he faces a team-defense that executes their strategy incredibly well and has the right personnel and even then he can score because of his ability to hit tough shots. Every time people say 'player x or y' did or could stop Curry because of their individual performance they are way off and the respective people didn't see the team behind the player and/or caught Curry on an off-night.

____

The game last night was obviously incredible to watch. Every time the team missed an easy lay-up - and that happened plenty in the second half - I thought 'oh boy, OKC is going to punish them for that'. In the end, I guess it was a good thing because we could see Curry tying the game NBA record for most threes in a single game with an amazing game-winning shot from I don't know far away (32ft seems to be inaccurate to me; edit: 38.4ft it is apparently). Iggy and later in the game Klay stepped up, otherwise this was again a carry-job by Curry although I'd want to emphasize that Green, despite his poor offensive showing, really stepped up defensively in the second half and made some very crucial defensive plays and allowed us to use the SBDS for a pretty long time (including the entire OT).

I don't know if I misinterpret Curry's facial expressions but to me it seemed like he was a little pissed off after he got injured and kept that mood for the entire game. If so, then that was a game in which we could see what Curry does when being angry. I felt like he was very reluctant to look for his own shot in the first quarter, more than usual. But this was certainly over in the second half of the game and I guess a combination of how the game was going, feeling angry and his shots going ignited the fire. Awesome game which had everything (despair, joy, amazing moments) and I'm glad he took the record during such a game.

I have to say I still have an uneasy feeling facing OKC. They are possibly the only team in the league that can keep up with the high scoring of the dubs on a regular basis, they can be a solid defensive team when they are completely focused and that's what they're going to be in playoff-games and games at home against the Warriors and KD seems to torch us every time we face him. Sure, he torches a lot of teams because he's an exceptional scorer but if my memory serves me right he's even more outstanding against the Dubs even though we have good to solid defenders to throw at him in Iggy, Green, Barnes or even Klay and Livingston - in theory. If both teams face each other in the playoffs, I'm sure it's going to be a hell of a series and I doubt any teams wins in less than six games.

[Asianiac_24]

There is no one in the league that can guard Curry, especially not anyone with any significant offensive duties. He is probably the most tiring cover of all time. Not only do you have to quickly get back on transition on every play, you have to start pressuring him once he crosses the half court line.

Go up too close? he goes right by you.

Managed to successfully stay with him? Here comes a screen from Draymond, and you either trap him hard and give up an open lane to Green, or you fight through the screen hard to HOPEFULLY stay with him.

Successfully fights through the screen and stayed with him? He passes off and goes through screens after screens off the ball, and the defender has to fight through all of them.

Still manage to do that and force Curry to throw up a heave? That might very well go in also.

[sammyvine]

We're witnessing the new GOAT in the making. Who would've ****ing thought some skinny teenage looking chucker would become the most unstoppable player in history. His rise to the top is seriously the stuff of video games and stories.

he is no where near close to the GOAT at the moment

How old are you lol?

Lebron, Duncan. MJ, Lebron, Kareem etc....thats rude...

He will need to win multiple titles and finals MVP's to be held as better than those guys. Last year i even just remembered that it was Iggy who won the finals MVP.

[sammyvine]

I feel like if he surpasses Jordan, the general populace will be a lot more likely to accept it than if LeBron or Kobe did.

He doesn't just have the game, but the likability factor LeBron and Kobe never quite had as the face of the league.

I think maybe it was because he wasn't anointed from the start, and no one really saw this coming until about November.

I agree with that and he is far more relatable

People really need to stop getting ahead of themselves though...we had all this with Kobe and Lebron being the 'GOAT' after one amazing run....both players since however haven't managed to reach those GOAT heights...well Kobe certainly didn't.

[sammyvine]

I'd be curious to hear Steve Kerr's thoughts on MJ vs. Curry.

This is what I've been waiting for ever since he flashed GOAT-level ability

What is Steve Kerr going to say?

Curry > MJ? He will back his player won't he?

Kerr seems a bit more smart than that though and since he won rings mainly because of MJ...he may decide not to speak on the subject.

[Prez]

We're witnessing the new GOAT in the making. Who would've ****ing thought some skinny teenage looking chucker would become the most unstoppable player in history. His rise to the top is seriously the stuff of video games and stories.

he is no where near close to the GOAT at the moment

How old are you lol?

Lebron, Duncan. MJ, Lebron, Kareem etc....thats rude...

He will need to win multiple titles and finals MVP's to be held as better than those guys. Last year i even just remembered that it was Iggy who won the finals MVP.

Hey remember the part of my post where I said "in the making"? That was cool.

[Jaivl]

What can I say. I'm so used to it that it doesn't hurt anymore.