Steph Curry has completely WARPED the way we rate players

[steph_harden]

Curry isn't a bad defender at all. He's not even an average defender. He's a good defender overall and a GREAT team defender. He's just the weakest perimeter defender on a team full of great defenders.

He's great at reading and blocking passing lanes, has a strong base that has even stopped Westbrook from posting him up in the playoffs, he's pretty physical and constantly putting his shoulders into players, a little dirty, he's a pickpocket master, he's a great communicator, he's great funneling players into teammates for help , and he has a high motor even though his lateral quickness is lacking.

He's only average on an island, onntje perimetet, against top caliber point guards which are the Dames, Kyrie, Harden, etc...which is pretty much all the best guards in the league.

Dudes need to stop confusing offensive players making good shots with bad defense and running with dumb narratives. Anyone who has actually watched Golden State over a season can tell you that Curry is a high IQ and impactful defender the majority of the time.

He is NOT a great team defender. He’s great at playing the passing lanes. But he still loses his defender through screens. Fundamentally he has poor lateral quickness and lacks athlectism to keep up.

And yes he has a high iq. But he hides too much for me to actually consider him a good defender. If his man is a competent offensive threat he’ll usually switch off on the non offensive threat.

People bring up the Westbrook thing and Curry did well guarding him but in actuality Curry spent more time guarding Roberson.

 

[Rekkapryde]

in the 90's he wouldn't even get a shot off with the way refs actually allowed defense to be played

Come on fam..

Reggie got shots off and his release wasn't nearly as quick as Steph's. He also couldn't dribble worth a damn either

 

[steph_harden]

Steph isn’t a better offensive player than either Kobe or Wade either so it doesn’t even matter about Defense really

Steph can shoot, that’s what he excels at. You can’t double team him either. Credit Steve Kerr for using him effectively.

nikkas using cac analytics when y’all gonna learn.

His efficiency blows Kobe’s out of the water bruh it’s a big gap. I think Kobe was a much skilled offensive player than his stats indicate. But he never put it together like that...nikka loved his hero ball. He was happier in dire situations so his numbers suffered

Hell the stats are saying that Harden is a much better offensive player than Kobe was

 

[Da King]

Come on fam..

Reggie got shots off and his release wasn't nearly as quick as Steph's. He also couldn't dribble worth a damn either

Reggie would average 30+ today with how physical he was defended in the 90's he'd be living on the FT line like Durant and Harden today, who be taking FT's if nikkas just look at them

 

[steph_harden]

Perimeter defense is overrated. in NBA history, there are few NBA perimeter players that even register defensively

Second...defense from the point guard position doesn't even matter like that.

Westbrook can't defend for shyt
Dame can't defend for shyt
D.Rose in his prime couldn't defend for shyt either

shyt, Magic Johnson had Michael Cooper guarding guards, he wasn't some hot shot defender....

Who is the top PG that can play D today, John Wal, Chris Paul?

How many point guard defenders that are hall of fame caliber

Jason Kidd and Walt Frazier...

The most important player on any defensive is the Center.

You know how easy to hide a guard on defense?

There are a few star offensive perimeter players in NBA history that made significant impact on defense...it's rare.

Which is exactly why he shouldn’t be ranked over the hall of fame guards who made impacts defensively. I.E Kobe and Wade.

For the reasons u just stated. But yet he’s being ranked over both

 

[Double Burger With Cheese]

“Gravity” is the most overrated term in basketball right now. Let’s see how effective Curry’s “gravity” is on a sorry ass shooting team like the Lakers or Grizzlies where teams don’t give a fukk about leaving their man to double him because the open dude is a professional bricklayer. Easy to talk about gravity when you’re swinging it to Klay Thompson and Kevin fukking Durant.

I thought OP was referring to gravity in the sense of importance. Didn’t know it was some basketball term. I looked it up and it looks like some more bullshyt ESPN made up

 

[steph_harden]

Thank you. I watch nba games very regularly (full live games, not just higlights) partly because im a huge fan and also because I work boring night shifts here in the UK and have the time and free wifi to stream live games and I swear to god,

I see curry regularly locking down his opponent and getting stops by staying in front of the player he's guarding with his quick feet and also getting strips, steals and rebounds while I see some other players who do not have the reputation as "terrible defenders" getting cooked.

This isnt fox news or the white house, if you are gonna make claims, you better back it up with facts

 

[Cynical Thoughts]

Michael fukkin Jordan in terms of gravity,

terms of gravity,

Such a goofy ass line that sounds so absurd.

Homie posted this shyt and quoted me yesterday.

Had the same thought you did.

Essentially the top 3 on the list are great shooters. So it's a fancy way of saying defenders stay close to good shooters.

I told the poster I question your knowledge if he needs a stat to tell him that.

 

[Rekkapryde]

Reggie would average 30+ today with how physical he was defended in the 90's he'd be living on the FT line like Durant and Harden today, who be taking FT's if nikkas just look at them

That wasn't the argument you presented. You said Steph wouldn't be successful in the nineties. He easily would. Maybe not to this extent but he would

 

[Jalether]

Could Curry take a team to the playoffs if he's the only all-star on it?

He already did under marc jackson

 

[LEEeveryday]

Let's talk about how he changed the game...

and go back and look at the players that changed the game....

Wilt the stilt
The GOAT
Shaq
How can I forget AI

Now..

Steph fukking Curry


shyt is crazy....

 

[Cynical Thoughts]

Here they go with this Steph is a great defender again.

Stephen Curry had excellent defensive stats last year, he ranked higher than Kyrie Irving...

Here's an excellent write up

Why Steph Curry is Still Underrated (Defensively)


Curry ranks fifth amongst all point guards with a defensive real plus-minus (DRPM) of 1.29, ahead of renowned lockdown defenders Marcus Smart and Patrick Beverly. He leads all guards in defensive win shares (10th in the entire NBA). He also comes in at fifth in opponent field goal % difference (among guards who have played more than 70 games), meaning that opponents shoot 3.2 percentage points worse from the field when guarded by Curry. He leads the NBA in steals per game.

Perimeter defense is overrated. in NBA history, there are few NBA perimeter players that even register defensively

Second...defense from the point guard position doesn't even matter like that.

Westbrook can't defend for shyt
Dame can't defend for shyt
D.Rose in his prime couldn't defend for shyt either

shyt, Magic Johnson had Michael Cooper guarding guards, he wasn't some hot shot defender....

Who is the top PG that can play D today, John Wal, Chris Paul?

How many point guard defenders that are hall of fame caliber

Jason Kidd and Walt Frazier...

The most important player on any defensive is the Center.

You know how easy to hide a guard on defense?

There are a few star offensive perimeter players in NBA history that made significant impact on defense...it's rare.

You post how he is a great defender amongst the best in the L in some categories and how his D ultimately leads to wins.

But then you say defense doesn't matter.

 

[T-K-G]

Michael fukkin Jordan in terms of gravity,

terms of gravity,

Such a goofy ass line that sounds so absurd.

entire defenses collapse towards him if he slows down at any point past halfcourt

What does gravity cause things to do?

 

[SuperPawgHunter]

Give Steph a team with good players, and give Jordan or Kobe a team with equally good players, and Steph's PER is going out the fukking window.

I have repeatedly seen him become reduced to a shell of himself when you get physical with him.

He has that cheat-code shot, but there have been teams that have made it difficult for him to get good looks at the rim. He's not super-athletic and he isn't 6'6".

Efficiency is a great thing, no doubt about it - but Kobe can simply do more things on offensive than Steph can. and he is a far better defender.

That goes double for MJ.

 

[AlainLocke]

Which is exactly why he shouldn’t be ranked over the hall of fame guards who made impacts defensively. I.E Kobe and Wade.

For the reasons u just stated. But yet he’s being ranked over both

Kobe wasn't a great defender....he's an overrated defender.

Wade was a good defender and a great help defender

And Curry's offensive impact outweighs any defensive impact that Kobe and Wade had...

You can replace Wade and Kobe with someone Bruce Bowen or someone and be fine...

Who you gonna replace Curry with? Curry is an entire offensive system.

A great perimeter defender that was a viable offensive player is Scottie Pippen, Kawhi Leonard, Walt Frazier, Michael Jordan, Sidney Moncrief...those guys...



I wish people would stop bringing up Kobe when he was never even on the level of D-Wade....