Steph Curry may be unstoppable but is there another way to defend him

[Black_Panther_JS]

That's 4 games out of 7 he balled and he was decent in one of the blowout games and game 1. Really only had 1 bad game

he was mad inefficient

anyway there's no such thing as unstoppable
people just haven't found a way to slow him down

it'll happen eventually, teams is bout to spend the offseason trying to find ways to beat GS

studying what OKC did and the other teams that won

 

[AVXL]

instead of switching pick and rolls and having C's or PF's guard him 1 on 1 25 ft. away from the rim? After watching the WCF's and constantly seeing Ibaka, Kanter and Adams having to guard the player with the best shot and handles in the league I was at how this can be allowed by coaches.

I'm thinking that maybe blitzing Steph on his pick and rolls and trapping him, forcing the ball out of his hands with your defense tied together and rotating might be better than just switching. I remember the Heat during the Heatles era doing this very effectively. Of course this also takes effort and dedication by your defense but then again isn't that what defense is all about?

I'm hoping that the Cavs find a better way to play Steph off the pick and roll instead of just switching and leaving a Frye, Love or Thompson to guard him above the 3pt line. If the Cavs switch the pick and roll they have no chance to beat the Warriors. Trapping it will get the ball out of Steph's hands and force Green, Iggy, Barnes and others to make plays while of course staying attached to Klay.

I'll take my chances with those guys making the plays instead of letting the unanimous MVP go 1 on 1 with a big man on the perimeter. What are you're thoughts about the switching of the pick and roll vs Curry and how would you defend it?

Great question & great thread. I think what will be a great answer to this question is where they decide to have LeBron at on the floor...id move him to the 5, go extra small (B/C GS is gonna play small too) and on the high low PNR you got either Kyrie/Dellavedova guarding Steph and on the switch Bron is on Steph

I still think the principle of switching is sound but it's gotta be done with the right personnel, I don't see TT, Bogut or Ezeli being big contributors b/c they're gonna get exploited defensively and then forced to make FTs on the other end

 

[MeachTheMonster]

OKC defended him pretty good.

They just choked on the offensive end. The heled GSW to under 100 points.

 

[Emoryal]

"I'm thinking that maybe blitzing Steph on his pick and rolls and trapping him, forcing the ball out of his hands with your defense tied together and rotating might be better than just switching. I remember the Heat during the Heatles era doing this very effectively. Of course this also takes effort and dedication by your defense but then again isn't that what defense is all about?"

WHAT THE fukk HAVE YOU BEEN WATCHING. This is the EXACT same strategy the cavs used when Blatt got fired and they got blown out by like 50.

You gotta be kidding me.
No way you didn't know this already

 

[SithLawd]

Teams have tried trapping him, but then he dumps it to draymond who now has a 4 on 3 with the center 30 feet away from the basket.

This is how dray gets so many assists

To defend him u need a physical defensive minded pg who has the strength and stamina to fight through everything. Kyrie is not the answer


Low key cavs would be better off starting delly and have kyrie go ham with the second unit

 

[Bone$]

Here's what you will see a lot of I believe, the switching everything can be effective when if the high trap isn't working, but instead of letting Steph dance with Tristan on the switch, I think they'll send a late double as he begins to dance as they started to do derozan and Lowry late in the shot clock, then u have Steph attempting a shot vs 2 people or trying to find a cutter/shooter with limited time.. Again, depending on the lineup either double curry on the pnr and stay home on klay, or id still switch everything as okc had success with but attack with a late double team so ur 5 or 4 man isn't compromised

 

[Tha_Mac]

OKC defended him pretty good.

They just choked on the offensive end. The heled GSW to under 100 points.

They did a good job but when money time came or Steph got hot he did what he wanted. I'm saying I would force the ball out of his hands altogether.

"I'm thinking that maybe blitzing Steph on his pick and rolls and trapping him, forcing the ball out of his hands with your defense tied together and rotating might be better than just switching. I remember the Heat during the Heatles era doing this very effectively. Of course this also takes effort and dedication by your defense but then again isn't that what defense is all about?"

WHAT THE fukk HAVE YOU BEEN WATCHING. This is the EXACT same strategy the cavs used when Blatt got fired and they got blown out by like 50.

You gotta be kidding me.
No way you didn't know this already

Maybe blitz is the wrong word I'm thinking more like the big showing and giving let's say Kyrie who would be the primary defender time to get to Steph and trap him. Force him to give it up. And also that game where GSW was up by 43 was basically the Cavs trying to get Blatt fired. They didn't play with the effort they'll be playing with in the NBA Finals. What I'm saying is Steph is gonna hit shots no matter the defense so it may be best for him not to have the ball. Trapping him with his basketball IQ he would pass the ball which is what you want the ball out of his hands.

 

[LurkMoar]

Here's what you will see a lot of I believe, the switching everything can be effective when if the high trap isn't working, but instead of letting Steph dance with Tristan on the switch, I think they'll send a late double as he begins to dance as they started to do derozan and Lowry late in the shot clock, then u have Steph attempting a shot vs 2 people or trying to find a cutter/shooter with limited time.. Again, depending on the lineup either double curry on the pnr and stay home on klay, or id still switch everything as okc had success with but attack with a late double team so ur 5 or 4 man isn't compromised

This is the best idea i can think of

 

[MeachTheMonster]

They did a good job but when money time came or Steph got hot he did what he wanted. I'm saying I would force the ball out of his hands altogether.

There is no "money time" if OKC doesn't choke in the 3rd.

They had like 13 points for the entire quarter

 

[Tha_Mac]

There is no "money time" if OKC doesn't choke in the 3rd.

They had like 13 points for the entire quarter

I'm not disagreeing about OKC choking but the thing of this thread is about defending Curry. OKC choked. I remember in Game 6 KD is on the break 1 on 1 vs maybe Iggy and KD checks behind him to make sure no one is coming from behind. They weren't and he still turned the ball over anyway by just mishandling it. They choked no doubt.

 

[Ronnie Lott]

Leave it up to Coli basketball analysts to figure out a defensive plan to stop Curry

 

[Ronnie Lott]

instead of switching pick and rolls and having C's or PF's guard him 1 on 1 25 ft. away from the rim? After watching the WCF's and constantly seeing Ibaka, Kanter and Adams having to guard the player with the best shot and handles in the league I was at how this can be allowed by coaches.

I'm thinking that maybe blitzing Steph on his pick and rolls and trapping him, forcing the ball out of his hands with your defense tied together and rotating might be better than just switching. I remember the Heat during the Heatles era doing this very effectively. Of course this also takes effort and dedication by your defense but then again isn't that what defense is all about?

I'm hoping that the Cavs find a better way to play Steph off the pick and roll instead of just switching and leaving a Frye, Love or Thompson to guard him above the 3pt line. If the Cavs switch the pick and roll they have no chance to beat the Warriors. Trapping it will get the ball out of Steph's hands and force Green, Iggy, Barnes and others to make plays while of course staying attached to Klay.

I'll take my chances with those guys making the plays instead of letting the unanimous MVP go 1 on 1 with a big man on the perimeter. What are you're thoughts about the switching of the pick and roll vs Curry and how would you defend it?

 

[Tha_Mac]

Leave it up to Coli basketball analysts to figure out a defensive plan to stop Curry

Like the NBA has found a way to keep him contained

 

[Emoryal]

They did a good job but when money time came or Steph got hot he did what he wanted. I'm saying I would force the ball out of his hands altogether.




Maybe blitz is the wrong word I'm thinking more like the big showing and giving let's say Kyrie who would be the primary defender time to get to Steph and trap him. Force him to give it up. And also that game where GSW was up by 43 was basically the Cavs trying to get Blatt fired. They didn't play with the effort they'll be playing with in the NBA Finals. What I'm saying is Steph is gonna hit shots no matter the defense so it may be best for him not to have the ball. Trapping him with his basketball IQ he would pass the ball which is what you want the ball out of his hands.

Yeah then it's 3v5 with Draymond making the decisions and he's just as good and wide open the other players hit there open shots just as well as Curry. You're not gaining anything by overvaluing curry's shooting abilities and undervaluing the rest of the team's. It leaves you in the same predicament. And the Cavs were trying. It's just their defensive scheme left EXACTLY the sitiation I was talking about and Golden State's roll player demolished them in the pain and on the perimeter.

 

[Tha_Mac]

Yeah then it's 3v5 with Draymond making the decisions and he's just as good and wide open the other players hit there open shots just as well as Curry. You're not gaining anything by overvaluing curry's shooting abilities and undervaluing the rest of the team's. It leaves you in the same predicament. And the Cavs were trying. It's just their defensive scheme left EXACTLY the sitiation I was talking about and Golden State's roll player demolished them in the pain and on the perimeter.

So you think Barnes, Iggy, Livingston, Green, Barbosa and Ian Clark can knock down 3's at the same clip that Steph Curry can? I'm betting they won't. Will they hit some yes will they be less consistent than Steph Curry I'm betting they will. I'm just tired of seeing 7 footers trying to guard Curry on the perimeter. I can't believe this is the strategy that's being used to defend a PG with that shooting and handling ability.