Ok....what's your point? If the regular season officiating favored the Warriors to such a degree that Curry had a GOAT season, why would there be crow to eat if the finals featured an entirely different kind of officiating?
My memory may be wrong so please forgive me if I'm confusing you with someone else, but didn't you say that type of physical play wouldn't bother Curry because of his range, or something like that? I recall having that type of convo with someone when Oscar Robertson's comments came out and I believe it was you. As far as a completely different set of rules, that's called playoff basketball. They typically allow more contact compared to the regular season. So he's the greatest under these current set of rules, is what everyone meant? I swore folks were getting killed when they mentioned the rule changes before.
The bumps and whatever that Curry's experiencing now wouldn't be called fouls in the 80's. It just goes to show that Curry isn't as unguardable as people assumed. He's definitely deadly when open but in the playoffs its hard for him to get open enough to get his shot off.
LeBron, Shaq and Jordan couldn't be stopped even when blatant fouls went uncalled. Still think Curry is a better offensive player? They allowed the same type of physical play that LeBron sees nightly, that most guys see in playoff games. You said hand-checking couldn't stop him. You questioned if one could come up with a defensive scheme that could stop him even if they handpicked defenders from any era and used any rules. You said he wasn't a defensive liability. You said versatility was irrelevant. You said that he was ahead of Jordan offensively, a guy that somehow managed to excel despite going against blatant physical and dirty play. You said Curry had no weaknesses. Now you are talking about letting fouls go. :grin::grin::grin:
Regardless of the era, it's always been a foul when a defensive player holds an offensive player to slow him down or reduce separation. By allowing that, the refs were essentially taking away Curry's off-ball game. There's a difference between playing within the rules of any era and ignoring fouls entirely. And no, Lebron doesn't face that kind of defense nightly. Neither do most players in the league since they aren't the catch & shoot threat that Curry is.
Do you have video evidence showing these blatant uncalled fouls? What I saw was that the Cavs were being a bit more physical but nothing in terms of "blatant fouls" that weren't also committed by and to every other team in the playoffs.
It's weird The Warriors for the past two season have been officiated by a completely different set of rules. Yet when they lose its because of the refs? Weird. It's like it's impossible for Golden State to just get beat without someone making up some Bs excuse. Just like Curry he was garbage in the playoffs and now people are using the the old oh he was injured blah blah blah
Right now, I can't find any video highlights of the Cavs guarding Curry. In the coming weeks, maybe one will pop up. But here's one of the final possessions of game 7: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbMS1rcaNR0 At the 9 second mark in the video, Curry crosses over Love and tries to penetrate. However, Love sticks out his left arm and holds Curry back. This allows Love to recover on defense. In the regular season, that's an automatic foul.
The kind of defense Curry saw in the last two rounds is the kind of physical play that was allowed when Jordan played. You said that defense wouldn't bother him. It's ok to own up to it. Don't blame refs for allowing physical play like they typically do in the postseason. Older players and others said the rule changes allow him to get off like he's getting off. If we could touch him up like they did in my day or grab and hold him like say we do to LeBron on a nightly basis then he wouldn't be as effective. The last two series show they were right. They also show that he is a defensive liability, as the other teams game plan was to attack him as much as possible. Sometimes we just need to pump the breaks.
In the playoffs, damn near any year, it's not. And they allowed the same type of physical play for the Warriors. I guess you missed Iggy, Barnes and others grabbing and holding LeBron at all times? But he's just BIGGER. Either way, the defense in that clip would have been allowed under the old rules. You said the old rules wouldn't matter. Still feel that way?
Right, like the more blatant illegal screens getting ignored in the regular season, but called a lot more in the post season? Look, this team slipped under the radar with their dirty tactics and bending/breaking the rules because they were entertaining and it was the regular season. In the post season a lot of play is let go (see how Harden struggles to get to the line in the post season as reference), and this is hard for players to adjust to. Let's say I agree with you, and Steph was improperly held and the like, why the hell was his passing so bad? His decision making was awful too. You are making comments about shooting/scoring, but when Draymond puts in 7 threes and you can't win, your doing something wrong. Curry plays poor defense and that showed too. Kyrie is not a defensive stopper, but at least he showed up and put pressure out there. Curry plays 1/2 the game, and while he is the greatest shooter of all time, he's a Harlem Globetrotter out there. Fancy ball skills, fast, can shoot the half court shot like a layup, cheats on routes to get steals, and plays zero defense. Klay was able to cover a lot of that up, Green too, but not this time.
Defensive players have held offensive players in this way in every playoff game ever played. Except for this series, we've just been in an era where more fouls were called. And every big man takes more punishment than what Curry goes through. They're just bigger and stronger so they can deal with it. If Curry wants to truly be the best, he needs to be tough enough to deal with this. Jordan started off skinny. He only started winning championships when he became stronger than everyone else, too.
And there are other plays where he and other Warriors weren't. Either way, that's not the point. Do you still stand by your stance that hand-checking and physical play allowed under the old rules would not have stopped Curry from being as effective? All you did was show us a clip of something that was allowed before the rules were changed.
They would not call that in the final seconds of a regular season game. Maybe in the first three quarters, but not in the clutch. Plus, this is standard officiating in the NBA playoffs. It's not unique to Curry. Lebron, Kyrie, KD, Westbrook all get this level of hand checking.
