I have read posts on a couple of forums that saying Eddy Curry will be the true Shaq stopper in 2 years, that he is going to be a top 5 player in 3 years, and it seems there are quite a few people who believe Curry will have a better future than Yao . Well, I haven't got enough chances to watch him play, so I just don't know what type of a player he is. May someone explain to me, is he really that good? does he have a bigger potential than Yao? btw, there are still so many people calling Yao an "Asian Rik Smith"...
No one would disagree that Curry has a ton of problems. But he is very gifted offensively(was youngest player ever to lead league in FG% two years ago), has great hands, and this combined with his size and strength (6'11 approx. 300 lbs), athleticism(Curry is a former gymnast), makes him considerably more then your average stiff. Also, for all the talk about what a fatbody he is, once he establishes his position down low, almost nobody can move him, and he scores at an extremely high percentage. He's even a decent free throw shooter. And when motivated, he is even an excellent shotblocker, though he will likely never be more then an average rebounder, as his fundamentals there are awful.
Thanks, man, very helpful information! It looks like he will become a dominant big man, I'll definitely pay more attention to his game next season.
He has a terrible terrible work ethic. He doesnt play defense. he is very foul prone. Has constant weight issues causing his stamina to be pitiful.....he has worse edurance than yao despite being shorter and younger. He had good FG % his sophmore year and even started a good number of games the last couple months of that season, and we found out the reason why when he was a full time starter in his 3rd year. a bit easier to work around the hoop when you are gaurded by the second stringers. between his 2nd year and 3rd year, his field goal percentage dropped nearly 100 percentage points. hes a below average rebounder.
He's one of the few young centers in the league capable of being a dominant low post scorer. That's where the interest comes from. He'll most likely never become much unless he gets out of Chicago and matures though. He's a gamble but a talented and big one.
Don't get pulled in by the dominant big man hype. That's all it is until he does it on the field. Curry has a terrible work ethic and is tissue paper soft on the boards and defense. He's definitely a gifted offensive player, but unless he improves dramatically I see him as another Big-Z without the foot problems. That's good, and definitely worth something in this league, but it's not dominant.
Curry has talent and a likable personality, but he doesn't even try to rebound, he doesn't run the floor and he doesn't even keep himself in shape. He's very mechanical around the basket, and his offensive game is still very raw. He's improved each of his three (!) seasons and he could still develop into a nice center. He's only 22, but he's gotten this far on potential, not production. If he doesn't make "the jump" in this, his fourth season, he probably won't. Though I wouldn't wish this fate on anyone, I see a Stanley Roberts-type career when I see Eddy Curry.
Or I'd even say he's very Benoit Benjamin-like. Teams spent millions on old Benoit on potential until finally someone realized he wasn't going to come close to fulfilling it.
boy they must really be down on yao if they are calling him rik smith. i don't think that guy ever played in the NBA.
That was the year he had a f/g % of .585 That was the same year that Kelvin Cato was second with a f/g % of .583 Coincednce? I think not.
Think about it this way... Even though he's a tub of fat, most GM's would probably draft him 3rd among C's. Offensively, he's super talented. All he needs to do is lose the weight, which he is apparently doing now. Paxson wants him to come in at 280, but if he comes in at around 290, that would be enough to make him a MUCH better player. I really like the combination of Curry and CHandler, they complement each other so well. Curry has some problems rebounding, while Chandler isn't a good scorer (no range). Chandler grabs almost 8 rebounds in around 23 minutes I think? That's superb. His shotblocking is top-notch as well. All he needs to do is refine his offensive game, and take high % shots, and he'll be fine. These two will be great if they actually listen to their coaches.
I'm sure there has been a Rick Smith in the NBA at some point... But, if there has, Yao surpassed him after his fisrt minute in the league.
Human imagination run amuck is what makes Curry so good. That dude stinks. 2nd coming of Darryl Dawkins.
Actually you didn't have to look beyond this board. Here we have quite a few fellow posters who still say Yao is the second coming of Rik Smit, or Rick Smit, or Rick Smith... or whatever. Sometimes I just wonder whether these people actually know who Rik Smit is since they can't even spell his name right. It is always impossible to have everyone in a community to agree on a certain thing unanimously, especially when we are talking about an internet community which is as diversed as you can get. If you try to put up a poll on the net for people to vote whether Michael Jordan or Allan Houston is a better player, I am sure there would be a certain percentage of people who vote for Houston. Some people just want to hold a different opinion to make themselves unique and feel special.
This is so true, but I didn't know how frustrating it is before I got addicted to internet forums. Anyway, Next time I see someone who says Rockets will be a lottery team with T-Mac/Yao, I'll just take a deep breath and walk away, no need to argue anymore.
hahaha Too bad ECurry doesnt work harder he actually has alot of potential - but remember potential just meants you havent done squat yet. EGrffin had tons of potential too.. (I still wouldnt mind him on the ROx though) No one is saying ECurry is good but teams are worried about losing players full of potential that blossom somewhere else. (JOneil/ TMac/ etc.) I think ECurry is going in the right direction and having a coach like Skiles should be good for him. Yao is already better than Smits in pts/rebs/blocks and FG%.. J
