We are salty, of course. This is a Rockets board, after all. That, and some of us miss the era of bruising playoff basketball with sub-90-point games, even though it was kinda ugly.
I think he would've been fine. People seem to forget that in the hand checking era, there were some literal wrestling when establishing position. You think the moving screens there today wouldn't be more prevalent (and blatant) in those days? This is consider a clean play, not even worth mentioning the body check on the screen, and used as an example of a good play. Whoever's defending him will go through 3-4 body checks every time down the floor. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vVClFfyP4cY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Curry is a great shooter, I think he sold his soul or something. I mean his shooting has been supernatural, unreal. Hand checking would have made a difference as much as pistons style defense but he would adjust to both.
The historically great 3pt shooters who have shot as well as Curry (>43% accuracy: Jason Kapono, Kyle Korver, and Steve Kerr) are pure catch and shoot guys. As great as they were, guys like Reggie Miller, Ray Allen, Mark Price, Pops Curry, and Dale Ellis, are actually quite a bit worse at ~40%. I think the closest thing to Curry is Steve Nash (43%), since in the top tier guys only he and Curry could reliably shoot off the dribble. Nash of course is a much better passer. Honestly, I think what makes Curry look so good is Draymond Green. That guy makes really good decisions off the pick and roll, like a JSmoove with high bball iq. If the Warriors didn't have him, we could beat up on Curry just like teams used to beat up Nash in the playoffs.
Would the hand check rules limit Curry more than most other star players? Yes they would. He would still be an all star most likely but not a top 5-10 player. Also defensively he would really suffer as he is not physical at all. We can debate the old rules versus the new rules and how it impacts players like Curry.... but we play under the rules as they are.
I think he'd be good no matter what. Props where props are due. Hand checks are one thing, but if defenders are pushing hard it's a foul regardless of "era."
