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[sbnation]You will come to hate Stephen Curry

Discussion in 'NBA Dish' started by sugrlndkid, May 25, 2015.

  1. sugrlndkid

    sugrlndkid Member

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    http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2015/5/24/8652385/stephen-curry-hate-gunner-villain-warriors

    Stephen Curry is becoming the most shameless gunner in the NBA, and it's beautiful.

    Steve Nash never played like this. Of all of the historical comparisons Stephen Curry draws, Nash seems to be the most accurate and persistent. Like Nash, Curry is a whipsmart director with the ball, always knowing where to find the weakness in the defense and the open teammate. Like Nash, Curry is a dead-on shooter. He's creative but controlled, quick but deliberate and loads of fun to watch.

    But Steve Nash never played like this. As Bethlehem Shoals discussed Friday in his great piece on the lack of Curry's villainy, Steph takes some crazy shots. Shots that would make Nick Young blush. Shots you'd see J.R. Smith take. Even the shot on which Curry broke Reggie Miller's long-standing record for most threes in a postseason -- a record broken only 12 games in, by the way -- is an absurd 28-foot pull-up. This is a shot only four or five guys in the league can attempt without getting yanked by their coaches.

    And Curry sinks it with ease.

    This is what makes Curry so special: he plays by a completely different set of rules than even most NBA superstars. There really is no bad play for Curry on offense. If he drives the lane, he can hit tough floaters, finger rolls and acrobatic layups, or he can hit the open teammate. If he pulls up from anywhere, he's got a good chance of sinking the shot. The only flaw in Curry's offensive game is his sometimes high rate of turnovers; even those carry a majestic air of attempted brilliance. Every miscue is committed in the pursuit of sublimity, and as such every miscue is excused. To critique Curry's rare offensive failures would be akin to scolding Michelangelo for dripping a little paint on the floor of the Sistine Chapel.

    LeBron James is equally dominant, a fact of which the Hawks have been acutely reminded. But LeBron's hegemony in the East is predicated on physical dominance of a more traditional sort. King James is a titan with the skills of hummingbird; there's literally no man on the planet who has remotely a similar physiological make-up. Add in his historic basketball IQ and willingness to share glory and you have a one-of-a-kind player. Yet he is the prototypical perfect basketball player. If you were designing a basketball player in a lab, you'd get LeBron. On paper and often in practice, he's perfect.

    Curry is slight, small and wiry; he's not the best leaper and there are 10 point guards who could beat him in a foot race. Shooting is the equalizer. If you can shoot like Steph, you don't need to beat anyone in a foot race or outjump opponents. If you can legitimately pull up from 30 feet and not immediately give your coach an ulcer, you don't need to be able to withstand punishment in the lane. This is how Curry upsets the prototype of the perfect NBA player: his willingness to fully embrace the gunner lifestyle and ability to succeed in that fashion has thrown out so many attributes we once thought vital in an elite scorer.

    Allen Iverson was the quickest man on any court, and as fearless as a cow in a vegan restaurant. LeBron is a physical and mental specimen without compare. Kevin Durant is the longest pure two-guard ever conceived. Russell Westbrook can fly in every sense of that word. James Harden and Carmelo Anthony have bags of tricks that have bags of tricks. Curry is none of that. He's pure sniper, unabashed and unmatched.

    All of Shoals' reasons Curry is universally beloved are accurate: he's a traditional babyface in the parlance of pro wrestling, a moral champ who plays up the part at every opportunity. Until now, that is. Game 3 showed a new side of Steph. After a crazy save and corner three in the midst of a 35-point win, Curry gave nearby fans the business.

    Our last babyface NBA superstar, Durant, needed an ad campaign and a media feud to prove to us he was not nice. Curry, armed with an MVP, a few lines in the NBA record book and perhaps soon a ring, is getting more demonstrative every night. Curry's confidence is slowly creeping toward cockiness; we can appreciate his phenomenal swag while understanding the typical American sports fan prefers humility in the field of play. Staring down the crowd like that is akin to a bat flip and a strut. Basketball fans aren't baseball fans, but Curry's star is now ensconced in the national sports conversation. He is physically unable to scowl, look tough or otherwise mean-mug a soul. But he's getting cocky, and that's going to change his persona.

    Most importantly, though, villains and legends are made in the playoffs. LeBron is reviled in Boston, Chicago and Indiana because of what he's done to those cities' teams in the postseason. MJ is hated in Salt Lake, Seattle, New York and Cleveland because of his triumphs. Kobe is booed in Sacramento, San Antonio, Phoenix and Portland because he won. And long before Durant had detractors nationwide, he was not well-liked among basketball fans in Memphis, L.A. or Texas.

    Success breeds hate. For every triumph there is defeat; all celebrations are mirrored with brooding. This is Curry's first deep run into the playoffs. He's using the opportunity to breed lots of haters in Houston. Perhaps Cleveland is next. No man, not even Stephen Curry, is sweet enough to make rivals smile through the level of pain he inflicts.
     
  2. Deckard

    Deckard Blade Runner
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    I can't stand the primping, self-entitled Pretty Boy.
     
    #2 Deckard, May 25, 2015
    Last edited: May 25, 2015
  3. Aaron_D

    Aaron_D Member

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    I dislike Draymond Green more than I do Wardell Curry, but I'll sure as bleep be rooting for LeBron in the Finals.
     
  4. daywalker02

    daywalker02 Member

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    Do the strut strut strut Curry

    He is lookin more and more like a moron but he is great
     
  5. napalm06

    napalm06 Huge Flopping Fan

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    The whole Warriors team has an aura of arrogance, which is unusual for a first year breakout team.

    Draymond is their only truly "Matt Barnes" level aggressive guy.

    The rest, (Kerr, Curry, Bogut) are extremely passive aggressive.

    I don't hate their team. They remind me of a picked-on little brother who has just grown up and realized he is as big as everyone else.
     
  6. Patience

    Patience Member

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    Yeah, Curry showboats a bit I guess, but no more than any other star. If I could just pull up and swish a 35 foot three pointer anytime I wanted to, I would probably be a little cocky too.
     
  7. Outlier

    Outlier Member

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    I don't see where all this Curry is smug comes from. I see it for LeBron, but not Curry.
     
  8. Outlier

    Outlier Member

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    Btw, Curry is who Kyrie could be if he was less selfish. I pray he never realizes that. They have identical skills, it's just the mindset that's different.
     
  9. Blurr#7

    Blurr#7 Member

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    Kyrie isn't half the shooter Curry is.
     
  10. Steve_Francis_rules

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    I had no idea that Kyrie was also arguably the best shooter in league history.
     
  11. vstexas09

    vstexas09 Member

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  12. JayZ750

    JayZ750 Member

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    I like the Curry - Nash comparisons. There is a "sameness" of constant motion, constant looking to get open.

    The end goal is different though. Nash's end goal was to find the open teammate every time. Curry's main goal is to shoot. They are both good at the other (Nash scoring, Curry assisting), as a function of being so good at their first goal. But the way they attack to get that, and the style of offense is the same.

    But again, and this isn't to put down Curry, because good for him... but the talent on his squad is just light years ahead of what Nash had. Yes, Nash had Amare and Shawn Marion - who in many ways was last decades Draymond Green....

    BUT, Amare and Marion were never even average defenders, really. Curry is surrounded by REALLY REALLY good 2-way players.

    Again, this isn't because the Rockets are down 3-0, or jealously, it's just an observation of the fact. The Warriors have one of the best, deepest lineups in a LONG LONG time. Top PG. 2nd best SG. Deep at every position. All, except Curry, heavily defensive focused as well as offense. The Big 3... had the Big 3, but nowhere near the depth. The Spurs had the depth, in the sense that the system created the depth. The Warriors have the depth, have the system, and have the MVP.
     
  13. J Sizzle

    J Sizzle Member

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    I'm much more tired with the media obsession with Curry than I am with Curry himself.
     
  14. DaDakota

    DaDakota If you want to know, just ask!
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    Best player in the NBA.

    DD
     
  15. Roxnostalgia

    Roxnostalgia Member

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    HAWT TAKE.


    Did the MVP award tip you off? How contrarian.
     
    1 person likes this.
  16. Rox11

    Rox11 Member

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    Some of the stuff you say man...
     
  17. A_3PO

    A_3PO Member

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    This. I'm also irked by the media obsession with Curry's family. It's waaaay too much.

    Stephen Curry seems like a good guy to me and unless he opens his mouth and says something stupid or does something dirty, I can't dislike him.
     
  18. Easy

    Easy Boban Only Fan
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    That's the difference between Nash's Suns and Curry's Warriors. Defense. That's why the Suns were not as good.

    But if you look at just the offense, those two teams are neck to neck. Don't forget Nash also had Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson. That offense was unstoppable.
     
  19. Kwame

    Kwame Member

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    Seriously man, have you ever seen these two guys play? If so, how can you watch both of these guys and make such a ridiculous statement?
     
  20. JayZ750

    JayZ750 Member

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    Absolutely. And those Suns were awfully close lots of times. And Warriors haven't won anything yet.

    But absolutely the difference is defense. And it's not at the Curry/Nash level. Curry is also sub par at defense... But he's surrounded by great defenders in a great defensive system.

    The fact is, if you replace Curry with any other great guards present or past that'd team still be as great as they are. I'm talking about replace Curry with Nash, Harden, Kobe, Wade, Pierce, etc.

    But that's mostly just a comment on winning championships in team sports. The greats are all great and in many ways interchangeable. The rest of the team and success of the system drives playoff success as much as anything.
     

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