Where would you rank Curry in terms of “players who have changed the game”?
I think there’s a coherent argument to put him in the top 3.
It’s really tough, and probably best left for someone who has studied the history of how the game evolved more. There’s a yet unranked athlete who will appear in the top 25 that I would probably put above Steph in that regard.
You could also argue that others led the change and Steph just became the best at it.
So, I’m done pouting.
First off, congrats to the GSW fans. As someone who has been fortunate enough to be a fan of a dynasty, savor it while you can.
Obviously disappointed but man, what a season. The second half of the season and most of the playoffs was the most fun I’ve ever had watching basketball. When they were on, they were unbeatable.
Golden State didn’t score more than 108 points all series. So, huge props to the team for maintaining that defensive intensity for 24 quarters. Even when the offense completely disappeared, they never let up on the defensive end which is commendable.
I said a couple of times throughout the series that Tatum wasn’t that guy. But in all fairness the dude is 24, he just spent the last couple of years trying to be Kobe and at times hurting the team as he heroballed every possession. He finally learned how to be a playmaker and make everybody around him better but they were definitely times during the series where I just wanted him to attempt to put the team on his back and carry them like Curry did in game 4. So maybe he is not a tier one player like Curry, jokic, Durant, Giannis. But he’s definitely at the top of that next tier and he’s young enough to be able to make that jump.
I’m happy for Steph. I’m really happy for Klay. But the guy I’m most happy for is Draymond. lol just kidding. Fuck that guy.
No, Wiggins, man. Dude was touted as being LeBron’s heir apparent and it just never happened. And in most cases those guys just disappear but Wiggins really thrived in being a second banana. I’m sure a lot of us can relate to high expectations that we never lived up to and needing to be satisfied with just being good. Additionally, Wiggins never seem to participate in the extra curricular activities that everybody else seem to get involved in. No taunting, no flopping, no getting into it with refs. He just went out there and was the second best player on a championship team. He may have just elevated himself from “wait what team is he on” to my favorite non Celtic player in the league.
Anyways, looking forward to next year. I’m a little skeptical that the Celtics will be able to completely run it back and perform the way they did in the second half of the year which really was otherworldly. But I trust that Ime knows what he’s doing and we’ll get the absolute best out of Tatum and Brown going forward.
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Timelord being fully healthy would be huge on them running it back. Even at probably 80% he was a fucking monster.
But yeah if everyone is healthy next year, the league is so fucking deep.
Going to predict Warriors vs Bucks next year.
Warriors vs Nets would be insane. That series would be so damn stressful. I think Steph beating KD in the finals though would be even bigger than this win for me.
League is so damn good right now though, can’t wait for next year. Although gotta expect there will be plenty of teams that aren’t healthy again. I wish we could figure out massively limiting injuries.
So many feel good stories on this team. For sure we lose opj but I really hope we can keep everyone else. I wanna see Wiggins continue hid redemption and gp2 and loon continue to become warriors legends.
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Teams were figuring out 3p value but before the warriors general convention was a jump shooting team couldn’t win a championship.
Wasn’t just his play style but their incredible success. The 2016 regular season gave teams ptsd. It was more than just taking more 3s, they changed how they built their rosters because of steph and the warriors
Like they didn’t just win 73 games. They were blowing everyone out so much steph was sitting 4th quarters very often lol.
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He both elevated it to an art form and diminished the overall game (teams that try to imitate without the talent necessary). Kind of like the triangle offense works. IF. If you have Michael or Kobe.
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Go back and look at the numbers on this. Houston were the leaders in the shot selection revolution. Golden State changed dramatically when Kerr took over, but Houston still was the leader. GS also changed again while Durant was on the team, and have since come back around. Steph gets credit for being the best shooter of all-time, but Houston and truly Daryl Morey deserve the credit for revolutionizing the NBA.
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Really shows how incredible Dray was game 6. He really does a lot of little things that is so hard to see during live games.
Yes rockets were trying it first, but nobody was going to change until someone won while doing it. Like if the rockets continued to do it and be a mid level team it wasn’t going to be the huge game changing shift that it did.
It wasn’t until the warriors won the ring, then absolutely dominated 2016, that teams were like oh shit we need to change how we play and build our roster or we’re not going to be able to hang.
How does this make sense? The Rockets did it and didn’t win. Then GSW tried it despite the Rockets not winning with. So the fact that someone didn’t win with it clearly doesn’t preclude another team from trying.
If GSW doesn’t win with it, then no one else tries? That seems unlikely if we accept that in truth it is a winning strategy.
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Three point attempts were already consistently going up before GSW won - and then kept going up more after they won. I think it’s clear that the current state of the NBA game was going to happen regardless. Teams now all have huge analytics departments (at least most of them), so they were all figuring this stuff out on their own - they didn’t need GSW to show them that gunning for 3s works.
Curry did bring about the concept that shooters should be jacking it up from super deep, but I’m not sold that this is actually a good shot other than for a few guys. Is it really good when Trae Young pulls up from 28 feet? Or Luka? I feel teams should be encouraging these guys to do that as often as possible, as it’s a pretty low percentage shot for most guys.
I will hear none of it. Woyas GOAT everything.
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Julius Erving
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A thing we are missing is how elite the off ball movement and passing GSW has. Those Houston teams weren’t fun to watch because Harden was largely a ball stopper. He got the ball then largely held it. The warriors don’t do this. Luka has a bit of this issue but his teammates are so much worse I won’t blame him as much.
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If we’re talking about forgotten stuff, the Spurs team that revenge beat the LeBrons had exceptional off the ball movement and shot lot of 3s.
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Yeah, I think this understates the way Curry changed the game or the value he brings to his team. His off-ball movement, and the way he creates opportunities for his teammates even without touching the ball, is as much a part of his core identity and value to the team as his three point shooting. Not to mention, we don’t call Steph the best 3 point shooter of all time. We call him the best shooter of all time, because he’s an elite finisher at the rim and an elite free throw shooter, too.
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Minor quibble with bolded. I don’t know that he is elite “at the rim”. He does have a killer running floater so he really doesn’t need to do a lot at the rim if he gets close. Also, I don’t know that a guy who barely dunks can ever be considered elite at the rim.
Above notwithstanding, I’ll stay Curry is still very good at the rim and avoiding blocks (especially considering his lack of size), so we’re not that far apart.
I agree with all of that and still don’t think that’s enough to qualify as an “elite” finisher at the rim.
Lebron James. That’s an elite finisher at the rim. The distance between the two of them is significant.
Steph is still very, very good. Just a skosh under elite.
/nittery
Steph also doesn’t draw many fouls on his drives as he avoids contact (which is of course smart for a player of his size). He’s a very good finisher for someone of his size, but that doesn’t make him elite. For his career he’s below average from 0-3.
edit: Jordan Poole has a better FG% from 0-3 for his career than Steph does, so don’t get that comp. Steph makes circus plays that are cool, but that’s because he’s not an elite finisher who can create easy looks at the rime and thus has to get fancy.