Comments on: Is Stephen Curry Overrated?

By: Grimlock

Grimlock — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:15:12 +0000

While I find it hard to judge your analysis of Curry as any worse than mediocre considering just how few people really thought he would be an NBA star (I think the list basically consisted of Dick Vitale and Don Nelson), you should probably just man up and admit that you swung and missed here. Being defensive about it doesn’t help. Curry is just a special player who has found a fairly unique niche in the NBA.

Would JJ have been better in a run & gun offense? Sure, but there is nothing to indicate he’d have been anywhere near Curry’s level. That you continue to make this comparison just makes you look like a stubborn hater. And you’re wrong that Nellie Ball doesn’t expose Curry’s defensive weaknesses. In many ways, it exposes them more than a normal system because perimeter players get zero help, and the Warriors don’t have any good perimeter defenders to provide help even if the system allowed for it. Curry will never be a lockdown defender, but he has proven that he is not a liability, either, and can be highly disruptive as a ball thief even in a system which does nothing to help him on the defensive end.

By: nvr1983

nvr1983 — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:21:14 +0000

Stanton–
You might want to try reading the article instead of transposing the words from the title of the article. Curry is having a better rookie season than I would have expected, but then again he is in the perfect situation for him offensively much like JJ would have been in if Phoenix had drafted him. Nellie-ball lets him run and gun without showcasing his defensive limitations that would limit his playing time. If you want to rip my scouting/analysis (of which this was purely numbers) feel free to cite me for talking up Sam Young and DeJuan Blair last year too when I was at the Pitt-Providence game with NBA scouts. Also you might want to talk to Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings, Omri Casspri, Ty Lawson, Jonny Flynn, and DeJuan Blair about that ROY thing before handing it to Curry.

PS Unlike 17.5% of the country I do have a real job.

By: stanton

stanton — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:39:05 +0000

So this article is probably why you run a blog and not a reputable website….Steph is going to win ROY and you thought he was overrated in college….HAHA get a real job fool.

By: nvr1983

nvr1983 — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:50:45 +0000

JMC–
Thanks for the comment. Several other people on this post have made a similar comment. It’s true that Redick had better players around him, but I’m not sure that excuses Curry’s atrocious shooting against BCS teams this season (up to that point–I haven’t run the numbers since then). Obviously, he would be better if he had better players around him, but I’m guessing his PPG production would go down as the entire offense wouldn’t be geared for getting him shots like it is now. As for Duke’s offensive threats that year, Shelden and McRoberts were decent players, but neither of them was a major force. Maybe they were a little tougher to double off of, but if Curry was a good PG he would find the open guys and as mediocre as the rest of Davidson is they should be able to make an open shot.

By: jmcarpenter

jmcarpenter — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:20:48 +0000

What you’re also overlooking is the caliber of players Curry has on his team. I daresay Redick had a few more high school All-Americans playing with him at Duke than does Curry. I believe you should look at what Bobby Knight said about Curry. If he played with better players, he’d be even better. BCS schools who defense Curry don’t have to worry about a big man like Blake Griffith inside who can score. If defenses had to plan to defend Curry and one or two other legitimate offensive threats, his value would increase.

By: enigel

enigel — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 03:32:04 +0000

Stephen Curry is a decent basketball player. He is not a “great” basketbll player. He shoots way to much. Just this past weekend he went 3-16 from 3pt against Georgia Southern. I dont remeber Ray Allen, Chris Paul or even Duhon going 3-16 in a game. Tyler Hansborough doesnt shoot 30 shots in a game! He also went 5-26 in another game. Great Players do not do this. His teammates are constantly looking for him to score. And personally I think J.J. Reddick was a better player. There is a reason this kid plays for Davidson. Reddick was putting up big numbers in the ACC, not in the SOCON. And he was doing it at a better percentage and shooting LESS shots. Curry really cannot play the pg position at all, that is a joke. He cant drive and he doesnt have a lot of athleticism. He is also too small and weak. He also has a lot of turnovers and he cannot play defense, or rebound the basketball, like a rondo or paul.

By: nvr1983

nvr1983 — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 02:23:32 +0000

Agree with above. Even Dick Vitale would laugh at comparing Stephen to CP3. I think that would be even more heavily flawed than some of you think my analysis was.

By: rtmsf

rtmsf — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 23:17:56 +0000

Stephen – is that you?

Please don’t compare Steph Curry to Chris Paul ever again. Thank you.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 23:07:48 +0000

It is admirable that you did this amount of research, but this argument is very heavily flawed. Obviously Curry’s shooting percentage is going to be down against better teams – his Davidson team is not very good without him and he is probably the only player on the team that can consistently create his own shot. The team is going to be fighting from behind most of the time and he’s going to be jacking up poorer shots and force things a bit to try to keep the team in the game.

Comparing him to JJ Redick is slightly unfair since Redick was on a very good Duke team and got much better looks than Curry. A more fair analysis would be someone like Chris Paul who had to carry his Wake team with ACC teams stacking the defense against him every game.

By: nvr1983

nvr1983 — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 05:55:54 +0000

I’m not arguing the fact that Curry is a great college player just like I would never argue that JJ was a great college player. I’m just saying that people are taking the Curry love too far. Stephen played his best BCS game of the year against Duke, but that was mainly scoring. He might be better than JJ at taking guys to the hoop, but I don’t think it’s something a team with legit athletes really worries about. Even if he got his assists, I would have a hard time considering him an elite or even good PG right now. He might become one net year at the college level, but I think the stff the ESPN guys were saying was ridiculous. The rookie starting PG, 18-20 PPG as a rookie, and NBA superstar were thrown around by people who even clarified that they were serious. It wasn’t just Vitale as one of the “NBA commenators” said Curry would be a starting NBA PG right now. I think even Davidson fans would have a hard time believing that unless some NBA team lost all its PGs or doesn’t run a conventional offense/able to use a point forward like Lebron.

By: kory krigbuam

kory krigbuam — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:43:29 +0000

you need to get the right info before you start saying stuff….. you compared him to j.j Redick but redick never even handled the ball or even drove the ball into the lane/key. so Dont make that kind of comparison BRO!!

By: njbball junkie

njbball junkie — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:58:33 +0000

stephen curry is not overrated. He is an amazing scorer and a matchup problem. Although his stats may be similar to Redick, curry has that game changing potential and has proven that he is a great attacker to the rim. He is the best scorer in NCAA avg 29.2. For Davidson, who is Davidson?! If he can make better decisions and actually take that leadership role he would be a force to be reckoned with.

By: big ten geek

big ten geek — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:02:51 +0000

There are some similarities between Redick and Curry, but I don’t see the two as very comparable. Curry’s assist rate ranks 4th in the country, in the sort of 40.0+ rarified-air that Redick could only dream of. Despite all this distributing, Curry’s kept his TO Rate comparable to Redick’s. The lesson here is not to rely on per game averages where you have alternatives available.

Does any of this make Curry a future NBA player? Heavens no, the basketball community is still aching for that kind of analysis. I just think it means the two are different in substantial ways.

By: dave

dave — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:52:37 +0000

As a college player, Curry is not overrated. He’s a great college player, just as Reddick and Morrison were. So, NCAA announcers should be raving about him. I think it is unwise, however, to just look at the stats and call him another JJ.

The numbers are down, but as other commenters have pointed out, some teams have put athletic small forwards on Curry (similar to how LSU treated Reddick in their tourney matchup a few years ago). Additionally, just about every team that faces Davidson designs their whole defensive scheme around stopping Curry, putting fresh defenders on him all game and double-teaming often. The extreme case was Loyola MD, who double-teamed him the whole game and held him scoreless. (Curry just stood in the corner and let his teammates play 4 on 3, winning by 20).

In his day, teams were not afraid of Reddick winning a game by himself, and they couldn’t afford to focus that intently on him anyway, because his teammates were of a much higher caliber than are Curry’s. As streaky as McRoberts and Williams may have been, they are both on NBA rosters right now, which is more than can be said for anyone on the Davidson squad. Curry is the only player on his team who can create his own shot, and he is the only starter who can create a shot for anyone else.

Although his numbers are slightly worse, Curry is putting them up with a depleted roster and with all 12 opposing defenders making him top priority every night. When West Virginia put a 6-7 defender on him and gave help defense all night, he only shot 33% from the floor, but he still got 27 points (13 of Davidson’s last 15 to win the game) and 10 assists. When Reddick had Garrett Temple on him, he was 3-18 with a single dime.

What I haven’t heard are media members pimping Curry as a future NBA STAR. If they are, and if others are, then they are probably a little delusional, but I think comparing him to JJ in terms of NBA future is faulty as well. The major thing to consider is that they play different positions. Curry’s reasoning for returning to school this year was to get some reps in at the point, and he already has the ball handling skills and court vision to play the position capably. Reddick was never anything but a two-guard. The reason JJ can never get off the bench in Orlando is that, at 6-4 and crazy slow, he stands no chance of guarding NBA 2s, and you can’t move him to the point because he can’t play it. Curry won’t be able to guard Dwyane Wade either, but his ability to play the point will get him on the floor.

Is a an NBA starter? I’m not sure. For the right team I could see it. Not, however, in a situation where a pure point guard was needed (he can be Mo Williams or Derek Fisher, he can’t be Rajon Rondo or Steve Nash). A major factor will be how good he is on defense at the highest level. But does he have an NBA career? Absolutely. I’d argue that Curry today is a better backup PG than Eddie House today, and the Celtics just showed that you can win a title with House in that spot.

In simplest terms, JJ Redick is a jumpshooter. Stephen Curry is a ballplayer. I’ll take the latter.

By: Gummy

Gummy — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:29:59 +0000

Curry is good but he puts up Iverson-like attempts (22 shots per game). Look at James Harden’s numbers. He shoots 55 percent from the floor and 44 percent from three. Harden is averaging 25 points on 13.5 shots a game. Think what type of numbers he’d be putting up if he shot like Curry. And ASU isn’t that good. Their other potential pro Jeff Pendergraph has been pretty spotty.