The way defenses used to guard Steph pre-2016 is crazy to see

[u/_KendrickPercocet]

https://streamable.com/x8lsr0

[u/uhmont]

what’s crazier is that he’s stayed effective despite defensive tightening and adjusting their coverage to stop “Curry” more than “The warriors” a credit to his incredible work ethic

[u/MatchAffectionate951 → u/uhmont]

That’s why he’s gotten so much better to me then his 2015 2016 days

His shot difficulty is off the charts now.

Especially 2021 . But he keeps going

[u/[deleted] → u/MatchAffectionate951]

I feel like he had bulked up a bit by the 2021 season ? Might have been earlier but I didn't notice till like 2021/2022.

[u/WadeCountyClutch → u/[deleted]]

It was 21 before Klay came back. Curry was yelling at the team in the bench and looked like he took his vitamins and said his prayers 💪

[u/Wyden_long → u/WadeCountyClutch]

Curry 2021 had a secret stash of Flintstones Vitamins for sure.

[u/sparkysparkyboom → u/Wyden_long]

Michael's Secret Stuff

[u/afterworld2772 → u/WadeCountyClutch]

It's also one of the examples I go to when people still cling to the myth that bulking up ruins shooting ability.

If that was true why would Curry risk his biggest threat to add on a bit of muscle? He is noticably bigger between his rookie year and his first MVP, and bigger still from then til now and yet can still shoot.

[u/Wazflame → u/[deleted]]

I think he was working on it for a while, but the 9 months (March 2020-December 2020) gave him time to focus on it, since they didn’t go to the bubble

Plus because Steph had just come back from the hand injury before the shutdown it was almost a year of little NBA basketball, which must have been valuable mentally after 5 straight finals

[u/Photo_Synthetic → u/[deleted]]

Pretty sure he made a point to get stronger after being mauled by the Cavs in 2016 and getting no off ball calls and realizing this is how teams were going to play him. Probably ramped it up after KD left when he knew he'd have the be the engine again.

[u/Neatojuancheeto → u/Photo_Synthetic]

He was always the engine, he just didn't have to carry during the KD years.

[u/cashnameidk9434 → u/Photo_Synthetic]

Curry remained the engine during the durant years, its just that durant took a lil weight off his shoulders in terms of leading the team when he was on the bench

[u/Proof-Umpire-7718 → u/MatchAffectionate951]

Steph in April 2021 when he was attempting to carry the Warriors to the playoffs was ridiculous.

[u/NervousAd3202 → u/Proof-Umpire-7718]

Won the scoring title & was an MVP finalist despite not even making the playoffs (lost to the Lakers then Memphis in the play in).

Steph was fucking insane that year.

[u/KillWhitePrivilege → u/Proof-Umpire-7718]

Curry missed a few games with injury and Warriors immediately slipped out of playoff spot

Kerr was so disappointing and couldn't even keep the ship afloat for a few games

[u/Charlie_Wax → u/KillWhitePrivilege]

They also started a rookie Wiseman for the first part of the season, which made sense in the moment, but looks really bad in hindsight. The team surged once Poole came back from the G-League and once they swapped out Wiseman for Looney. There was a brief time when people used that season against Steph ("he can't even lead a team to the playoffs"), but really it was such a technicality. They had a decent record (well above .500), got the natural 8 seed, and would've been a playoff team in the East. They happened to lose the play-in games after busting their asses to get into the seeding.

That was the best individual season of Steph's career. That offseason I was thinking, 'People know Curry is good, but they don't really understand how good. If you put any type of real team around this guy, you can win a ring.' Then 2022 happened and that cemented his legacy.

[u/TatumBrownWhite → u/Charlie_Wax]

Probably the best prediction of my basketball history of 20+ years was correctly predicting the 2022 Finals in pre-season and that Golden State was going to win. I said to my friends that they should bet on it and that it was going to be the Golden State "fuck you" title and it was, and unfortunately, as I predicted, it came at my favorite team's expense, who, at that point I was clinging to any hope possible that the Celtics could be like the Warriors.

But the thing I'll remember that made me so confident in that pick was when Steph had that quote where he said "you don't want to see us next year," that's when I knew.

[u/currychaos → u/TatumBrownWhite]

Can you predict another warriors title? Thx

[u/LeahcimOyatse → u/currychaos]

TatumBrownWhite predicts another title for currychaos!

[u/CPOx → u/MatchAffectionate951]

those 3s at the end of the Olympics gold medal game had me falling out of my chair

[u/MikeJeffriesPA → u/MatchAffectionate951]

The greatest offensive player to ever play the game, and I'll die on that hill. 

[u/SlyMrF0x → u/uhmont]

Yeah, this is my reaction any time someone says Curry has fallen off - in the last year or two, you could start to make a legitimate argument, but any time before that, dude’s scoring has stayed at almost the same level as his MVP seasons despite the entire NBA rejiggering how it plays defense to try to stop him from getting open. You look at how these shots are contested compared to the coverages he was getting in ‘22 and tell me how that dude fell off in any way in those 6 years.

[u/sparkysparkyboom → u/SlyMrF0x]

Dude dismantled the rest of the world in the Olympics only a year ago, so much that other counties couldn't even comprehend what was going on.

[u/SlyMrF0x → u/sparkysparkyboom]

Skyfucker is great, but “The Devil Named Curry” is goated

[u/Genji4Lyfe → u/sparkysparkyboom]

I’d say he did in the championship game — but he actually struggled through a lot of that Olympics, and was just starting to look like himself in the last couple games

[u/Neatojuancheeto → u/Genji4Lyfe]

He also dropped 36 in the semi finals in a game USA trailed almost the entire game. He has definitely regressed some, but I'd also argue Steph is so unique in his play style it takes even high IQ guys time to learn how to play with him on offense.

[u/Daweism → u/uhmont]

He should've been taking 20 3s a game back in those days with how soft they guarded him.

[u/Proof-Umpire-7718 → u/uhmont]

Steph’s gravity was a huge reason for Kd’s success in the finals he played in with the Warriors.

[u/manquistador → u/Proof-Umpire-7718]

When KD, who some people think is the best pure scorer ever to play the game, gets completely ignored on a fast break where he is the ball handler in the NBA Finals because the other team is so afraid of Steph they sent multiple people to guard him it tells me all I need to know about who the best offensive player on the team is.

[u/Ok-Street-2473 → u/Proof-Umpire-7718]

Always pisses me off when people make fun of Curry’s gravity. It’s generational - the reason he’s arguably the offensive GOAT

[u/tisizcabe → u/Ok-Street-2473]

Curry would affect the game massively even he doesn’t touch the ball all game.

[u/NervousAd3202 → u/Ok-Street-2473]

Who makes fun of Curry’s gravity lol

[u/Neatojuancheeto → u/NervousAd3202]

People with an agenda which is a lot of people. Gravity is hard to quantify so it's something people heavily debate. Especially since so many people are just box score watchers that don't see how many open dunks/layups Steph creates but doesn't get stats for.

[u/birdlawyer86 → u/[deleted]]

This sub has em all the time, just gotta go in one of those anti-Steph threads. Or the pro-KD ones. Shit, you could prob find a couple in here if you rlly went looking

[u/Ok-Street-2473 → u/NervousAd3202]

Everyone's like "KD's stats are way better than Steph's but apparently because of 'gravity' Curry is better". Yeah, that's exactly how it works

[u/RPO777 → u/Ok-Street-2473]

Curry's one of the few players where from on-off stats you can quantify how dramatically he improves the rest of the team... without the ball in his hands.

That's the insane part--there have been plenty of guys in NBA history who can improve their teammates by passing. But passing requires you to have the ball in your hands, and there's only 1 ball. A player that improves other players only when they have the ball are limited in that way.

The thing with Curry is that he nonchalantly walks along the baseline, someone sets an off-ball screen as he scoots toward the 3 point line and then the defense goes ballistic and total chaos as the 3, some times 4 players scramble to try to contain Curry... and he doesn't even have the ball.

Like there was a play in the Olympics where Steph took ball screen, a bunch of players from the opposing team converged on steph... and Lebron casually flicked the ball to Kevin Durant who was standing alone under the basket, and he dunked.

Like Kevin F'ing Durant is not a guy you generally forget exists when he cuts to the basket, but Steph draws complete panic from opposing teams when they think he might get an open 3.

[u/msf97 → u/Ok-Street-2473]

It doesn’t help that the people who repeat it constantly, seem to ignore it for every single other player who’s a really good shooter and can move off the ball

Or even players like Shaq, Embiid etc dominant scoring big men who can draw two very easily

[u/Holualoabraddah → u/msf97]

Jordan’s gravity was insane, Prime LeBron when he was with the Cavs/Heat… The thing is Steph’s gravity is different from all those players because all of their gravity drew player to the paint which leaves hole in the perimeter, Steph is the only player of those named that consistently draws a double behind the 3 point line, which turns the whole geometry of the game upside down and leaves guys wide open under the basket with regularity.

[u/Ok-Street-2473 → u/Holualoabraddah]

Yup. Every star has gravity, only Steph brings defenders out to the perimeter off ball

[u/King_Of_Pants → u/Holualoabraddah]

Prime LeBron when he was with the Cavs/Heat

One of the reasons he used to play such heavy minutes.

Yes he's an athletic freak who used to be able to handle those minutes, but also, just placing him in the corner had a huge impact on how defences would react.

He'd get his rest on the court. Just the threat of him cutting or getting involved in the possession was enough to create room for other guys to have their turn running the offence.

[u/[deleted] → u/msf97]

I haven't seen that on this sub. I have seen Shaq's gravity constantly being used as a discussion point for Kobe and the way he played early in his career.

Maybe r/nbatalk but if you are actively discussing there, you are engaging with a bunch of idiots.

[u/FamiliarBullfrog1043 → u/msf97]

seem to ignore it for every single other player who’s a really good shooter and can move off the ball

No one is making that argument. The argument is actually that Curry does it better than anyone in the history of the league. The evidence is his teammates shooting efficiency spiking when he is on the court more than any player ever. Why? Because curry is the best cutter, screener and mover without the ball ever. If you don’t have a player attached to his hip he’ll get open and burn you from wherever.

The best example of Curry’s playmaking is Kevin Durant. KD scored as well as james harden did in the postseason in OKC. In OKC he scored 28.8 points a game on 57.5 ts%. KD in golden state? 29.6 points a game on 64.2 ts%. The Curry effect.

KD went from a team with one of the best playmaker to the team with the best playmaker. No really a mystery why he never saw a double team nor why he hasn’t won anything outside of the warriors.

Or even players like Shaq, Embiid etc dominant scoring big men who can draw two very easily

Seems like you have never watched the warriors or you just have a poor understanding of what is happening here. The fact that you’re including two players who are ball dominant is pretty embarrassing. No shit Shaq and Giannis draw the entire team when they’re in the paint. That’s when they have the ball. Curry doesn’t even need the ball which is the entire point.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-case-for-stephen-curry-mvp/

[u/The_Vaike → u/FamiliarBullfrog1043]

The Curry effect.

You're not wrong, but I feel like that kind of diminishes the fact that that whole warriors team was completely bonkers. Klay is probably the second best shooter of the modern era, and while Draymond isn't a scoring threat on his own, he's still one of the better screeners in the game. By my count, all but 3 of the shots Steph made in this video came off Draymond picks. Steph is probably one of the biggest factors, but there are a lot of reasons KD was playing his most efficient ball in those years.

[u/Neatojuancheeto → u/msf97]

Yes all stars players have gravity, but what makes Steph different is where the gravity is. Pulling 2 guys out 30 feet is a lot more valuable than guys getting doubled 15 ft away where it's a lot easier for defenders to recover.

[u/TylerDurdensAlterEgo → u/Ok-Street-2473]

All-time gravity leaders:

Either Curry or Shaq (EDIT, I think it's Steph)

Everyone else (MJ, LBJ, Kareem, Wilt, ...George Mikan?)

[u/legendofthededbug → u/Proof-Umpire-7718]

KD knows it too. No way he's that stupid

[u/SwarleymonLives → u/legendofthededbug]

Of course he knows it. Just listen to him being interviewed before the 2024 Olympics:

"That chemistry going to help you when you got to guard Steph?"

[u/ProfessorPhi → u/Proof-Umpire-7718]

They were double teaming steph to give up open layups for KD. It was bizarre to watch defenses breakdown and decide to double steph when they weren't sure.

[u/decisionagonized → u/uhmont]

This is how work ethic separates short-term phenoms from guys who dominate for over a decade. Steph did some crazy work over the years to make adjustments to the adjustments people made to him. He got so much stronger and more durable, that now he’s just as much of a threat on dribble penetration as he is a shooter.

[u/cyb3ryung]

pretty sure they werent expecting him to pull all those. this looks normal now but it was pretty unorthodox back then

[u/Mu17inItOver → u/cyb3ryung]

I remember people saying it was bad to take 3s off a dribble rather than with your feet set. Only the most elite guys would even take threes coming off of screens too. The stuff guys routinely do now got Steph benched his rookie year

[u/cyb3ryung → u/Mu17inItOver]

definitely a tougher shot iirc mainly ray allen steve nash teir shooters were doing it and not too often.

what once was considered a tough shot is routine for bench /role players to do. for example, the finals blew my mind with some of those shots nemhard and wiggins were hitting

[u/lilbelleandsebastian → u/cyb3ryung]

ray allen was almost always catch and shoot or catch, dribble once, shoot

curry was just doing stupid shit and scoring anyway because he's the shooter of all shooters. never in my life have i watched a player like him where he literally CANNOT take a bad shot. he will be 85 years old looking like uncle drew pulling up from the logo and i'll still be surprised if he misses

[u/Zoulzopan → u/cyb3ryung]

its still a hard shot, not everyone in the league can do it in volume even more so for bench players.

The guys who can do it in volume are massive assets compared to the catch and shoot guys. Even if they cant defend they will get a bench spot for 10+ years.

[u/Oaty_McOatface → u/Mu17inItOver]

Absolutely this was the era where Kyle korver was considered an elite shooting guard in the league with his consecutive 3s made record, Steph blew that record out and no one batted an eye.

[u/rorank → u/Mu17inItOver]

It is truly incredible how good players got at shooting 3’s once they were allowed to do it and worked on it actively in the off-season. I don’t even think we’re done seeing the effects.

[u/RS994 → u/rorank]

The current draft class was about 10 years old in 2016

We are just now getting to the players that have been shooting like this since childhood, will be interesting to see how that plays out.

[u/usagerp → u/RS994]

Steph is still an anomaly with his efficiency with the level of difficulty of his shots. I don’t think we’re gonna see many more quite like him I think he’s truly an exceptional talent

Also defences are gonna keep adjusting and getting better at making things difficult as possible for elite shooters. It’s only gonna get increasingly difficult to replicate prime steph

[u/AnotsuKagehisa → u/Mu17inItOver]

So I’m just wondering was there a particular game where he was given the green light to just keep shooting? I remember stumbling upon his debut game and Monta Ellis was taking the bulk of the shots and were just clanking them. It was really frustrating to watch knowing that here you’ve got the best shooter in history ( they don’t know it yet ) and they’re not passing him the ball at all.

[u/GuntherTime → u/AnotsuKagehisa]

It was trading Monta. They were essentially the same player which caused a huge log jam with their shot opportunities. Moving monta (even though they initially wanted to move curry) opened things up a lot more for Curry. What took a while was that Curry was dealing with his ankle during his first 3 years.

[u/collax974 → u/AnotsuKagehisa]

There is this famous moment where Kerr gave him the ultimate green light https://youtu.be/iAF13eyEVqU?si=RVqBOUwpJTZEuEDU

[u/TonyIsMoney → u/AnotsuKagehisa]

I clearly remember the 2016 preseason after his first MVP as the starting point of full form Steph, that was the moment when everybody watching him thought 'if he does this consistently from now on its over for everybody'.

[u/GuntherTime → u/cyb3ryung]

Yeah I think some newer fans don’t realize how unusual Curry was as a player back then. People were watching him consistently hit those shots and still calling them bad. And back then they weren’t exactly wrong, just couldn’t say much beyond that cause he kept making them.

[u/MedvedFeliz → u/cyb3ryung]

Teams eventually learned that you never go under the screen at all — even when he's 30 feet out.

[u/thenexttimebandit → u/cyb3ryung]

That was good defense back in the day

[u/cyb3ryung → u/thenexttimebandit]

yeah tbf they had a hand up on pretty much every shot

[u/Appropriate-Goose231 → u/cyb3ryung]

I mean he broke his own nba record for 3s in a season during this game. They should have been expecting him to hit ha ha

[u/CrippleJedi → u/Appropriate-Goose231]

Combination of Lillard/Mccollum backcourt with LMA switching on perimeter were always a BBQ chicken for Steph, that title is fucking dumb.

[u/CrippleJedi → u/cyb3ryung]

Everybody knew what kind of shots Steph is capable of putting off. Yes, he didn't had 402 threes in one season yet, but he already broke Ray's record two seasons earlier and was hitting 3.5 threes a game on 44% for 3 seasons now. He was unorthodox and everybody and their mom knew how unorthodox he is.

[u/zdiddy987]

OP should update the title to "The way PORTLAND defenses used to guard Steph pre-2016 is crazy to see"

[u/ALaccountant → u/zdiddy987]

Even more specifically, “The way PORTLAND defenses used to guard Steph FOR THIS ONE SPECIFIC GAME…”

Honestly, OP presented this like some analysis, but it’s just a Curry highlight reel from one game lmao. Low effort

[u/CrippleJedi → u/ALaccountant]

Classic Tik-Tok garbage. Low effort, cropped out scoreboard, bad video quality, sensualisation title.

[u/MiserableAndUnhappy9 → u/CrippleJedi]

And it's currently the top post on this sub. It's the same shit as when people in this sub complain about how 'ESPN only wants to talk about the Lakers!' and every other post now is about Luka on the Lakers (and that's ignoring the last decade of Lakers posts). Most people like this generic low effort garbage whether it's Tik Tok, Facebook, or reddit. I wish we knew how short the 00s internet era would last.

[u/QuiOui → u/CrippleJedi]

ooh so sensual

[u/tr_thrwy_588 → u/zdiddy987]

"in one game"

[u/Former-Sea-8070]

I mean this is Portland defense we're talking about... it didn't look like this for him every night lol

[u/jeff2def → u/Former-Sea-8070]

Portland legit went UNDER on the screens for Steph even in the 2019 playoffs. wtf where they thinking

[u/nativeindian12 → u/jeff2def]

Terry Stotts wanted to run drop defense regardless of the outcome lol I have no idea why

[u/_Quetzalcoatlus_ → u/nativeindian12]

It's crazy that Terry Stotts couldn't build a defense to stop the Warriors when he had the elite duo of Damian Lillard and Enes Kanter to shut down Steph and Draymond. The failure is definitely on Stotts.

[u/StreetMailbox → u/_Quetzalcoatlus_]

To be fair the Lopez/LMA/Batum/Matthews/Dame era (in this clip) had good defenses for their time, but yes, by 2019 Olshey had just kept accumulating guards.

[u/Clapbakatyerblakcat → u/StreetMailbox]

And Terry played them! Got to the Western Conference Finals closing playoff games with Dame, CJ, and Seth Curry. Can’t be mad at that.

[u/the_dinks → u/nativeindian12]

Terry Stotts wanted to run drop defense regardless of the outcome lol I have no idea why

Probably because CJ and Dame can't get over a screen to save their life.

[u/_KendrickPercocet → u/Former-Sea-8070]

I was watching the 2015 WCF too the Rockets let him iso Josh smith, Terrence jones and Dwight Howard whenever he wanted, and they had JAMES HARDEN chasing him around screens with no handoffs 😭😭

Clip I’m talking about https://streamable.com/5wupvl

[u/Former-Sea-8070 → u/_KendrickPercocet]

The Rockets were in the same boat back then. Elite offense, no defense.

[u/redditnathaniel → u/Former-Sea-8070]

Yeah this example ain't the best the point is still taken

[u/interested_commenter → u/Former-Sea-8070]

It kinda did though, that's the whole point. The default defense at that time was to always go under those screens way outside the 3pt line, because allowing a 3 a couple steps back from the line off the dribble was considered a good defensive play.

Defense has always been about what shots you're willing to allow and what you will scheme to stop, and before Steph, open 3s on the move was a shot you were willing to give up. Those shots were "good D, he can't keep making those"...until Curry showed that he COULD keep making those and defenses had to change.

That Blazers team had a 102.8 DRTG, 9th in the league, they weren't a terrible defense.

[u/Akkepake → u/Former-Sea-8070]

Take ant Portland team from Dame era and its the same

[u/dimmyfarm → u/Former-Sea-8070]

Especially the backcourt, Dame and CJ were known as smaller, worse shooting, and worse defending versions of Curry and Klay.

[u/Former-Sea-8070 → u/dimmyfarm]

You're talking about 4 completely different play styles, they weren't "known" like that at all...

[u/DriftingJuju]

Noone knew he would be fucking the sky endlessly

[u/NebulaCartographer → u/DriftingJuju]

Noone is a smart guy, who is he?

[u/tweenalibi → u/NebulaCartographer]

Singer of Herman's Hermits

[u/--Rick--Astley--]

So basically one game against the blazers.

[u/Asleep_Ground1710]

Watching older basketball sereis is just informative in general. Like watching the 2000 Blazers-Lakers WCF and you see some modern concepts like Sabonis dragging Shaq to the FT line, or the Blazers defense not really guarding guys like Harper or Shaw.

What's funny about this clip it reminds me of the 2022 drop coverage that Boston employed on Curry in the finals. Daniel Li had a good video on it, talked about how Boston did it to try and limit the extra passing from Curry-Draymond PNR.

[u/FailedAwards → u/Asleep_Ground1710]

To be fair it was kinda working til it wasn’t

[u/Asleep_Ground1710 → u/FailedAwards]

If there's one man who can 1v5 drop coverage it's Curry lol

[u/arika_ito → u/FailedAwards]

It worked pretty well until game 5/6 from what I recall from the Thinking Basketball videos but Steph also had that insane game 4 so it makes sense that the Celtics would try adjusting the gameplan

[u/TatumBrownWhite → u/FailedAwards]

It only worked when Robert Williams was in the game.

Anytime he was not in the game, it went...poorly.

[u/Gauchokids → u/Asleep_Ground1710]

I watched game 7 of that series semi recently and while yes there are some modern concepts, there’s also stuff like Steve smith getting hot in the second half and the Lakers continuing to go under every screen on him for no apparent reason.

It’s actually wild how many little things we take for granted are relatively recent concepts. Phil Jackson used to give up corner threes on purpose as late as 2010.

[u/SeizureMode]

I don't think highlights from one game really support your argument

[u/ggproductivity → u/SeizureMode]

There's a youtube video of all his career made 3s in chronological order. A lot of teams were still going under screens in 2015 and 2016. It's shocking to see, but the switch everything defenses were just starting to become popular back then. 4s and 5s today are way more mobile and far better shooters compared to that time.

[u/Yider → u/ggproductivity]

I'm not hating (well kinda) on the warriors or defenses at the time but you practically had to start switching everything when screeners were allowed to shift their feet and use two hands/forearms on the defender. They toned it back eventually but there was a year or two where it was just annoying to watch because defenders legit stopped trying to fight through a screen and accepted a switch was inevitable when it shouldn't have had to be.

[u/ForneauCosmique]

Literally just one game, one team

[u/jkk411]

Just for the record, this 2014-2015 Blazers team with Wes Matthews/Batum/Aldridge and Robin Lopez was actually competent at Defense:

Off Rtg: 108.2 (9th of 30) Def Rtg: 103.7 (10th of 30) Net Rtg: +4.5 (6th of 30)

[u/tgp_of_iwg → u/jkk411]

i'm not sure why this became a "lol blazers" thread. you could have a compilation, it would be basically the same. when people say "steph changed basketball", watching this clip shows exactly how - his offense looks normal because the league adjusted to play more like him, the defense looks abnormal because the league adjusted to stop him.

[u/Jbots]

I often think about all of the opposing coaches that have yelled "let him shoot".

[u/ruggnuget]

It takes time to adapt

[u/enblightened → u/ruggnuget]

I suppose but you would think there would be a quicker shift after he won the first mvp

[u/GodBlessPigs]

You mean the Blazers? Lol

[u/bad3ip420]

To think that shots like these would get players benched back in the 2010s. Even Ray Allen would get questionable looks from time to time when he does this.

I'm gonna miss Curry man. His shots literally changed an era.

[u/JesusChristSupers1ar → u/bad3ip420]

It’s not just that his shots changed an era but also that he is so aesthetically pleasing to watch shoot because he’s still the best shooter ever and while he’s influenced effectively all of basketball today, everyone else is just a pale impersonation. As amazing it is to watch him shoot these shots, it’s inversely ugly as fuck to see guys chuck up shitty deep threes

even guys like Jokic who should absolutely know better take awful shots, seemingly trying to emulate Steph. It’s like Steph revolutionized the game but he’s the only one who was actually able to take full advantage of the revolution while everyone else is just some kid on a outdoor court taking ill advised Steph 3s

[u/dont_shoot_jr]

Man I miss that old Roarcle Oracle 

[u/T-hibs_7952]

At 1:09 Draymond runs into the defender like an offensive lineman. And it looks like he trips him to boot.

[u/Adorable-Bike-9689]

This is just shit defense by the Blazers lmao. Every team did not play this lazily. They aren't even fighting through screens 

GS moving screens? No chance 

[u/skelement]

"defenses..."

... video only shows Portland

yeah, I mean, we're not exactly known to be a great defensive team, even back then...

[u/vkewalra]

How many of those defenders were wondering why Draymond didn’t get called for an illegal screen?Later they realized he would never get called for an illegal screen and they’re just lucky he didn’t slip in a nut shot

[u/CombinationReady9376]

The shot he took 24 seconds into this clip, was one of the most egregious carries I've ever seen in my life!

[u/realfakejames]

What I see are a lot of moving screens lol

[u/MajlenovicFlori]

What is interesting to me is how coach Nick from Bballbreakdown called Curry "the greatest shooter we've ever seen" back in 2013/14 season against Thunder I believe. I remember people flaming him in the comment section as well, which now feels asinine

[u/TreyAdell]

I mean look at the bigs on the court for the Blazers. Bringing them up to the level would get cooked too. Steph is one of the few guys who has an answer for every defense. This is why I’ve never understood Ime Udoka getting ragged on for drop coverage, Steph COOKED everything the Cs tried. Can’t double cuz and the Shooters will pick you apart, bring the big up and he’s too quick with handles that are too advanced and it will be layups all day for him. It’s just tough man.

[u/sterlingsalmini]

The last shot brooo

THESE YOUNG CATS DONT KNOW, THIS WAS NOT NORMAL!!! leisurely yo-yo'ing to the top left of the arc, two dribble pull up deepish three... no no no man, that was NOT normal til this dude commanded the way the game needed to evolve.

look at the zero coverage on his off-ball movement. look at how a great contest by 6'10 power forwards was no longer good, in fact it was a damn free open shot. like, people also need to respect that curry and co opened up the bottom of the court because of the draw you're giving to them on shots that, before the 2010s were halfway thru, were simply not taken, not regarded

[u/VanwallEnjoy3r]

Draymond has never set a legal screen in his existence.

[u/tgp_of_iwg]

i'm not sure why this became a "lol blazers" thread. you could have a compilation, it would be basically the same. when people say "steph changed basketball", watching this clip shows exactly how - his offense looks normal because the league adjusted to play more like him, the defense looks abnormal because the league adjusted to stop him.

[u/Don_bon_darley012]

Draymond has been setting those moving screens for like a decade now, that’s crazy

[u/UnholyDescent]

They didnt know what type of shit he was on back in the day

[u/geekyfreakyman]

Curry has always killed the Blazers. I remember that one sweep we had, where the Blazers made the conference finals, and were up at half time every freaking game, and then Curry just nuked them in the third and we’d pull out a win.

[u/Vi0lentByt3]

Lol you are witnessing the change of the league, no one defended 2 feet outside the 3 point line, guys couldnt hit those consistently like steph could. The game literally changed after he showed everyone it was possible. Now you have plenty of players hitting these shots consistently

[u/BorrisBorris]

Bro why was that 9 years ago 😭

[u/Wolfy_wolf253]

Many of these are with a big switched onto him or in transition and like similar to today

[u/ScTbRnSsSsS]

first clip is moving screen. classic draymond

[u/wutangerine99]

So many moving screens

[u/Dudewheresmycah]

The way PORTLAND's defense IN ONE GAME used to guard Steph pre-2016 is crazy to see.

Fixed it for you OP.

[u/okcboomer87]

Curry moved a lot and there were illegal screens that weren't called all the time. Recipe for success.

[u/wave_action]

The all time record at 273….wow times have changed.

[u/Glad_Art_6380]

If they called moving screens anymore, this would be a very short highlight reel.

[u/Reasonable_Pie9191 → u/Glad_Art_6380]

The entire nba wouldnt set screens then

People are so dumb. The warriors weren't the front runners neither did they set the most "moving screens". Just narrative nonsense

[u/Aromatic_Brother]

Was he only taking ""normal"" distance threes? I think they got on to him once they realized he could bomb pretty consistently from his jersey number lol

[u/Black-Star_GOG]

The 2010-2019 were such entertaining seasons every year had something different about it

[u/Apart-Volume9340]

This is why I don't think anybody is breaking his 3s in a season record. If anybody gets even close to being this good they won't be shooting many 3s unless they start playing like Steph.

[u/UGLEHBWE]

Used to have me pissed when away teams were cheering for him too😭 like how good can you be

[u/Albiceleste_D10S]

2019 Portland and 2022 Boston similarly let Curry cook with drop defense schemes that, uh, did not work

[u/TrueNamekianFusion]

The way that most of his shots just fall in hardly touching the rim or net is so satisfying.

[u/22797]

Curry, like most other stars, has become a much better shooter as he’s aged. If he was still covered the same way he was pre-2016 with his current shooting ability, I’d bet a lot of money he’d be 46%+ on threes

[u/ice-eight]

I’m watching this trying to see how they used to guard Steph but I don’t see the part where anyone is guarding

[u/TombombBearsFan]

Fuck man almost every shot was cash. How do they not get a ha d out by the 10th shot?

[u/Constant_Charge_4528]

Wait, where's all the grabbing and pulling?

[u/Horror_Firefighter69]

Damn ,Portland!

[u/ticketworldisawful]

Dame has always been a horrible defender

[u/Ghammer713]

lol this is all the Portland trailblazers

[u/LinuxDootTP]

hurts me to see this :’(

[u/z-kid]

This is part of why I think 2021, even if it was less efficient, was in near-empty arenas, and had a much worse win rate, was Steph's true best season over 2016 (the other part is obviously the team around him, also yes I know these highlights are from 2015)

[u/PogoMarimo]

You should see the way teams would guard Larry Bird on the perimeter back in the day. It's a shame he didn't take ten 3's a game back then.

[u/Altruistic-Leading62]

Most of those look like open shots to me.

[u/BarryLyndon-sLoins]

As a Blazer fan I feel like this is cherry picking a tad. Most of these clips show largely incompetent defenders blowing their on ball assignment (Curry). I’d love to see how they covered him before Matthews went down with the Achilles tear

[u/Eponymous59]

wtf do you mean this was one game

[u/SwarleymonLives]

Steph is the only player, ever, where the defense became more concerned about where he was than where the ball was. Lose track of the ball, you give up 2. Lose track of Steph, you give up 3 or 4.

[u/hover0423]

Drop coverage is suicide against Chef

[u/Salamat_osu]

this is wide open in today's league lol

[u/Free_Sheepherder4895]

I called his 2015 ring and my entire school thought I was slow. Next school year literally everybody a curry fan and they couldn’t recall me saying that 😭

[u/CptCroissant]

This was just Portland being dumb. Curry would often torch us because we were a strict drop team in the PnR

[u/twilightalchemy]

Misleading title. It's one team.

[u/XergioksEyes]

Idk what it is but he runs like a 10 yr old boy

[u/ConceptNo1055]

Guards hunt bigs since Nash against Kwame.

D'antoni spam that PnR to death.

Curry is just in a whole 'nother level

[u/gentilet]

Portland just sucks

[u/CreepGawd]

That probably cuz you're used to post 2016 ball.. steph kinda changed the game

[u/VossC2H6O]

Defense then is drop coverage for some reason. Defense now is just hold and hug Steph Curry. Won't get foul call anyways so it is worth the gamble.

[u/Sweaty-Try1547]

The only defence I've seen shut down steph curry was Toronto box and 1 it  just took a team of elite defenders and every defender focused on  him to stop him  😂 

[u/cors8 → u/Sweaty-Try1547]

It also only worked because there was no other offensive option for GSW.

[u/Shinryu1324]

They thought it was a fluke season.

[u/JKaro]

Steph's impact on roster constructions were so important to NBA history

[u/oftaco58]

I would love to know how much distance running he did/ does

[u/rawsvecaep415]

He still uses screens….. the only team that truly sends out assassins to relentlessly abuse Steph is houston they stay physically connected to him with or without the ball.

[u/butchudidit]

Honestly guarding up on high screens with a killer shooter is annoying asf. Its one of the hardest things to defend

[u/sabinscabin]

can someone explain like I'm five why this is crazy? I'm not really an Xs and Os kinda guy so I can't tell what's going on

[u/ZeekLTK]

This is all clips from just one game, could just be Portland sucked…

[u/feetandballs]

"Fuck the sky" - Curry

[u/Firstrefusal22]

Unreal player.

[u/garynevilleisared]

To be fair, this is just the Blazers and they were one of the quintessentially mid team of that era. It's not a fair representation of how teams guarded him, it's just how they did. Poorly.

[u/Duke_Of_Halifax]

That's the thing:

Curry was so revolutionary that it took the league YEARS to adjust to him. The teams would make a change, and Curry and Kerr would just counter-adjust.

Curry doesn't really hit his stride until 12-13, so it took the league roughly three season to catch up, and figure out how to guard a legitimate threat from being the arc (and several steps beyond it) who also moved better than prime Steve Nash.

[u/belizeanheat]

I mostly just see Lillard playing typical garbage defense

[u/Previous_End815]

Had Lamarcus Aldridge stressing

[u/MeatBald]

So much room for activities!

[u/That-Spite6499]

everyone loves watching curry except its against their team lol

[u/doordaesh]

that's just the blazers

[u/eagsrock20]

Ah yes the defensive juggernaut known as the mid 2010’s trailblazers lmao

[u/lawduckfan]

"Defenses."

B***h, that's Portland. We didn't play defense.

[u/thisisjustascreename]

I don't see anybody guarding Curry in this video

[u/TYC888]

are you sure the defense is crazy and not Curry is crazy. dude single handedly changed how the game is played onwards.

[u/SkiPolarBear22]

To be fair, Dame doesn’t count as a defender

[u/The_Longest_Shot]

Our definitions of crazy must be vastly different 

[u/DesignerZebra8691]

people acting like this was an exception, but if you watch a lot of those highlights, he wasn’t getting double teamed on every possession like he gets double teamed now

[u/Pimpwerx]

TBF, waiting for his ankles to grenade used to be a pretty sound strategy in the past.

[u/Blacketh]

Just looks like a bad gameplan

[u/Puzzleheaded-Way9048]

Mastery