If perhaps Stephen Curry were a commodity on the stock market, he'd get every neurotic, sleep-deprived, caffeine-addicted trader on Wall Street stuck using a spastic, coronary-inducing rollercoaster ride.
Just as he did to every die-hard hoops enthusiast in Oakland—and every relaxed fan who caught on—during that Golden State Warriors' Cinderella run through the 2013 NBA playoffs.
Curry will be the very embodiment of this vast chasm between associated risk and reward that regularly sends chills down a spines of play-it-safe overall managers and sparks fun-but-feverish-but-also-pointless arguments between talking heads, stay-at-home bloggers, "esteemed" columnists and outraged commenters alike. His appeal is predicated primarily on the three-point shot, which is actually "high risk" by it's very nature: it's much harder to make than the majority shots because it's farther in the basket, and misses often result in quick run-outs for fast-breaking opponents.
To be sure, Curry's an added reliable three-point shooter than most—on an entire, anyway. He's hit 44. 6 percent of their regular-season three-point attempts for a pro (second all-time, behind only Steve Kerr) and set a fresh single-season record for produced threes (272) while nailing 1 out of 3. 3 percent of his attempts (third inside NBA) in 2012-13.
But, like most players exactly who rely so heavily relating to the Malthusian feast-or-famine cycle for the three-point line, Curry's game is susceptible to bouts of streakiness, good and bad. Check out the imbalances in Curry's three-point attempts (in blue) and makes (in reddish orange) over the most recent promotion, courtesy of SportingCharts. com:
His streakiness located life most vividly within the Warriors' third quarters. As reported by NBA. com, Curry scored 9. 2 of their 23. 4 points, while shooting 58. 6 percent with the field and 52. 6 percent from three, in the first frame after halftime within these playoffs.
That's just about all well and good, and made for several spectacular shows of shooting pyrotechnics (see: Gameplay 4 vs. the Denver Nuggets, Game 1 as opposed to. the Spurs).
But how about the other three sectors? Curry hit under 40 percent of his shots and averaged lower than five points per quarter in those with the exception of the third stanza, like a disconcerting line (3. 9 elements, 36 percent from a field, 21. 7 percent from three) with the fourth.
This isn't to suggest that Curry isn't "clutch" or he shrinks under pressure. Fairly, this disparity simply highlights the correct way erratic Steph can be and was in his first postseason along with, as such, how dangerous it's for a team much like the Warriors to pin the country's hopes for advancement on a very player's exploits.
(Assuming Curry's signs stagnate, of course... they will probably won't. After all, this was Steph's primary foray into postseason basketball, which, by definition, makes this the longest and many taxing year of his basketball life. )
Steph's taste for the spectacular, though, is a fundamental piece of what makes him wonderful. Even when Curry steps inside arc, his attempts are often off-the-charts exactly where degree of difficulty is involved:
The same holds true for a lot of of his work as the primary ball-handler. The Warriors seemingly elevated and fell right in addition to Curry's own successes and failures off the dribble in these playoffs. As reported by ESPN Stats & Information and facts, Game 1 against a San Antonio Spurs witnessed Curry score 42 from his 44 points journey dribble while hitting 18-of-34 these attempts, including 8-of-15 whether coming off screens or simply on pick-and-rolls.
However, Curry tallied just 45 points total heli-copter flight dribble on 35 percent shooting over Golden State next four games. Steph moreover shot a subpar thirty-three percent off screens and pick-and-rolls during Games two through 6.
The blame to the dropoff can be attributed (at your discretion) to Curry's streakiness, his tender ankles (and the re-aggravation of an pre-existing sprain in Game 3) and/or how the Spurs sicked Danny Alternative on him (and Kawhi Leonard upon Klay Thompson) after Sport 2.
When he isn't scoring, Curry remained active as a pseudo-point guard, as can be his wont. He led the league in one payemnt assists through the first two rounds, with eight games of eight or over helpers and three double-doubles.
Sadly, Curry's penchant for the stupendous often brings about stupid mistakes and that concomitant giveaways. Steph piled in place 40 turnovers in 12 postseason games—more than anyone in these playoffs spend less for Kevin Durant and Paul George.
There's no denying the pure bliss that Curry brings with the game with his lightning-quick, off-the-dribble dishes together with his weak hand. When shipped properly, they can (and regularly do) bring the enthusiasm of the attendant crowd to your fever pitch and spark big runs for the Warriors—not unlike the residual effect from a of Curry's long-range treys within the other side of a Bay.
The operative key phrase here being "When sent properly. " Steph is for no reason an elite playmaker (not at this point, anyway). At times, he plays too fast and too loose with the ball relative to his abilities. Such makes to get thrilling on-court theater, though it often gives technique to less heady, less steady play for a position (point guard) that is arguably the most important nowadays in this NBA.
But that scarcity of predictability is a crucial component of Curry's appeal: He's the NBA's response to the Wallendas, if this Wallendas were also brazen sufficiently to juggle small domestic pets while tightrope-walking across Niagara Declines. He's fun to watch precisely considering that things he does usually are, indeed, so difficult to do and more difficult to foresee, you will still already know exactly things to expect. Watching Curry, after that, is not unlike stepping in the batter's box against Manhattan Yankees closer Mariano Rivera; this cutter is coming, but all the best making solid contact.
Prefer Rivera, much of the star appeal for Curry also stems from the reality that his particular talents tend to be hardly (if at all) dependent on overwhelming athletic prowess. At 6'3" and 185 pounds with a weather-resistant babyface (no, possibly not that Babyface), Curry hardly cuts an imposing figure for the court so often follow by giant superhumans enjoy LeBron James and Dwight Howard. Consequently, rare is the special occasion that Curry finds himself within the rim—even rarer by using a dunk.
Likewise, Steph's scarcity of size, strength and sheer power leaves him prone to the defensive stylings involving perimeter stoppers like Danny Earth-friendly. The Spurs' shooting guard could fluster Curry's feather-soft shot in reference to his superior height, length and athleticism once Gregg Popovich made the switch soon enough for Game 3 (per NBA. com). This single, brilliant adjustment were able to dampen considerably the Warriors' expectation for another ride with the pumpkin-turned-carriage.
The frailty with Curry's game, then, provides almost too poetically (even hazardously so) to his corporeal actuality. Sure, he's still sole 25 and—with a four-year, $44 million extension soon enough to kick in—he'll rank very reasonably paid players inside the NBA, given his current expertise and the vast likelihood of improvement that remains.
Even so the value of Curry's arrangement depends precariously on his ability to, y'know, play. He did well to be able to feature in 78 within the Warriors' 82 regular time of year games in 2012-13, and better to check in seventh in the league in minutes for each game (38. 2). More admirable still, Curry battled through fatigue to enjoy 41. 4 minutes per game within the playoffs, including all but four seconds of Golden State's double-overtime decrease in Game 1 of their total series against the Spurs.
All of this particular, mind you, came in the future bombs strapped around Steph's tenuous ankles, tick-tocking separate. They were tender most season, in the aftermath of surgery, and ended up being tested by tweaks possibly not once, but twice inside playoffs alone. Anyone who plays basketball is vulnerable to career-threatening injury at any sort of given moment, but Curry's past ideas to him being a lot more prone to debilitating setbacks when you need it.
And if Steph can't play (much less play to the amount of which we know he's capable), then it doesn't matter what or how little Wonderful State is paying her, simply because they'd come to be lining the pockets associated with a guy who's not making contributions.
Not that this is what's going to happen. Who knows? Maybe Steph will relish a long and fruitful career as the NBA's premiere shooter, one when his ankles prove bit more than occasional hindrances. Maybe he'll improve being passer, become a factor defensively and additionally flesh out his game to the situation where he can end up productive when his taken isn't falling.
None of the particular potential reward can entirely preclude the chance inherent in Curry's online game and his frame. He or she is who he is—a scrawny, superb shooter who can heat up in a flash, and whose ability to accomplish this makes him must-see TV—and is wonderful because of who he is. You wouldn't want Mark Jackson to box him in to a role that doesn't swimsuit his obvious strengths, simply as you wouldn't want Scott Brooks imploring Russell Westbrook to help tone it down, Erik Spoelstra instructing LeBron James to pay attention to one thing rather compared to allowing him to dabble when he does so well, or any other coach telling each and every player to be an issue he isn't.
But that's the danger of building around a gamer like Curry, as the Warriors look like doing. When he's concerning, he can carry everyone, but there's no telling for how long he can stoke a fire, NBA Jam style, free of burning the candle at both ends.
The key for ones Warriors, then, is to surround Steph by having a steady supporting cast that can get serious defensively and pick up easy baskets when Curry's shot isn't dropping on the other end. That process, Golden State will be better allowed to mitigate the deleterious results of Steph's cold spells while maximizing his hot lines. The 2010-11 Dallas Mavericks, with Dirk Nowitzki within the fore, established a blueprint with regard to success under such circumstances that Warriors would be wise to follow from now on.
For now, though, we bid a tearful adieu with the gutty Warriors and, specifically, to Steph Curry, who every one of us saw explore the depths of his talents and blossom in the league's next and most exciting superstar.
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