Stephen Curry All-NBA Defense? Curry has never done this...
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#Curry #NBA #Warriors
Stephen Curry just locked up Harden, twice.
And now Steph has the best defensive rating amongst all guards.
Sure, a lot of that has to do with team defense, with Draymond covering up a lot of mistakes, but let's stop this narrative that Steph is or ever has been a bad defender. I've always been of the mindset that Curry is an average defender that gets picked on because who would choose Draymond, Klay, KD, Barnes, Wiggins, Iguodala as their defender when there's 6' 3" Steph Curry. No one. Steph is a good defender and this year, it's really obvious and here's why.
Stats aren't everything, but on defense, Steph lowers opponents overall shooting percentage by 3.8% which is more than Luo Dort's 3.8% and it includes a 10.6% reduction from 3 when compared to each player's average. That's actually ridiculous, he's never reduced 3 point percentage by more than 1% in the last 5 years. In fact most lockdown off ball defenders are barely reducing or actually a higher defensive field goal percentage. It's even better than the GOAT Caruso. So -10% is insane.
Steph has always been the weakest link in the Warriors defense. But that doesn't mean he's been a bad defender. Being the worst defender in the starting 5 is relative. That doesn't mean he is a bad defender in absolute terms. That's like saying who's the worst scorer out of Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant, and Devin Booker and then also saying Devin Booker is also just bad at scoring.
Being 6' 3" with a 6' 4" wingspan doesn't really help Steph defensively and so he compensates by having quick ass hands that are everywhere and moving his feet a lot on the perimeter.
You can see that in all the strip steals he gets against players like LeBron and Paul George. His hands are extremely active, I mean just look at how much movement there is.
But also understand that Curry knows the team's defensive gameplan and is amazing at leading the ball handler into where the defense wants. He's talked about making the ball handler commit to one side to make it easier to guard. The Warriors have always played small, aggressive switching, and so Curry knows he needs to lead defenses into Draymond, Iggy, and then cover the pass which is why he gets so many steals in the lane.
What he's doing this year makes him a good defender. I don't know about all NBA defense level because Curry isn't really tasked with guarding the opposing team's best perimeter player and there are better perimeter defenders, but honestly, if he keeps this up, if the Warriors end up with a top 3 defense, and Curry has more moments bothering or even stopping perimeter players, he should be in the conversation. The fact that I'm even considering this is crazy, but Steph, I want to push the narrative for you. But what do you think? How good is Steph Curry defensively this season?
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