OT: Is Steph Curry Turning Into One of the Greats?

[PDXFonz]

Yep, curried goat.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

I think Curry is the better shooter/player but IMO Dame is the better leader. Both are alphas but Lillard has a bit more of that warrior attitude.

I was never a fan of Alan Iverson's game and I didn't care much for him as a leader but damn, he was a fucking warrior. Fearless, relentless, just kept coming at you. He would get beat to hell and still keep fighting. I see a lot of that same attitude in Lillard but what makes Lillard special is he's also a leader. He cares about his teammates and his teammates believe in him.

I remember those great Drexler teams that went to the finals/WCF/finals, Terry Porter played and won against some of the greatest point guards ever in the playoffs, Kevin Johnson, John Stockton, Magic Johnson and Gary Payton. All of them were easily the better point guard, better player but Porter was a warrior. We wasn't as talented but he fought and won.

We don't need Lillard to be a better player than Curry, we need him to be the better warrior. If Olshey can put similar to equal talent around Lillard that Curry has in Golden State it will be Lillard's attitude and drive vs Curry's skill that will give Portland the advantage.

 

[Natebishop3]

I think Curry is the better shooter/player but IMO Dame is the better leader. Both are alphas but Lillard has a bit more of that warrior attitude.

I was never a fan of Alan Iverson's game and I didn't care much for him as a leader but damn, he was a fucking warrior. Fearless, relentless, just kept coming at you. He would get beat to hell and still keep fighting. I see a lot of that same attitude in Lillard but what makes Lillard special is he's also a leader. He cares about his teammates and his teammates believe in him.

I remember those great Drexler teams that went to the finals/WCF/finals, Terry Porter played and won against some of the greatest point guards ever in the playoffs, Kevin Johnson, John Stockton, Magic Johnson and Gary Payton. All of them were easily the better point guard, better player but Porter was a warrior. We wasn't as talented but he fought and won.

We don't need Lillard to be a better player than Curry, we need him to be the better warrior. If Olshey can put similar to equal talent around Lillard that Curry has in Golden State it will be Lillard's attitude and drive vs Curry's skill that will give Portland the advantage.

TP also came from a small school.... gotta love that chip on the shoulder that he and Dame share

 

[SlyPokerDog]

TP also came from a small school.... gotta love that chip on the shoulder that he and Dame share

Curry also came from a small school, lol.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Yeah

I remember those great Drexler teams that went to the finals/WCF/finals, Terry Porter played and won against some of the greatest point guards ever in the playoffs, Kevin Johnson, John Stockton, Magic Johnson and Gary Payton. All of them were easily the better point guard, better player but Porter was a warrior. We wasn't as talented but he fought and won.

The interesting thing to remember is that, despite the points per game, Terry was actually the better overall Blazers player during the years we went deep into the playoffs. I see a lot of Terry's fire in Dame.

 

[Natebishop3]

Curry also came from a small school, lol.

Yeah.... except Curry is the son of a former NBA player, and was pretty well known while he was at college. Dame was a nobody until the draft rolled around.

 

[KingSpeed]

Only time will tell where he'll rank among the all time greats but he's certainly already a HOFer (duh) and they'll probably win the title again this year and maybe next year too.

That says, Lillard is nearly as good a shooter as Curry in his 4th season. Lillard is better at getting to the basket and is more athletic. Lillard is my favorite Blazer of all time and my favorite player in the NBA this year. I wouldn't trade him for Curry.

 

[KingSpeed]

I think Curry is the better shooter/player but IMO Dame is the better leader. Both are alphas but Lillard has a bit more of that warrior attitude.

I was never a fan of Alan Iverson's game and I didn't care much for him as a leader but damn, he was a fucking warrior. Fearless, relentless, just kept coming at you. He would get beat to hell and still keep fighting. I see a lot of that same attitude in Lillard but what makes Lillard special is he's also a leader. He cares about his teammates and his teammates believe in him.

I remember those great Drexler teams that went to the finals/WCF/finals, Terry Porter played and won against some of the greatest point guards ever in the playoffs, Kevin Johnson, John Stockton, Magic Johnson and Gary Payton. All of them were easily the better point guard, better player but Porter was a warrior. We wasn't as talented but he fought and won.

We don't need Lillard to be a better player than Curry, we need him to be the better warrior. If Olshey can put similar to equal talent around Lillard that Curry has in Golden State it will be Lillard's attitude and drive vs Curry's skill that will give Portland the advantage.

Porter never won a playoff series against Magic.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Porter never won a playoff series against Magic.

Oh excuse me, you're right.

Scratch all that, Porter sucked.

 

[Natebishop3]

Lillard is nearly as good a shooter as Curry in his 4th season.

No he isn't. Not even close. Dame is shooting around 45% from the field. Curry is shooting 53% from the field. That's not even remotely close.

Dame is shooting 42% from three. Curry is shooting 47% from three. Again, not close.

Dame is having his best year in terms of shooting percentage, but Curry is in another stratosphere so far this season.

And if you're comparing him to Curry's 4th season, then you've got a long way to go because Curry shot 45% from the field and 45% from three for the whole year. We're only 9 games into this season.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

No he isn't. Not even close. Dame is shooting around 45% from the field. Curry is shooting 53% from the field. That's not even remotely close.

Dame is shooting 42% from three. Curry is shooting 47% from three. Again, not close.

Dame is having his best year in terms of shooting percentage, but Curry is in another stratosphere so far this season.

He's probably talking about Currys 4th season.

 

[Natebishop3]

He's probably talking about Currys 4th season.

Yeah, I edited my post to address that. Curry shot 45% from the field and 45% from three for a full season. To try to compare Dame's shooting to Curry's full 4th season is silly.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

Yeah, I edited my post to address that. Curry shot 45% from the field and 45% from three for a full season. To try to compare Dame's shooting to Curry's full 4th season is silly.

It is definitely still early but Dame is shooting 46% from the field and 45% from three.

 

[PCmor7]

He is. Just has to keep healthy.

 

[Natebishop3]

It is definitely still early but Dame is shooting 46% from the field and 45% from three.

I think we can definitely compare Dame's numbers through 3 seasons, but this year is simply too young. The sample size is tiny. It will be interesting to see where he sits at the end of the year. If he can keep it up, it will definitely be an encouraging sign. His career shooting really hasn't been that good from an efficiency standpoint.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

I think we can definitely compare Dame's numbers through 3 seasons, but this year is simply too young. The sample size is tiny. It will be interesting to see where he sits at the end of the year. If he can keep it up, it will definitely be an encouraging sign. His career shooting really hasn't been that good from an efficiency standpoint.

I agree, I was just pointing out Damian's correct percentages.

 

[B-Roy]

Curry is the best player in the NBA and it's not even a discussion.

It's crazy I can say that with a straight face but it's true.

 

[KingSpeed]

No he isn't. Not even close. Dame is shooting around 45% from the field. Curry is shooting 53% from the field. That's not even remotely close.

Dame is shooting 42% from three. Curry is shooting 47% from three. Again, not close.

Dame is having his best year in terms of shooting percentage, but Curry is in another stratosphere so far this season.

And if you're comparing him to Curry's 4th season, then you've got a long way to go because Curry shot 45% from the field and 45% from three for the whole year. We're only 9 games into this season.

I was comparing Lillard this year to Curry's 4th year. Lillard is shooting 45% from three so far this year.

 

[KingSpeed]

I think we can definitely compare Dame's numbers through 3 seasons, but this year is simply too young. The sample size is tiny. It will be interesting to see where he sits at the end of the year. If he can keep it up, it will definitely be an encouraging sign. His career shooting really hasn't been that good from an efficiency standpoint.

Also, Lillard is scorIng more per game and assisting more per game than Curry did in his 4th year. Also, Lillard won 6 playoff games through his first 3 years. Curry had won zero.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

He's certainly the greatest player ever not to win Finals MVP when his team won the title.

(Actually, now I think about it, this was also true of Duncan, but only after he'd won it a few times.)

 

[KingSpeed]

He's certainly the greatest player ever not to win Finals MVP when his team won the title.

(Actually, now I think about it, this was also true of Duncan, but only after he'd won it a few times.)

Kobe shouldn't have won in 2010. Should've been Artest (his name at the time).

 

[Rastapopoulos]

This is a little off-topic (except insofar as this is about "the greats"), but I was thinking the other day that if Wilt was in college today, he'd be a mortal lock for #1 pick in the draft (basically for any draft this decade), and I can't really think of any other player from that far back who you could say that about.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I do think Curry is amazing. Possibly the greatest offensive guard under 6'5" ever (and that sounds like faint praise, but we're talking Iverson, Isiah Thomas, etc.). But what does that say about Delly?

 

[Natebishop3]

I was comparing Lillard this year to Curry's 4th year. Lillard is shooting 45% from three so far this year.

It's such a small sample size. Nine games is nothing. If you want to compare their first three years, knock yourself out, but nine games is not nearly enough to really compare their 4th seasons, especially when you're talking about shooting percentages.

Let's put that into perspective.

Curry played in 78 games that year.
Dame has played in 9.

Curry played 2,983 minutes in his 4th season.
Dame has played 330.

Curry attempted 1388 shots in his 4th season.
Dame has attempted 184.

The more Dame plays, and the more he shoots, the more those percentages will become impressive. At the moment, they don't mean anything.

 

[KingSpeed]

It's such a small sample size. Nine games is nothing. If you want to compare their first three years, knock yourself out, but nine games is not nearly enough to really compare their 4th seasons, especially when you're talking about shooting percentages.

Let's put that into perspective.

Curry played in 78 games that year.
Dame has played in 9.

Curry played 2,983 minutes in his 4th season.
Dame has played 330.

Curry attempted 1388 shots in his 4th season.
Dame has attempted 184.

The more Dame plays, and the more he shoots, the more those percentages will become impressive. At the moment, they don't mean anything.

You had no problem mentioning this year's numbers for Curry but we can't mention Dame's. Curry may be better. He may always be better. But Dame's my guy, now and forever.

 

[Natebishop3]

You had no problem mentioning this year's numbers for Curry but we can't mention Dame's. Curry may be better. He may always be better. But Dame's my guy, now and forever.

I also said I think his numbers are going to come down, but over the span of his career he has shot vastly better than Dame from the field and from the three point line.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Apparently he's on course to have the best season by anyone ever, by a large margin.

 

[Stevenson]

Wilt in 61-62 averaged 50 pts a game, scored 100, and had something like 22 rebounds a game. If Steph is on track to top that, I am totally amazed.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Wilt in 61-62 averaged 50 pts a game, scored 100, and had something like 22 rebounds a game. If Steph is on track to top that, I am totally amazed.

Yeah, that puzzled me too. Remember that they didn't even track blocks back then (nor steals or TOs, probably) so how can we even report a PER?

Maybe that amazing Philly statistician that just died tracked them, I don't know. But Wilt must've shot a poor % if his PER isn't ridiculously out of reach.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Wilt in 61-62 averaged 50 pts a game, scored 100, and had something like 22 rebounds a game. If Steph is on track to top that, I am totally amazed.

He also played 48 minutes a game.

For a while, Curry was averaging 37.6 in 31 minutes a game. That was 58 points per 48 minutes.

ETA: Right now he's "only" averaging 45.6 per 48.