2016 - Where one way player is the face of the NBA happens

[Straight_Ballin]

Sad but true. Hope this guy starts working on his defense and wins a DPOY award so that the standard for being the face of the NBA is on par with past greats where both offense AND DEFENSE are taken into account. :sleeping

[dhsilv]

He's just not that bad defensively....he just had a defensive play to end the game tonight.

[theaussieguy]

this is a myth perpetuated by the Lebron/Durant/Davis fam to diminish Curry's achievement, the reality is hes a very good defender and has an amazing capacity for steals. On a night he gets 44 points, hits clutch 3's to get on top in the dieing minutes, and a night where he finishes the game by legitimately ruining Toronto's chances by strong hard D, you decide to make this thread?

nikka pls, hold this L

[LoneyROY7]

Curry > MJ.

[Straight_Ballin]

Curry > MJ.

Curry can't even make all NBA defensive 2nd team.

Is this you playing 2k16?

http://nba2k.yougamers.co/video.html#!hR0A13Frj2A

[Jameerthefear]

he's just as good of a defender as magic was and no one hated on him

[Straight_Ballin]

Magic was a liability against guards so they tried to hide him on scrub forwards. Hes the only top 10 player who wasnt a good defender.

[dhsilv]

Magic was a liability against guards so they tried to hide him on scrub forwards. Hes the only top 10 player who wasnt a good defender.

.......

Who is putting curry in the all time top 10? If we're talking top 20 or 25....his defense isn't a problem which is where he we should expect him to get to.

[Sarcastic]

Magic was a liability against guards so they tried to hide him on scrub forwards. Hes the only top 10 player who wasnt a good defender.

Yea scrubs lead the league in steals. :rolleyes:

Dude was 6'9". Why should he guard 6 foot guards?

[Cleverness]

Curry can't even make all NBA defensive 2nd team.

Is this you playing 2k16?

http://nba2k.yougamers.co/video.html#!hR0A13Frj2A

Come on, Kobe made 1st team all defense in 2011 :lol

Man you gotta start watching games. You post about Steph like you haven't seen him play since 2009

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12648764/how-stephen-curry-developed-top-flight-defender

http://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2015/4/1/8324527/stephen-curry-mvp-candidate-defense-golden-state-warriors

#1 steals last year.. #2 so far this year.. opponents shoot a lower fg% when guarded by him... not elite like MJ, but still pretty good

[Straight_Ballin]

.......

Who is putting curry in the all time top 10? If we're talking top 20 or 25....his defense isn't a problem which is where he we should expect him to get to.

If Curry is able to go 6/6 in the finals as the leading scorer on his team, then forget top 10, he will be the 2nd best player to ever play the game and if he can become a first team all NBA level defender, then he could very well overtake MJ as GOAT. The last time the face of the NBA was a 1 way player was when Magic played.

[rmt]

If Curry is able to go 6/6 in the finals as the leading scorer on his team, then forget top 10, he will be the 2nd best player to ever play the game and if he can become a first team all NBA level defender, then he could very well overtake MJ as GOAT. The last time the face of the NBA was a 1 way player was when Magic played.

That's one mighty big IF (he's only 1/6 of the way there and didn't even get FMVP). That's another huge IF - don't you think it's a bit late for Curry - MJ was 9x all-defensive/DPOY. LOL at Curry overtaking MJ as GOAT.

[dhsilv]

If Curry is able to go 6/6 in the finals as the leading scorer on his team, then forget top 10, he will be the 2nd best player to ever play the game and if he can become a first team all NBA level defender, then he could very well overtake MJ as GOAT. The last time the face of the NBA was a 1 way player was when Magic played.

he's 27ish and a point guard. He's not winning 6 titles. He's not going to last that long. he might very well have the best season of all time. he might move up a lot of lists. but those are some HUGE if's.

As for defense, last year his defensive stats were pretty damn solid. Given the defensive teams are a joke beyond words historically I don't value them at all. Especially for guards where defense isn't that important. Curry plays good point guard defense. It isn't great but he's actually been at or above average the last few years.

his offense is clearly other wordly.

As for the face of the game. I mean the problem there is that big men have pretty much been the face of the game on and off since forever. If we adjust for position is dirk a better defender, again position adjusted? nash won two MVP's and he sure as heck wasn't a better defender. Isiah was a big deal during their titles....was he any better defensively? Was Jerry west better? Oscar? Baylor? Heck was Dr J really a better defender and if so what if we adjust for position?

[GrapeApe]

I think it's more about a lack of defensive responsibility than being a bad defender. He doesn't HAVE to be a great defender. It's a lot harder to put up big offensive numbers when your team needs you to also be a lock down defender every night. I know there have been some great players who were suspect defensively, but to me the greatest players are those who can carry a team on both ends of the floor.

[ShawkFactory]

I think it's more about a lack of defensive responsibility than being a bad defender. He doesn't HAVE to be a great defender. It's a lot harder to put up big offensive numbers when your team needs you to also be a lock down defender every night. I know there have been some great players who were suspect defensively, but to me the greatest players are those who can carry a team on both ends of the floor.
Agree completely. But magic was suspect on that end. If you can dominate enough offensively to carry your teams to championships it can be overlooked.