Peak 2016 Draymond in 9 games without Curry: 16.6/11.0/8.7/1.7/1.6 (6-3 W/L)

[Im Still Ballin]

I made this post in another thread the other day but thought it deserved its own one. It's fascinating to see how that great 2016 team functioned without its all-time great offensive engine. This nine-game sample showed that Draymond could do more when needed.

...

Let's not forget peak Draymond went 6-3 without Steph Curry in 2016. Six of those games came in the playoffs. All games were against playoff teams. Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, and Portland. He averaged the following:

- 9 games
- 16.6 points, 11.0 rebounds, 8.7 assists, 1.7 steals, 1.6 blocks, 2.4 turnovers
- 52.02% TS, 37.2% 3PT, 70.5% FT

His game didn't magically disappear without Curry. We have a tendency to overstate the dependency.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDpTpDUXQEo


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFFGmnVmx5c


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aohkvvHlQFg

[Im Still Ballin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_iH14fXJJE


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJxDB12TXws

[Im Still Ballin]

Warriorfan had an interesting response to this post in the other thread.


Draymond played super well in 2016 and had that legendary game 7 but 2016 ended up being a bit of an outlier for Draymond. He was never able to reproduce that, especially offensively. In 2016 he was playing like a stretch 4 to an extent while giving dpoy caliber defense and being able to handle the ball. His 3 point shooting was never able to recover from the drop he had after 2016. Then he ended up losing all confidence in his offensive game. If you saw any of the season where Curry was out for long stretches, Dray certainly looked lost out there and dependency was evident.

In 2016 was when the Warriors were at their height of absurd depth. It was the last year that Curry was on his cheap deal he signed while he was struggling heavily through severe ankle injuries. After Curry signed his cheap deal he was able to get healthy and then developed into an MVP level player. That huge chunk of extra salary allowed the Warriors to have the deepest rotation in the league.

Dray’s 2016 year was a personal outlier for him and it was when the Warriors were at their deepest.

Even that being said Steph was pressured to return back ahead of schedule from his MCL injury after the Warriors dropped a game by double digits once they got to Portland.

[hold this L]

Dray in 2016 was absolutely amazing. That was far and away his peak, his offense and defense were on another level. Unfortunately his offense fell off once KD got there, but that was the best combination. A big reason for the 73.

[ILLsmak]

He's def got some dimes, but he's not a scoring option. He's not really a dribbling option, and a lot of his passes are to people who just rise up and shoot over people. Those are assists, too, but that team is just different, even their bummies were wet. It's def not ONLY Curry, though. I do like his passes on cuts, though, and I love how he pushes the ball on the break, but, again, he's just not good enough to win rangz. Gotta accept it.

Him hitting 3s is crazy, though, and remm he ultimately lost it for them in 16 as well. Aiye. If Dray was a legit knock down 3 point shooter for his whole career, I'd see how people could fawn over him. And I'm talking about knock down WIDE OPEN THREES; how he became so broke doesn't make sense to me, but he could have even been wetter since that was one of his biggest weaknesses. When he hit .400~ it changed his whole game.

It's cool tho to see him catch it up top or whatever and hit someone cutting, but the way the offense moved was just different. They were great passes, though, but it's not like you could be like ok... get the ball to Dray and move, he's gonna get us championship buckets.

-Smak

[tontoz]

Things are a little different now....




https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/g195/tontoz/IMG_20220602_223539.jpg

[Axe]

32 points in game 7 of the 2016 finals en route to blowing a 3-1 lead while the gerbil was nowhere to be found.

[tontoz]

32 points in game 7 of the 2016 finals en route to blowing a 3-1 lead while the gerbil was nowhere to be found.


This isn't the place to reference your sex life. Take that to the off court forum.:oldlol:

[Axe]

Oops, must've inadvertently struck one of uncle t's frail nerves with that. Sorry, my bad. :ohwell:

[ArbitraryWater]

Klay went off as well, that playoff stretch was even better.

[warriorfan]

This isn't the place to reference your sex life. Take that to the office court forum.:oldlol:

:roll: :roll:

[Axe]

Suddenly smells like lotta crack rock in here. :kobe:

[Im Still Ballin]

He's def got some dimes, but he's not a scoring option. He's not really a dribbling option, and a lot of his passes are to people who just rise up and shoot over people. Those are assists, too, but that team is just different, even their bummies were wet. It's def not ONLY Curry, though. I do like his passes on cuts, though, and I love how he pushes the ball on the break, but, again, he's just not good enough to win rangz. Gotta accept it.

Him hitting 3s is crazy, though, and remm he ultimately lost it for them in 16 as well. Aiye. If Dray was a legit knock down 3 point shooter for his whole career, I'd see how people could fawn over him. And I'm talking about knock down WIDE OPEN THREES; how he became so broke doesn't make sense to me, but he could have even been wetter since that was one of his biggest weaknesses. When he hit .400~ it changed his whole game.

It's cool tho to see him catch it up top or whatever and hit someone cutting, but the way the offense moved was just different. They were great passes, though, but it's not like you could be like ok... get the ball to Dray and move, he's gonna get us championship buckets.

-Smak

Good post as always, Smak. Being a three-point shooting threat took his game to the next level. Defenses had to respect his shot, defend him on pick-and-pop and spot-up shot attempts. This opened up his ability to attack closeouts with his strong ball handling and playmaking. Wasn't the best slasher but made it work with his superb passing.

[Im Still Ballin]

I don't see why peak Dray couldn't elevate a team like 2014 Joakim Noah. He came 4th in the MVP; I'm sure with the right cast of players 2016 Draymond could do the same. Give him shooters, cutters, and defenders, and at least one solid isolation scorer and playmaker.