Stephen Curry Enters NBA Draft
Among the pantheon of SLAMonline hoops Gods, Stephen Curry certainly has earned a prominent place. At times during the past year, Curry’s been the most discussed player in basketball. When Khalid wrote about Mo Cheeks’ firing (which worked out for Philly, hasn’t it?), the comments section tangented into a mini Steph Curry love-in. This was no aberration.
He’s arguably been the most compelling collegiate player since his performance in the ’08 Tournament. Will he be the next Boobie Gibson? Juan Dixon? Don’t even go there about J.J. Redick!
We’ll soon find out what type of NBA player Curry can be when some lottery team invites him to shake David Stern’s hand this June (Michael, do your thing man). Curry announced today he’ll enter the Draft and indicated he was signing with an agent.
Davidson star guard Stephen Curry announced today that he would skip his senior year at the school and go straight to the NBA.
Curry is expected to be a first-round pick in this summer’s NBA draft and could well be available when the Charlotte Bobcats make their pick.
One thing isn’t debatable about Curry: He was extra nice as a college player. How he’ll transition at the next level is anyone’s guess. He could fall in the Draft due to his size and questions about his handle. But when you shoot like he does, you will have a place. Remember there are several two-guards who are Curry’s height or shorter in the L right now. No matter where he’s drafted, some team will get a nice player.
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I’m liking your thinking on several posts.
worst case hes craig hodges, just shoots 3s wins a couple 3 point shootouts. no outspoken opinions though.
most likely though, gotta agree, probably boobie gibson
this guy is a bad ass.
like foh real.
this kid will be amazing.
i like him and eric gordon, and since im a ptowner he reminds me of rudy.
This release isn’t Jason Kapono fast. Sorry.
Not to mentin their conferences were totally unequal in terms of competition.
Also, AI running without the ball is the entire problem. Don’t kid yourself.
I also disagree with 90$ of your selections. Who in the world will creat for him in Indiana, Phoenix, Sacremento and Toronto? Good lord. This kid needs to wind up in Cleveland or Miami, where the primary ball handler isn’t a point guard.
He’s gotta play the one. I can’t see him getting away with anything else.
Tavoris is getting with you on the Iverson tip.
AI isn’t Rip like in using screens, but he knows how they work.
Larry Brown always had him coming off staggered screens in Philly.
And I’m not saying Iverson CAN’T play off the ball. Of course he can. He’s a superstar. Iverson can play almost any roll asked of him.
However, as you love to remind me with anything involving Nash, Iverson doesn’t SUCK without the ball, but he’s not MVP-all time legendary without the ball.
Iverson with the ball is downright sick. Iverson without the ball, well, let’s say he’s no Reggie Miller.
And sure, an oversized, physical point (very few in the league) could switch off defensive duties with Curry, but that’s limiting the number of teams Curry can be effective in EVEN MORE than just factoring in the teams that wont take him because Curry cannot handle the ball well enough to be a legit one in the NBA.
He can easily find a nitch on a team that could use him, but you can say that about all NBA players (even Kwame Brown and Adam Morrison). I just think Curry’s options are very limited. Very very limited.
I was referring to down screens and staggered screens, not pick and rolls.
However, you are right that AI did not use those screens the same way Rip or Reggie did, and that he is most effective creating off the bounce. That’s because he’s a better slasher than both of those players, but not as good of a catch and shoot player.
But, he used screens.
Tavoris: C’mon dude… OKC would be a GREAT fit for Curry, sure, (although one of the main things I didn’t like about yer Livingston to Rubio comparison was the defensive thing. Livingston was a good shot blocker because he was seven inches above most guards… dude got absolutely cooked on defense and rebounded poorly for his size, nothing like Rubio, who is one of the best defensive point guards in the world, btu I digress)… but Phoenix? Sacremento? Curry would be awful in Phoenix, people already burn Nash and Amare every single play, you want to put a person who arguably would be WORSE THAN THOSE TWO AT DEFENSE? (not saying Curry is a worse defender, but Curry guarding out of position is deffinitely worse than Nash guarding a one). You’d burn the franchise. I don’t think Curry would succeed in Sacremento either… K-Mart isn’t a superb drive-and-kick passer. Maybe Curry could find a nitch. I don’t know.
The fact that you even compared Reggie Miller to Curry makes me think that YOU think far too highly of Curry.
The athlete must possess a strong and powerful core, upper body and lower body to be able to keep the hips level during all movements.”
Yes he does, Sacramento doesn’t have a playmaker at all. Curry would be forced into something he is not comfortable with. You can’t put a sub par athlete at the point in his rookie year and expect him to out perform a 7 year vet. Curry going to Sacramento just wont happen either way, he is not going that early in the draft.
quickness is the ability to react rapidly. It actually has very little to do with your physicality, and more to do with your mind. drills and repetition sharpen and improve your reaction time.
Then why aren’t you in the NBA? If it has so much to do with your mind, and you know that, shouldn’t you be the quickest basketball player ever? hahaha quickness has to do with reaction time? how come video games didn’t make me quicker? Are you 7 years old?
ignorant – lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified
quickness being what your ignorant about.
1) Stephon Curry would fit in with – Indiana, New Jersey, Phoenix, Sacramento, OKC & Toronto
–also stated that curry and JJ Redick are equals offensively and Reddick would be ahead of Courtney Lee and Mickael Pietrus if he was not a specialized offensive player ( except pietrus and lee are two players with defensive specialties)
2) Said quickness – on a basketball court is more mental then physical
3) Said that to gain quickness you don’t need to gain muscle
4) pointed out strength building excercises that improve quickness
5) still can’t see how he is wrong
2. NBK, you do have a habit of calling people names. I’ve checked you on that.
3. Y’all were having an interesting discussion until it turned into a cat fight.
Also, I think both of your definitions of quickness are correct and it can be increased in a variety of ways. True, certain exercises are key, but, I’ve also found that training your body to react through drills makes you move faster as well. It’s not an either/or situation.
2)I stand by what I said about quickness, as basketball players don’t “get it” until they begin to think the game. There are thousands of articles about players who seem to be able to anticipate the play before it happens. Chris Paul excels at that (to use your example). Allen Iverson used 2 as well, but his QUICKNESS (ability to react rapidly) has diminished-which has minimized his effectiveness.
3)you dont’ have to have more muscle to train the muscles u have. that all depends on the musculature of the subject in question.
4)I pointed out agility exercises to gain quickness. by it’s very nature, ANY exercise will improve the strength of some muscle somewhere. That has NOTHING to do with a weight room.
5)I never said I wasn’t wrong about the dude. My whole point is that I think he will be fine in the league. Not an all-star, not a max-contract player, but definitely a fringe starter. In the right environment, he can be a key piece. The teams I mentioned were for certain reasons. Either 1)they have a productive point guard rotation and don’t need a playmaker, 2)they have a PG thatis big enuf to slide over to the 2 on defense (don’t forget Eric Snow did it for YEARS, and he’s 6’3″). or 3) they have a PG so INEFFECTIVE (sacramento) that just about anybody who can shoot is an upgrade. Maybe I wasn’t clear in explaining my justifications for my points, but I still do stand by them.
Time to address Tavoris’ points, of course, which I don’t agree with
1) JJ Reddick is a better offensive player than Lee and just as good as Pietrus. He is also a vastly inferior defender, a much poorer rebounder, and a potential problem in terms of the Magic’s full-court ball movement. So yes, he can be better offensively and still not make rotation.
2) QUICKNESS (the ability to react rapidly) is both a physical and mental term. Generally, in basketball terminology, quickness is a physical thing, and ‘basketball IQ’ or ‘court-vision’ are mental things. You have a different definition of quickness, something which both you and NBK should have realized far sooner than an hour and a half. That being said, I’m not sure Tony Parker has the QUICKNESS you’re talking about, so I see NBK’s confusion.
3) You still usually ‘train the muscle you have’ in a weight room. As NBK mentioned, most of Nash’s explosiveness drills are via plyometrics, and done in a weight room, without weights.
4) You’re correct
5) I think the the problem is that you’re not acknowledging the potential for FAILURE on Curry’s park. You can’t simply write Curry off as a ‘shoot first point guard’ on a team that has it’s focus off the one. He’s no Andre Miller or Jason Terry, he doesn’t good to-the-basket drive, the athleticism, the frame, the foot speed. There’s only so much exercise or a weight room can do, else we’d all be in the NBA.
Also, I still think you owe poor Rubio an apology!
Jukai we will disagree till the end of the earth on the abilities of JJ Redick. The fact that VERY few Duke stars have gone on to be NBA stars should tell you 2 things 1)Mike K does a phenomenal job recruiting players that will succeed in HIS system, and 2)Dukes system is/has/and always will be designed to feature their perimeter scorer. To that end, the untrained eye will see eye-popping numbers and equate that with legendary status. Sure, Redick was an accomplished player in college-no one can ever take that from him. At the pro level, however, he hasn’t proven any NBA-ready skills YET. And by the way, Redick isn’t a better offensive player than Courtney Lee. Courtney Lee doesn’t make mistakes on the offensive end and he has actually shot the ball well in his opportunity. Does that make him a better shooter? Heck no…but that(the fact that Redick does 1 thing better than most) doesn’t make Redick a better offensive player, either. and he’s NOWHERE near the finisher that Pietrus is. Pietrus’s athleticism ALONE makes him a better offensive player than Redick will ever be. Does that make him a better shooter? No, but that’s a moot point, as Redick hasn’t proven the ability to do ANYTHING else to contribute offensively. I like Rubio, and will cheer him on…Shaun Livingston and he do have very similar skill sets. and before the injury, Shaun Livingston was about to blow…he was leading the team in assists while only playing about 18 minutes a game. That man has court vision and handle like few who have ever played this game. His issues were injuries. I don’t think Rubio will be injury-prone (as he’s much shorter and in better shape obviously), but he’s not gonna make CP3, DWill, Rondo, Rose, or Billups lose any sleep.
Do you realize that Tony Parker gets his interior baskets not on straight drives to the basket, but on the counters to the defensive rotation? if you google “quickest players in the nba” you will see Tony Parker’s name more often than not. I dont’ acknowledge the possibility that Curry will fail, because the overwhelming odds are he will succeed.
1)played atleast 5 years (this one is a must no matter what
2)Gains some kind of recognition/reputation for work on the court. Ala – all nba team, Roy, Dpoy, Lead
3)Win a title
My definition of success is much lower than NBK’s. My definition is AROUND Courtney Lee’s level. JJ Reddick, right now, is on ‘fringe’ success.
Also, for the Magic, Lee gets the same shots Reddick would (and has) knocked down countless times, but stays on the floor because of better defensive and a penchant for kicking the ball around the perimeter. Pietrus is a great scorer, but check out NBA Hot Spots, and see how awful of a shooter he is. It balances out in my opinion. Not going to focus too much on this debate, since we seem to have different opinions on the players actual value.
The whole weight room weird debate is on you and NBK. You clearly mean the same thing, you just have different terminology. I just added two notes: a) If you think Curry doesn’t need to add ANY muscle, you’re terribly wrong. It doesn’t matter if Curry can get to the basket with his speed if he can’t finish on plays because he’s not strong enough, and b) quickness as a general term refers to mental and physical quickness. Quickness in terms of basketball usually just refers to quickness. Basketball IQ and court vision and offensive awareness refer to the mental aspect of things. That’s a generality, and people say things differently. No terminology is wrong as long as you haven’t invented it off the fly.
Also, I still disagree with the Rubio/Livingston comparison. But I don’t have the energy to type that up.
Also, there’s no comparing BJ Armstrong to Curry, in my opinion. Armstrong was an all-star. Dude could pass the ball on the break and was a crafty ball thief, hardcore. Sure, Curry could develop into a BJ Armstrong by putting on 25 pounds, becoming a better passer and gaining a quicker first step (BJ was EXPLOSIVE) but the magic eight ball says “not likely”
Quickness in a basketball sense is not primarily physical. The swift (allthe synonyms kinda cloud the definition) reaction is a mental reaction. If your mind norices something and instructs your body to react accordingly before other’s mind does the same, then it means that your MIND IS QUICKER. Nearly every story about a basketbal player being “in a zone” centers around 2 factors: 1) the game SLOWS DOWN (my point) and 2)the basket seems to get bigger. The first aspect-the game slowing down-is probably easier explained that your MIND is speeding up (as your environment isn’t gonna slow down just for you).
Indiana, Curry could have maybe ten minutes on the floor? Less? Tj Ford looks like he’s sealed the battle of point guards on the floor, and he is in NO WAY able to guard a shooting guard. They tried that in Toronto, the backcourt of Calderon and Ford practically guaranteed that the guards on the other team would combine for fifty. Jack may have more success guarding the twos in the league, but I don’t know… I just see Curry better as a ONE on a team that doesn’t run the ball through their point guard, like Miami, Cleveland, Phili, Atlanta, Portland.. teams you have totally ignored mentioning. It’s like putting Steve Nash at the shooting guard spot: sure, the dude’ll knock down threes all day long, but good christ, career highs for every shooting guard in the league!
And the stuff I’m saying ain’t even for Curry’s rookie year. I’m saying career wise, Curry is a liability at the two. Anything can happen in this crazy world, but I’d sure as hell put money on it.
Also, I don’t know why you continue to debate me on -YOUR- definition of quickness as it refers to basketball. You can explain it to me all day long, but after every single time you do, it wont change the fact that in general basketball terms, when a scout mentions the quickness of a player, he’s referring to a players sprint or explosiveness or speed with the ball. Yes, I know, if you webster quickness, one of the definitions is mental speed. I get that. What I’m saying is, when someone is talking about how quick Tony Parker is, they mean how -FAST- he is. When someone talks about Leandro Barbosa’s quickness, they don’t mean how fast he sees defensive breakdowns, they mean how swift he is to the basket. That’s what quickness usually refers to in -basketball terms.- You use it differently. That’s fine. But don’t keep trying to explain to me the ‘real’ way to use quickness, because in general, that’s not what people are talking about. Draft scouts said Tauren Green was quick. They also said dude was downright dumb in his offensive awareness, not seeing the open pass or the other defends not infront of him on the floor.
So can we be done with this debate about how to use the word quickness now?
Atlanta isn’t gonna try the experiment with a 2-masquerading as a 1 again. They already failed with Salim Stoudemire, are having trouble finding minutes for AC Law, and already have Flip and Bibby doing PG impersonations.
Why would Cleveland acquire Curry when he duplicates the skills of Gibson?
Atlanta isn’t gonna try the experiment with a 2-masquerading as a 1 again. They already failed with Salim Stoudemire, are having trouble finding minutes for AC Law, and already have Flip and Bibby doing PG impersonations.
Why would Cleveland acquire Curry when he duplicates the skills of Gibson?
I also picked teams that Curry may not crack rotation because, let’s be honest, he may not have the athleticism right now to even crack OKC’s rotation. I look at things that grimly. He’s a gamble and league execs know that. The draft class is so weak though, it’s a good year to take gambles.
I am hardly nitpicking (as I have tried 2 end this portion of the discussion more than a few times).
lateral quickness isnt developed in the weight room nbk…who told u that? excessive musculature (which also means weight, since muscle weighs more than fat) DIMINISHES quickness.
Tavoris Posted: Apr.24 at 4:11 pm
quickness is the ability to react rapidly. It actually has very little to do with your physicality, and more to do with your mind.
You can’t react rapidly without fast twitch MUSCLES. Which although are heavier then fat, also make a person faster and stronger, and through repitition quicker. SO your right scientifically but your logic is terrible. Under your definition based off of what you said Stephen Hawking should be the best basketball player in the NBA.
Tavoris Posted: Apr.24 at 2:49 pm
nbj why would he need to hit the weight room? players can’t touch each other on the perimeter. I think he’s gonna need to work on his handle and his lateral quickness more than anything-because if he is able to provide adaquate ball pressure defensively and bring the ball up against ball pressure, then he will have a spot in somebody’s rotation. I don’t see a lottery team letting him languish on their bench. He most likely won’t be a starter, but he wont’ be the 12th man either. and this is what you said: nbk Posted: Apr.24 at 2:56 pm
Tavoris uhm dude you can’t guard a guy if your not strong enough to stop him from going through you. And lateral quickness doesn’t develope out of concentration you have to hit the weight room and get stronger. If you know anything about playing in the NBA you know that the Weight Room is imperative for every player, but some more then others. A 185LB shooting gaurd being a prime example of those that need it more then others. Guess what? Lateral quickness is obviously physical, but it DOES develop out of concentration. That’s precisely why some phenomenaly fast players have such difficulty staying in front of their man. Allenp already got wit u about your insulting comments, as they add nothing to the discussion. I can exchange with you all day without turning it into a flame war.
that is from your own link. It clearly clearly states that physical quickness is more important then mental. And you posted that. Even though I don’t know who coach Swen Nater is, and I don’t put any stock in his blog.
Tavoris Posted: Apr.27 at 3:38 pm
nbk…I have to admit, you are sticking to your guns… they are empty, but u r still sticking to them…I tip my hat to you.
Tavoris Posted: Apr.27 at 3:53 pm
yeah…because if he’s “hitting the weight room”, he may actually be home sleeping.
IDK about you but that is not conceding jack-ish to anything. And as I have already stated he does need to improve his lateral quickness (which is your f’n point) but that is a biproduct of working in the weight room (or through doing strength building exercises whatever) . I am not a kid, I am college educated, and sarcasm does not pass as a concession. I know what I am talking about I have been through the training, I have seen pros do it inside of a weight room. Your evidence comes from some kooks blog which still supports my point that the quickness in question is physical and is improved through resistance and repititon. Which you have eluded too without the knowledge of what actually improves said quickness. Your points have gone from unrelated, to the opposite of what you meant.
Tony Parker being a person who does these speed and quickness building excersices. The same tony parker who you claim never sets foot in a weight room.
OH and all these different training excersices are performed inside of a WEIGHT ROOM>
Tavoris Posted: Apr.27 at 2:12 pm
nbk…I’m done with the weight room discussion. let it go.
#
Tavoris Posted: Apr.27 at 2:15 pm
I said that improving his lateral quickness is MORE important at this point. No one is questioning that the exercises needed will make him stronger-that’s a given. At any rate, we are done with the weight room discussion. If you can’t admit your error 2 yourself, then it’s useless discussing this any further. We’ve moved on to other comparisons, anyway.
Thats true I do have a bad habit.
nbk…I have to admit, you are sticking to your guns… they are empty, but u r still sticking to them…I tip my hat to you.
Tavoris Posted: Apr.27 at 3:53 pm
yeah…because if he’s “hitting the weight room”, he may actually be home sleeping.
Thats right all knowing super sarcastic being keep those unsnide remarks coming. I don’t care that you do it, but stop acting like its only me, oblivious
Weird I didn’t know that you can do strength training in two different places. Epiphony I think so!!!! nbk Posted: Apr.24 at 5:08 pm I can’t believe your 30 years old nbk Posted: Apr.24 at 5:09 pm Ok those are two things I already said. Ignorant nbk Posted: Apr.24 at 5:20 pm I would hate for some kid to think that just because your 30 you know what your talking about. nbk Posted: Apr.24 at 5:24 pm Stop calling me homie, your 30 years old. nbk Posted: Apr.24 at 5:56 pm Thats true I do have a bad habit.
that one rings especially true
Probably, if i know i am right i am going to be honest. And my honesty is mean and everyone here is over it, your actually the first “bad argument” I’ve had in a couple months. THE FIRST STEP IS ADMITTING YOU HAVE A PROBLEM. “Hi, nbk!!!”
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