How the greatest goalscorer, Stephen Curry, got out of his shooting trough

(Translator's note: This article is written by The Athletic columnist NBA writer Marcus Thompson II, and the content does not represent the views of the translator.) ）

The dust has settled on the outcome of the game, but Jared Vanderbilt, the Minnesota Timberwolves' elite 6'9-inch defensive player, has been clinging to Stephen Curry when he holds the ball, and in the face of such defensive pressure, Curry chose to deal with it by breaking through. When Curry broke through, he couldn't keep Vanderbilt away from his body, and Curry's pass was also interfered with by Vanderbilt.

After scrambling to regain the missing ball, Curry turned around and found that the defender in front of him was Jaden McDaniels, another elite 6'9-inch defender of the Timberwolves.

How did Curry respond? That's crushing the defense. Curry didn't even dribble the ball again, he just lunged cold arrows in place, the basketball hollowed into the net, and he hit a three-point shot 30 feet away that we haven't seen since Nov. 30.

It was Curry's sixth three-pointer of the game, and in the end, the Warriors defeated the Timberwolves 124-115. This time, Curry hit six three-pointers with just 10 shots, and if this game is Curry's explosive battle, then his breakthrough point comes from Wednesday.

While curry was training in his daily shooting practice, he kept throwing shots, and for Curry, he knew something was wrong, but he didn't know what was causing the problem, and that factor was strength.

Bruce Fraser, an assistant warrior coach who has trained with Curry for years, said: "Curry said he didn't have enough power when shooting and was a bit unstable at the top of his shots, especially when he lost or strayed a lot. ”

As Curry explains, his shots lack power. And the power comes from the core, it starts from the foot upwards, the power is transmitted from the bottom up to the body and affects the rhythm of the shooting, the lack of strength will disrupt the process, which was evident in the previous Warriors victories over the Rockets and Jazz. Although Curry hit a mid-range jumper in the win over the Rockets , the first whistle-presser in Curry 's career — Curry combined with 26 three-pointers in both games, he only hit five of his five shots.

And some of the balls that were thrown don't even look like Curry threw them.

When Curry reached the highest point and was about to throw the ball out, his arm was a little too strong, because Curry did not get the same strength as usual when shooting, especially when he retreated to shoot. If you're Curry — constantly moving in blocking and getting surrounded by a lot of defenders, being pulled by defenders every time, always shooting in a very tight space — it's hard to maintain the strength of the shot, especially when you rely most on the strength of the arm. That's why, many of Curry's shots were short or off track.

Assistant coach Fraser could see Curry's lack of strength when shooting, and Fraser was able to tell this from the trajectory of the ball spinning in the air and the angle of Curry's arm that lacked consistency when shooting, but Fraser couldn't figure out what the source of Curry's lack of strength was.

But Curry shouted "Aha! He found the reason for the lack of strength. This reason is too subtle for teaching assistant Fraser to observe, and it is for everyone other than Curry. During Curry's self-diagnosis, he found the answer, and that was his foot.

Curry has developed a habit of using his toes instead of the instep when shooting, and the force generated by the toes is smaller than that produced by the stimulation of the instep. The discovery immediately improved Curry's shooting, and his shots began to become the same as they usually did during training, the feeling of hollowing out the net returning, and the wonderful rotation of the ball in the air. Curry's balance was corrected with the extra force that erupted at the instep of his foot, and his follow-up movements after the shot gave him better control of the ball. After discovering this factor that affects shooting, Curry is eager to test whether this self-diagnosis is accurate in the next game against the Lone Ranger. To this end, at the beginning of the game, Curry was more focused on close-range attack, and the results were relatively good. Curry scored his first point with a throw, then began to try three-point shots and gradually began to hit jumpers on the three-point line and the two-point line.

But Curry's discovery didn't work immediately, as he shot 10 three-pointers in the game against the Lone Rangers and hit just two of them. But the process is encouraging, because even the balls thrown in this game are closer to hitting the basket than the balls lost in previous games.

Calmly but confidently, Curry is looking forward to a good performance against the Timberwolves. Then Curry hit more than 50 percent of his three-point shooting in this game, the first time since Dec. 23 last year, and it's been a while.

It is widely believed that Curry's shooting will return to business. But the truth is, shooting doesn't get better on its own, even for a pitcher like Curry.

Curry's worst slump in his career is not something that can be solved simply. It has been persistent and confusing to the point where a thorough diagnosis is required. Prior to this game against the Timberwolves, Curry's season three-point shooting dropped to 37.percent — a drop enough to bring his career three-point shooting below 43 percent. Although he played well against Minnesota, he has yet to get out of the woods and is just one step closer to his average.

Curry has been called the greatest shooter of all time, not just because he hit more three-point shots than anyone else, but also because of his magic in shooting three-pointers and his mastery of three-pointers. Curry's professionalism has allowed him to be a great shooter in different situations, so the detection process of this shot failure is not so much about tapping the side of the TV set as running diagnostics on Tesla.

Ironically: It's safe to say that Curry's shooting is no longer as efficient as it used to be because of the desire for a three-point record, and breaking the three-point record will prove his place in the three-point field. Mentally and physically trying to crown the three-point king as quickly as possible, Curry's shooting is no longer as stable as ever.

Curry, the greatest shooter of all time, had to be an expert in shooting diagnostics to get out of this situation.

For a player who has built a special reputation in the first 12 years of his career, the numbers are quite staggering. In the same season that he broke Ray Allen's career regular-season three-point shooting record, Curry's shooting percentage began to plummet.

Leaving aside Curry's 2019-20 season, where he played just five games, his shooting numbers this year are well below his peak. Under Steve Kerr' leadership, Curry's true shooting percentage (a measure of overall shooting efficiency) jumped to 63.8% in 2014-15. Before that, his career-high record was 61 percent. In the 2015-16 season, it jumped to a league-high 66.9 percent. Two years later, he set a new best (67.5%). Last season, when the Warriors' offense and its mediocre, he carried the Warriors forward with a 65.5 percent true shooting percentage.

This season, Curry's true shooting percentage is 58.4 percent, the lowest since Curry's rookie season (again, excluding the 2019-20 season).

When the closest defender to Curry is 6 feet away, (the NBA calls this the "big slot") Curry is shooting 41.5 percent from three-point range this season. Since Cole led the team, Curry's "big open" three-point shooting rate has never been less than 46.4%. Last season, his "big open" three-point shooting percentage was 46.9 percent. The 2018-19 Warriors reached the Finals, which was also the season with the highest three-point shooting rate of Curry's "big vacancy", and in the 2018-19 season, Curry shot 279 "big open" three-pointers, shooting 52.3%.

In the "open" three-pointers instead of the "big open," when the defender is 4 to 6 feet away, Curry is shooting 33 percent this season. Last season it was 43.2 percent.

Curiously, Curry's struggles with open three-pointers are both the biggest cause for concern and the biggest reason not to worry about. Watching him miss those unreal layups can't help but make people suspect that something is wrong, but a world where Curry constantly misses the empty three-pointer seems even more unreal.

So This season is a test of curry's patience, and Curry is waiting for the inevitable correction.

"Who cares about excuses?" Curry said earlier this week. Curry declined to give any exhaustive explanation for his shooting problems. "You either put in or you can't put in. So I had to start hitting shots. ”

But behind the scenes, Curry silently does a lot of work.

Curry asked Fraser and his personal coach, Brandon Payne, to help him solve problems with his shooting. The two coaches know Curry very well, which means that the two of them are essentially Curry, the right-hand man of the extraordinary shooter.

"If I think I'm very important, it's going to be a lot of pressure," Fraser said. "Curry knows his body and shooting better than anybody else, and if I see something that I think is different from what I normally look like, I'll have an opinion on that — not to be an expert at basketball shooting."

Some stats about Stephen Curry's shot slippage.

Career (Games: 80, Shooting Percentage: 47.3%, Two-Point Shooting Percentage: 51.8%, Three-Point Shooting Percentage: 42.9%, True Shooting Percentage: 62.4%)

2021-22 season (number of games: 45, shooting percentage: 41.8%, two-point shooting rate: 48.8%, three-point shooting rate: 37.7%, true shooting rate: 58.4%)

Since breaking the three-point record (number of games: 18, shooting percentage: 39.7%, two-point shooting rate: 48.0%, three-point shooting rate: 33.8%, true shooting rate: 55.1%)

The reasons and theories for Curry's drop in shooting percentage are multi-layered.

Fatigue is a major cause.

This fatigue is not the kind that requires a day off, but the kind that needs a vacation. The record number of three-pointers chased has made Curry more eager to figure out the defensive pressures he will face every night, and then once he gets into trouble, those pressures will pile up. In addition, his average playing time has increased to 34.7 minutes, more than half a minute per game last season. But Curry played 45 of the Warriors' 49 games. As a result, Curry's total playing time this season has reached 70% of the total playing time of 82 games last season. Even with Curry taking six games off for the rest of the game, Curry still has a good chance of setting a record for the most time he's played since the 2016-17 season.

This is not new to Curry, who often uses the Time of the All-Star Game to recharge his batteries before playing well in the second half of the season. Throughout his career, Curry shot 44.9 percent from three-point range after the All-Star Break, a significant improvement from the 41.8 percent three-point shooting percentage before the All-Star break.

Another reason: too little time for shooting training

'The team hasn't had enough training time this season, it's really hard. Fraser said, "It's about the schedule — every team faces problems like that, not just us. But from an practice point of view, Curry didn't shoot many times. He doesn't shoot a lot on non-match days, even on some game days because we don't have that much time to do shooting training. When Curry keeps practicing shooting, his shots will be better. You have to play golf to be a good golfer, and if you're Stephen Curry, you're a precision pitcher, and you have to keep shooting to be a good shooter. ”

Rhythm is also a reason.

One reason Curry lacks rhythm is that there are too many changes to his defense, and in most games, opponents will limit him through the bag clip, which makes Curry have to change the way he attacks. As Curry says, he likes to look at photos — look at snapshots of some of the players defending him — so curry can find a way to crack the defense. However, the way other teams defend Curry is becoming more and more difficult to figure out, and even if Curry passes his own defender or bag, the other players of the opposing team will always remain vigilant and wait for the opportunity to assist. And usually the players defending Curry will choose to chase from behind the cover rather than change defenses.

Sometimes, you can see Curry trying to tell where the defense will come from, or figure out where to find the right pairing and judge the timing of the singles. Curry's usual offensive methods after entering the box are throwing, stopping jumpers and hitting the basket. Defenders know the Warriors' roster and Curry's favorite tactics to use to get empty seats. The defender's high-intensity defense and defensive strategy of not letting Curry catch the ball sometimes makes Curry rush to make a move, because Curry is not sure how much time he will have before the defender returns to position. And when Curry doesn't shoot for a while, he's sure to look for opportunities to shoot next.

Another reason that affects Curry's rhythm is the new rotation method. Curry used to play the entire first and third quarters. Then he would sit on the bench in the first 6 minutes of the second and fourth quarters, or sit until the team scene was out of control and Kerr had to send him on. But once Curry comes on, he'll play all the rest of the game. Now, Curry will be replaced in the middle or at the end of a game, and Cole admits that such a rotation may affect Curry's rhythm, and uses this as an example of Curry's selflessness. At times, Curry got into shape, but he had to take a break because he was playing a little too much.

The reality, however, is that Curry is almost 34 years old and he is already in his 13th season. Although he is in good shape and as strong as ever, it is normal that he cannot solve these problems casually. Proper resting is becoming more and more important for Curry, his rhythm is also important, and the most important thing is the power of his shooting.

Are these the reasons in themselves? No, but overall, the writhing makes sense after a disturbing record chase. It's also easy to see how he developed this futile habit. Frustration is growing.

"It was usually a technical issue that turned out to be a mental issue," Kerr said as he recalled days struggling with his own shooting. "It's just one thing I need to work out, but it's more important than anything else in my mind and it's hard to get rid of. For me, it's a different story, I only shoot four times a game and if I lose the first one, I think: 'Oh, damn'. My shots are usually in tandem, and one failure to make it hurts my confidence. ”

Famous pitcher: Chip Engelland, as shooting coach, said Engelland never gave Curry or Klay Thompson any advice on shooting. Thompson suffered the worst slump of his career at the start of the 2018-19 season and got out with the help of assistant coach Chris De Marco. Engelland left the work to his assistants, and Engelland himself provided emotional support.

Cole said Curry doesn't need shooting advice. During Curry's sluggish performance, Kerr praised Curry's defensive, passing, rebounding and assist performance, and Kerr refused to worry too much about Curry's shooting performance. Curry takes the same approach on the surface – avoiding anxiety.

Fraser said Curry didn't deal with the downturn the way he used to. In the past, Curry would get caught up in it, and disappointment would manifest itself in his body language. Even though Curry has been slow to find the reason for the trough this time, the calmness he has shown has impressed Fraser and his colleagues.

"Sometimes I joke with him to keep it easy." Fraser said, "And in a strange way." Sometimes when things are really serious, he'll joke with me and I'm thinking: 'We're serious.' And you're talking to me about a kid in the stands with a funny hat? ”

Curry said he understands what he brings to the team on a spiritual level, and the joy curry brings to the team is too important for him to lose his way because of his downturn. So Curry is focused on defending, passing and organizing his teammates, he maintains high energy and stable execution as a way to make an impact on the win, Curry said he will go to the game with a 'my shot will always come back' mentality.

In Thursday's game against the Timberwolves, Curry did. He received a pass from Gary Payton II late in the first quarter and had a chance to switch offense. He dribbled the ball once and suddenly threw a three-pointer from 26 feet, a three-pointer that he had conceded multiple times in last month's game, but this time, Curry knew the ball was going to go in.

Then Curry started dancing, which was a clear sign that Curry began to rediscover himself.

"It's about having fun." Curry said after scoring 29 points in the game that night, and this day was also curry's eighth All-Star selection. "It's a good feeling when you just throw some goals at the beginning of the game. You'll want to harness this energy and dance with the waves. ”

(Wu Liuqi)