"Lao Tzu TMD defended that ball!" Lao Tzu put a lock on that ball! ”
Stephen Curry yelled wildly at the Warriors bench.
The US media P figure ridiculed
Curry refers to the round 19.8 seconds before the end of the game, when Morant performed a "roll call tactic" to single out Curry. As a result, Morante, who has always been known for his speed, was unable to pass Curry in the fourth quarter, who had repeatedly killed the Warriors' interior line by speed, and he was blocked by Curry under the basket.
"Curry did the best defensive feat of the game." American journalist Mark Haynes sighed on Twitter.
If there is one word to describe Curry's defense, it is "hard", and he has maintained his defensive position despite 5 fouls on his back and a disadvantage in speed. Morant rushed up and tried to use confrontation to knock Curry open the shot space, but Curry did not lose his position, and he also slapped Morant's layup with a ghostly slap before Morant shot.
At this moment, all the efforts of Curry in the past two years have been rewarded. At the age of 34, Curry did not lie on the honor book of the past, content to be a great shooter, he used the offseason to do a lot of strength training, improve endurance, confrontation, defense. Although Curry's adjustment sacrificed a certain shooting feel, at the age of 34, Curry played the best defense of his career, and the Grizzlies paid a terrible price for scorning Curry's defense.
Since the 2015 Finals, "roll call Curry" has suddenly become the standard tactic when playing warriors by strong teams. It's not that the strong team looks down on Curry's defense, everyone knows that Curry is not a defensive colander, he has the willingness and attitude to defend, defensive skills and awareness are also good, and Curry's defense in the defender belongs to the upper middle.
But Curry is less than 1.9 meters tall after all, no matter how good his hard pull, bench press, squat data is good, in the Warriors, he is still a relative defensive weakness. Klay Thompson, Iguodala, and Draymond Green are all well-known defensive players, and if opponents want to break through the Warriors' defense, it is most logical to find a breakthrough from Curry. During the Warriors dynasty, stars such as James Harden, LeBron James, and Kyrie Irving all loved to single out Curry.
In addition, as the playoffs tightened the scale of blowing penalties, the confrontation increased, and Curry's dexterous defender who was partial to projection was greatly affected. Teams like the Cavaliers, Bucks, Celtics, Grizzlies and other teams that pursue confrontation play warriors, like to give Curry strength, use physical confrontation to consume his physical strength, affect his touch. Therefore, Curry's efficiency in the playoffs will always decline compared to the regular season, and the Warriors introduced Kevin Durant in the first place, but also for the sake of insurance.
After Durant's departure, the Warriors no longer had the luxuries of a dynastic era. Coupled with the explosion of the Warriors' salary space, the limited promotion that can be brought to the team through internal excavation and external reinforcements, Curry wants to lead the Warriors back to the top, and can only start from the cultivation of internal skills and continue to evolve.
In the last two seasons, Curry has been gradually gaining weight with the help of trainer Payne, and when Curry appeared in training camp this season, his upper limbs were obviously enlarged. At that time, there were many doubts about Curry's weight gain, especially Curry's shooting rate dropped to 43.7% this season, the three-point shooting rate fell below 40% for the first time to 38%, and many times he even lost a bizarre shot on the empty layup, and the weight gain seemed to affect Curry's shooting feel and muscle memory, and many people thought that Curry's weight gain was not worth the loss. But in the fierce playoffs, the significance of Curry's weight gain is reflected.
Dillon Brooks is one of Curry's most experienced players, and he is very good at confronting Curry and pinching Curry to catch the ball. Including Desmond Bain and Melton, they are also stronger and more athletic players than Curry. But today, the Grizzlies' consumption of Curry did not work, Curry played 37 minutes and shot 8 of 20, including 5 of 12 three-pointers, 4 free throws and 3 of 4 free throws to score 24 points and 4 assists. In the face of the high-pressure confrontation of the opponent, Curry can always find a way to maintain balance and complete the shot.
Defensively, in addition to the successful blocking of Morant at the end, Curry has a few more defensive points, and he did a good job defending against the Grizzlies' outside shooters today, and he even completed a defensive center back-and-forth. At the beginning of the third quarter, after the Warriors rotated positions, Curry switched to Grizzlies center Tillman, who was 2 meters 03 tall, playing Curry's huge height and confrontation advantage. But Curry withstood Tillman's back attack, which shows Curry's stability in the next set.
In the eyes of Warriors defensive assistant coach Mike Brown, this is Curry's best defensive season of the season, and Curry has a lot of defensive footage that is incredible. The stats also support Brown's view that Curry's defensive RPM (a high-level measure of defensive impact) this season is his career best, reaching +4.31 points. In the past, Curry's data was negative for a long time.
In the case of Jordan Poole's poor defense and The decline in defense after Thompson's return from a major injury, why do the Warriors dare to often swing five small? A big reason is the improvement of Curry's defensive end, and the Warriors are not afraid of Curry being named.
"Curry is eager to improve his defense, and I personally think it's also related to the fact that he is often criticized by the outside world," Brown said, "In my opinion, Curry's defensive improvement began with the hard work of the strength room, and now he can withstand the impact of the opponent without losing his balance, and he can remain in front of the opponent without fouling, which is very important." Once he does that, we don't need to deliberately 'hide' him on the defensive end, we don't have to worry about the opponent naming him every turn. ”
"I didn't dare to let Curry defend against the opponent's blocker because I would worry that he would be attacked by the opponent and the physical exertion would be very large. At that time, because he wasn't strong enough, he couldn't put pressure on the ball defense. But now it's different, Curry can do that, you don't want to hit him so easily, he can squeeze through the cover. ”
If you still have the impression, you should remember the scene when the Warriors played the Nets on November 17 last year, which was also regarded as one of Curry's defensive highlights of the season. At 8 minutes and 14 seconds in the second quarter, Curry single-handedly defended Harden to complete an impeccable defense. In front of Harden's strong body, Curry not only blocked Harden's breakthrough, but also destroyed the ball.
Brown exclaimed: "This may be the defensive highlight of his entire career, he switched to Harden, Harden tried to open Curry with his shoulder, but Curry was far stronger than before, he withstood the impact to maintain the defensive position, and finally Harden made a mistake." Harden may be taller and stronger than Curry, his ability is not limited to shooting three points, Curry can hold Harden on his own, which is really amazing. ”
Curry admits that his defense was indeed a loophole early in his career, and he was at a disadvantage whether he faced a speed point guard or a strength point guard. But for more than 10 years, Curry has not only honed his shooting skills, he has also improved his defensive ability.
'I defended really badly at the beginning of my career, I was short, skinny, had a lot of hand movements, a lot of fouls, and now I'm defending much better than I was then.'
Compare Curry's self-assessment with his last-minute shot of Morante, and you'll see that everything works right. Curry's confrontation has improved, he doesn't have as much hand movement, and he can complete the cap without fouls.
In the future, there will still be opponents who will regard Curry as a defensive weakness and carry out roll call tactics against him, but Curry does not care.
"I just do my job well, whether people agree with me or not, whether I get praise for defense, I don't think I've ever been praised for defending," Curry said. The Warriors have a lot of players on the defensive end who know how to defend, and my job is to take on the challenge, take on the responsibilities of those alignments, and try to compete. It's all about effort, stability, and I just have to be in the right place at the right time. I will definitely accept the challenge. ”
So don't underestimate this little man's defense. You see him as a lamb to be slaughtered, but he has the potential to deliver a fatal blow to you in silence.