The Roanoke Times: Press Boxwith our sports staffStephen Curry as court savvy as they comePosted Mar29, 2008 at 02:00 PMStephen Curry continued to make fools of talent evaluators with another 30-plus point performance in the NCAA tournament. His scoring output is impressive enough, but he's averaging over 20 points in the second halves of Davidson's three wins. Crazy. I've got Kansas going to the title game in my bracket, but I will gladly sacrifice that pick to see Stephen play again next Saturday. The focus is on his shooting, but to watch him play without the ball in his hands is remarkable. His basketball IQ is even better than his jumper. -- Jeff Gilbert |
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Stephen Curry as court savvy as they come
Posted Mar29, 2008 at 02:00 PM
Stephen Curry continued to make fools of talent evaluators with another 30-plus point performance in the NCAA tournament. His scoring output is impressive enough, but he's averaging over 20 points in the second halves of Davidson's three wins. Crazy. I've got Kansas going to the title game in my bracket, but I will gladly sacrifice that pick to see Stephen play again next Saturday. The focus is on his shooting, but to watch him play without the ball in his hands is remarkable. His basketball IQ is even better than his jumper. -- Jeff Gilbert
Comments
[March 30, 2008 2:28 PM]
Kind Of Stressed : →http://www.hokiesports.comTell me if you disagree, but to me, Stephen Curry is like a shorter version of former Indiana Pacers great Reggie Miller, with his baby-faced looks, deadly and timely 3 point shooting, and (as you were wise to mention) basketball IQ. Since you're a Knicks fan, you probably know what I'm getting at even if you may disagree.
On a side note, just for fun I filled out a second bracket on ESPN.com in which the higher seed was blindly picked to win in every single game leading up all the way to the Final Four. I'll give an update on how that bracket is doing vs. the rest of ESPN SportsNation once the Final Four is set. I will call it the "Newbie Bracket."
[April 1, 2008 11:20 PM]
Jeff GilbertSorry for the delay in approving your post and for responding to your question. Your Reggie Miller comparison is a pretty fair one, even if Miller did break my heart one night. Miller is 6-7 and was the No. 11 pick in the draft. I would say David Robinson and Scottie Pippen, No. 1 an No. 4 respectively, were the only players drafted ahead of him had careers as productive as Miller. At 6-3, Curry will surely be drafted maybe lower than he should be. Not sure he can be a Reggie Miller in the NBA. Size will matter more at that level. At 6-3 and under you probably have to be lightning quick to make it big. Curry is smart and skilled, but I'm not sure he's quick enough to be big time. Look at how J.J. Redick is riding the bench so far. I hope Curry has a really good pro career. In the NBA it's all about getting the opportunity to play and become a good player at that level.
[April 3, 2008 12:05 AM]
Kind Of Stressed : →http://www.hokiesports.comThanks for the reply. You bring up a good point about the importance of 1)size and 2)quickness to compensate for lack of the former...For example, last weekend, Memphis's D to my surprise and dismay overwhelmed Texas's normally lights-out shooters with their SHEER LENGTH AND ATHLETICISM on the perimeter (to be fair to 5'11" Abrams and 6'0" Augustin though, Texas didn't have much ooomph in the post which may have helped Memphis focus on and pressure the outside) and it would have been really interesting to see how Curry would have done against Calipari's unusually athletic and lengthy bunch as a sort of precursor to how he may do in the NBA (though Stephen is only a soph and still has room to develop). And if I remember correctly, a senior J.J. Redick and Duke struggled and lost in the Sweet 16 against a more athletic and bigger LSU team led by current NBA players Tyrus Thomas and Glen "Big Baby" Davis, both of whom seem to be producing more and getting more minutes than Redick right now.
I was hoping that at the very least, Curry would fit in the NBA as a role player like the 6'1" championship-winning and sharpshooting STEVE KERR. Of course, it certainly helps to have MJ (and in the twilight of Kerr's career, Tim Duncan) on your side to help free you up!!
Also, my "Newbie Bracket" is in the 96.1 percentile (WHAT THE...?!) in the ESPN Bracket Challenge, undoubtedly aided by all #1 seeds reaching the Final Four. Dang.
The question I always ask myself every year is, am I doing better than I would have if I just went the "Newbie Route" which anyone can easily do? I am every bit as interested in that as I am in winning (or losing!) a pool. Guess the tournament selection committee did unusually well this year which is bad for me...
And for anyone who cares, in this "Newbie Bracket" I have UNC winning it all since they were the #1 overall seed (and America's favorite) and UCLA meeting UNC in the final since America thought Memphis was the most vulnerable #1. Whatever...