Steph Curry’s impact on and off the court is something that took years to build, but he’s become a national figure on one of the biggest stages in the world. At 29, he’s in the conversations for the best three-point shooter of all-time and for the best players in the world today.
Ever since Steph Curry came into the league in 2007, there’s been an edge to him. Being undersized posed a lot of challenges in the earlier stages of his career, but everyone’s gotta start somewhere right?
For the majority of his career, he’s been criticized for being one-dimensional. What I mean by that is the “all he can do is shoot” critique. Curry shoots constantly and his play-style is rubbing off on the younger generation. Golden State has built around it. A shoot-first mentality took off at the end of the Miami Heat era, roughly around 2013. This mentality turned into a style and that’s when Curry began to really make headlines.
His impact is one that either makes you scratch your head or boggles your mind. For many, people look at Curry as a “god,” but I bet those people couldn’t tell you where he went to college or at what number he was drafted at. He’s managed to make his mark on the game of basketball at a fairly young age and the effect he’s had on the basketball world is both positive and negative.
The Bad: The Play Style and the 5 Out Motion Offense
I’ve had my fair share of conversations with coaches who’ve run into many problems, even the young ones that I coach. It’s easy to scout out players when five seconds into an offensive possession someone jacks up a three. From a coaching standpoint, the clipboard is thrown and the eyes begin to roll. It’s hard to tolerate, especially if your philosophy of coaching isn’t the same. Players tend to have a sense of urgency and lack of respect if they don’t value the coach. The issue digs even further when it spreads to the floor and errors are made. Whether or not coaches want to adjust to this is a problem on its own.
When it comes to coaching in a system like this, coaches who don’t value the system tend to stick out like Gregg Popovich in San Antonio. Lucky for Popovich, he has full control of his team, but a lot of players turn away from Pop because his philosophy is considered “Old School.” The NBA has been slowly shying away from those types of systems and adjusting to what Curry and company brought to the table, weeding out coaches like Pop.
For Curry, when he’s shut down in games it’s because he’s guarded tightly, and defenders fight their way over the screen with a second defender to double team. For guards nowadays, they’ve implemented their style of play around Curry, and it’s like a disease. Curry’s play style, in general, is fairly easy to contain, especially when other players who mirror him aren’t nearly as effective.
With his play-style evolving worldwide and the Warriors being a dominant force in the league, they’ve started to shift how an offense is run. Teams from youth all the way to the pros are consistently referring to a “5 out motion offense.” The offense consists of passing and cutting continuously until the defense misses a rotation and a shot frees up or a backdoor cut is available. This system is being used everywhere today, and Curry was the player who had the most influence on it.
Why is it a bad thing?
The system isn’t effective to everyone, and not everyone can be like the Warriors. If teams are smart, they jump screens and trap the ball-handler and a defender will slide down to bump the cutter. There are too many flaws in the system, and five guys standing on the perimeter for the majority of the possession makes it easier to rebound and get out on the break.
How Do you Adjust?
The key to containing the “5 out offense” is running a strong 3-2 defense. Within this defensive set, you can’t miss a rotation. Rotations are mainly missed because there’s too much focus on one side of the floor. Teams can easily figure the defense out and make a skip pass to the weak side for an open look. Teams adjust by communicating and shifting for 24 seconds. It all comes down to discipline within a system, and that’s why coaches like Brad Stevens, Steve Kerr, and Poppovich are successful. They make adjustments accordingly, and all five guys know their assignments.
The Good:
Steph Curry brings communities together through charities, clinics, camps, etc. The way he’s transformed the game of basketball hasn’t been done since the LeBron James era began. It’s the dawn of a new time and fans and players looked to the next guy to fill that void. Curry’s fan base is strong, and for the last few years, he’s been the “poster boy” for the league. Whether or not the system and play-style he preaches work or not, he’s changed the way the game is played as a whole. If you look at how the Warriors run their offense they spread the floor extremely well. The “5 out motion offense” allows spacing. The three-point shot is now a known art, and when teams run the set to perfection, it’s beautiful to watch.
Young kids entering the league grew up watching Curry since he came into the league. This year’s rookie class has proved to be one of the best class since 2003. Some of that may fall on Steph’s shoulders. If Curry’s influence can produce this level of talent, then obviously something is clicking.
Despite the offensive sets, play-styles, and coaching this stems farther beyond basketball. The NBA is a league where change is a constant with rules and regulations to play style. Agree or disagree, but Steph Curry changed the foundation of the NBA.