Roland Coltrane
Superstar
Mark Jackson: Steph Is 'Hurting the Game'
From now until the end of time, Mark Jackson will always appear to have some resentment toward the Golden State Warriors.
The NBA on ESPN analyst, and former Warriors coach, called Golden State's NBA Finals rematch against the Cleveland Cavaliers for ABC on Friday and said the reigning MVP Stephen Curry, who leads the league at 30.8 points per contest, is "hurting the game."
Micah Peters of For The Win transcribed Jackson's comments in full:
Steph Curry’s great. Steph Curry’s the MVP. He’s a champion. Understand what I’m saying when I say this. He’s hurting the game. And what I mean by that is that I go into these high school gyms, I watch these kids, and the first thing they do is they run to the 3-point line. You are not Steph Curry. Work on the other aspects of the game. People think that he’s just a knock-down shooter.
Vincent Goodwill of CSN Chicago seems to agree with Jackson:
Upon hearing about Jackson's comments, teammate Andrew Bogut was quick to dismiss them, per Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group, "Anything he says you take with a grain of salt, and you can quote me on that."
Oh, where to begin with this one.
First, Curry is a once-in-a-generation player and sharpshooter, much like Reggie Miller and Ray Allen were. These all-time great shooters come in bunches. The only difference with Curry is, he's the superstar on a championship team and he's literally the most valuable player on the Warriors.
Comparing what Curry's doing to what high school players are doing is unfair. High school players want to emulate what the pros are doing. If they want to aspire to make hundreds of three-pointers in a season and put in the work to do such, then it's not a bad thing for young players to pattern their game after a superstar.
Apparently, it wasn't much of an issue when Andrew Wiggins was being called the next LeBron James, and it will be the same topic of conversation when LSU freshman Ben Simmons goes pro—because those guys are long, athletic and provide the flashy highlight dunks.
Maybe the NBA wouldn't be a three-point-heavy league if more teams got away from playing zone defense. The Warriors move the ball better than any team in the league, with the possible exception of the San Antonio Spurs.
With guys like Curry and Klay Thompson moving without the ball and being effective in catch-and-shoot situations against a zone, of course there are going to be more open perimeter shots. Maybe it's the zone defense killing the game, not Curry.
Better yet, Curry is making the game fun again. A kid from Davidson becomes the face of the franchise and the league MVP, and he's doing things all non-athletic kids can aspire to do. If he's inspiring kids to take threes and be successful that way, at least he's somehow making a difference.
Remain forever salty, Mark Jackson.
Mark Jackson sounds like a scorned bytch
From now until the end of time, Mark Jackson will always appear to have some resentment toward the Golden State Warriors.
The NBA on ESPN analyst, and former Warriors coach, called Golden State's NBA Finals rematch against the Cleveland Cavaliers for ABC on Friday and said the reigning MVP Stephen Curry, who leads the league at 30.8 points per contest, is "hurting the game."
Micah Peters of For The Win transcribed Jackson's comments in full:
Steph Curry’s great. Steph Curry’s the MVP. He’s a champion. Understand what I’m saying when I say this. He’s hurting the game. And what I mean by that is that I go into these high school gyms, I watch these kids, and the first thing they do is they run to the 3-point line. You are not Steph Curry. Work on the other aspects of the game. People think that he’s just a knock-down shooter.
Vincent Goodwill of CSN Chicago seems to agree with Jackson:
Upon hearing about Jackson's comments, teammate Andrew Bogut was quick to dismiss them, per Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group, "Anything he says you take with a grain of salt, and you can quote me on that."
Oh, where to begin with this one.
First, Curry is a once-in-a-generation player and sharpshooter, much like Reggie Miller and Ray Allen were. These all-time great shooters come in bunches. The only difference with Curry is, he's the superstar on a championship team and he's literally the most valuable player on the Warriors.
Comparing what Curry's doing to what high school players are doing is unfair. High school players want to emulate what the pros are doing. If they want to aspire to make hundreds of three-pointers in a season and put in the work to do such, then it's not a bad thing for young players to pattern their game after a superstar.
Apparently, it wasn't much of an issue when Andrew Wiggins was being called the next LeBron James, and it will be the same topic of conversation when LSU freshman Ben Simmons goes pro—because those guys are long, athletic and provide the flashy highlight dunks.
Maybe the NBA wouldn't be a three-point-heavy league if more teams got away from playing zone defense. The Warriors move the ball better than any team in the league, with the possible exception of the San Antonio Spurs.
With guys like Curry and Klay Thompson moving without the ball and being effective in catch-and-shoot situations against a zone, of course there are going to be more open perimeter shots. Maybe it's the zone defense killing the game, not Curry.
Better yet, Curry is making the game fun again. A kid from Davidson becomes the face of the franchise and the league MVP, and he's doing things all non-athletic kids can aspire to do. If he's inspiring kids to take threes and be successful that way, at least he's somehow making a difference.
Remain forever salty, Mark Jackson.
Mark Jackson sounds like a scorned bytch
