More Strength And More Numbers: Official 2016-17 Golden State Warriors Season Thread

G.O.A.T Squad Spokesman

G.O.A.T Squad Spokesman

Logic Is Absent Wherever Hate Is Present
Joined
May 12, 2012
Messages
79,941
Reputation
5,705
Daps
234,981
DAoBbH8W0AAIBS6.jpg
 
Roland Coltrane

Roland Coltrane

Superstar
Joined
Aug 17, 2014
Messages
8,955
Reputation
3,690
Daps
30,207
Reppin
AA GANG
FRS NEWS
Stephen Curry still thinks about turnover in Game 7 of 2016 NBA Finals
Ryan-Posner-FanRag-Profile-Picture-80x80.jpg

ByRyan Posner
Posted on May 29, 2017
AP_677618066760.jpg

(AP PHOTO/ERIC RISBERG)


An attempted behind-the-back pass during the fourth quarter of Game 7 of last year’s NBA Finals is still on the mind of Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry.

The turnover came with about five minutes left to go in the game while the Warriors held a one-point lead. The Cavaliers erased a 3-1 deficit in last year’s NBA Finals by winning Game 7 over the Warriors, who were unable to score again after Curry’s turnover.

Curry addressed the media Monday ahead of this year’s NBA Finals, which will once again include the Cavaliers and Warriors, and spoke about the missed opportunity in last year’s postseason.

“Yeah, I still think about that [turnover]. [But] in thinking about that game, it’s funny because I know the concept of making the right play, making a simple play, understanding that there are deciding moments in games and the difference between winning a championship or not could be one of those plays,” Curry said to ESPN. “[With that said,] I came out in preseason this year and threw a behind-the-back pass because I have confidence that I can do it and it won’t change that.”

As the team’s primary ball-handler, Curry understands plays like that are unacceptable in the postseason.

“You obviously know how much that matters in the scheme of winning a championship,” he said. “So, for sure, I understand that when I’m out on the floor, and especially in the playoffs, if I don’t turn the ball over and we’re going to get a shot on every possession down in crunch-time situations, knowing that the ball is going to be sure in my hands, that’s the evolution of the game that I have to try to master.”

Curry has been phenomenal this postseason in helping lead the Warriors to their third straight finals appearance, averaging 28.6 points, 5.6 assists and 1.9 steals per game.
Click to expand...

:patrice:
 
Roland Coltrane

Roland Coltrane

Superstar
Joined
Aug 17, 2014
Messages
8,955
Reputation
3,690
Daps
30,207
Reppin
AA GANG
Thompson: How Stephen Curry got his groove back after NBA Finals devastation
sjm-warriors-0523-02.jpg

Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) walks onto the court before the start of Game 4 of the NBA Western Conference Finals at AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, on Monday, May 22, 2017. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Want Warriors news in your inbox? Sign up for the free DubsDaily newsletter.

OAKLAND — Stephen Curry’s lowest point came the night of Game 7.

The anger kidnapped his words on the silent drive home. He was girded by the presence of friends and family at his post-game gathering, but inside he was feeling it.



Rick Barry actually a bit worried about Klay Thompson’s shooting woes
The frustration and disappointment. The looping mental replay of Kyrie Irving’s step-back 3, of the Cavaliers celebrating on the Oracle floor. The churning in his core.


He sought comfort in the garlic crust of Domino’s pizza. A glass of wine. A Cuban cigar. But all he found was dejection.

“Saddest cigar I’ve ever smoked,” Curry said. “Usually you smoke a cigar when you win. That’s how terrible of a party it was. … We had some real conversations that night about how much it sucked.”

And then the low point was done, passed over him like a storm. The angst wasn’t gone but the worst was over. Life had resumed. Curry’s secret talent had kicked in.

2016super-9.jpg

Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) answers questions during a press conference after the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Warriors in Game 7 93-89 for the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Sunday, June 19, 2016. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group
He is nearly as adept at discernment as he is at shooting. Curry tends to always see the big picture, to remember the essences — of life, of basketball, of who he is and wants to be — even in the midst of adversity. He clings to perspective. And this season, after the humiliation of squandering of championship, after the Warriors became a freak show, perspective was the pipe he held onto so the storm didn’t pull him away.

It’s this part of Curry that goes overlooked, outshined by crossovers and transition 3-pointers. It is how he bounced back from debilitating defeat. It is why Kevin Durant is here. It is how the Warriors grew in chemistry despite all the elements endangering their bond. It is how they enter these Finals focused and driven, not fueled by revenge but by the pursuit of excellence

No, it wasn’t all Curry. But it’s been a key ingredient all along. It violates the superstar order but is paramount in the development and sustainability of this Warriors’ era. If the Larry O’Brien trophy does return to the Bay, it will be validation for the secret ingredient in the Warriors’ sauce: Curry’s leadership style.

Getting their heart ripped out on the national stage, and subsequently ridiculed, didn’t derail the Warriors. Adding an MVP, and with him relentless scrutiny and criticism, never seemed to penetrate this team’s psyche.

And now that they are back here, in the Finals against the same Cavaliers that devastated them, revenge — a dangerous fuel for a team because of its volatility — doesn’t seem to be the dominant motivator. Instead, it’s basketball excellence, it’s buffering each other from the rampant venom aimed their way.

And when you break down the biology of the Warriors, the origin of these intangibles is Curry. They trickle down from his seat atop the Warriors’ podium and infiltrate the chemistry.

Draymond Green is the heartbeat of the team. But Curry is its nervous system — how the team is wired, responsible for processing the environment and situation and informing the entire organism how to respond.

“Your consistency on a daily basis, how you handle yourself, how you deal with your successes and failures,” Curry said. “It’s more like an ‘actions speak louder’ kind of situation for me. That’s how I approach the leadership stand point. Humility, knowing that I have flaws, things that I gotta work on on a daily basis. … People know when I say something, it’s coming from a place of honesty and care. It’s not any self-serving purpose to it. That is how I approach it every day.”

sjm-warriors-1108-46.jpg

(Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Curry had an out. He could have potentially killed the Durant-to-Warriors move.

He had gotten word through a friend he trusts that Durant had concerns about how Curry would receive him. This was a revelation to Curry, who had no idea he was the last hurdle in the blockbuster, maybe the decider.

What happens if he goes Kobe Bryant, who recruited Dwight Howard by making it clear whose franchise it is? Most pundits and experts would have probably praised him for marking his territory.

What if Curry does the passive aggressive thing and goes radio silent, leaving Durant with the unaddressed concern, hoping the uncertainty prevents Durant from coming?

Instead, Curry did the unthinkable. He went out of his way to make sure Durant felt welcomed, comfortable.

“I’m still not convinced …,” Curry said before pausing with squinted stare as he wrestled with how to verbalize his point. “Being the man, the star, the clear-cut one, stuff like that — it’s overrated if you’re not winning.

“Last summer we had a decision. But in that moment, in the summer of 2016, we had the opportunity to go that way or this way. I felt like this way was the best opportunity for us as a team to win. I can live with that all day long. Yeah, I don’t get to shoot 25 shots a game. I don’t get to run 800 pick-and-rolls a game. Yeah, that’s a sacrifice, if you want to call it that. The point is to win a bunch of championships and whatever the narrative is it doesn’t really matter.”

679788982.jpg

(Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images)
But no good deed goes unpunished. So Curry’s display of humility didn’t end with his sales pitch. It ignited a process that would require persistence, more sacrifice and patience.

Curry has always set that tone in the locker room. For example, it’s been years since money was a divisive issue in the Warriors’ franchise. That’s because it’s hard to complain about money when the best player is severely underpaid yet dancing around with joy. Every other star on the roster followed by taking less money than he could have gotten. The path has been paved for Durant to do the same in July.

But past good works wouldn’t cut it this season. The pressure, and attention, and stakes were such that any discord had the potential to be detrimental, especially coming from the top. Curry’s example, the tone he set, was as paramount as ever.

And though the ridicule from blowing a 3-1 lead never let up, though he had fallen a tier in public perception, though his Under Armour shoes declined in sales, though he struggled initially adjusting to Durant’s large presence, Curry’s discernment carried the day.

Most of today’s superstars have a reputation for, one way or another, flexing their superstarness. It’s an accepted part of being so good, a perk that comes with the production. Yet Curry shuns the option in favor of the meek route. Discernment won’t let him act on the moment at the expense of the big picture.

So his teammates can yell at him on the court publicly and there won’t be a sniff of anger after the game. He can listen to analysts demean his status, fans mock his failures, and repeatedly opt not to defend his own honor.

The talk of him having a down year quietly burns him. The narrative that he hasn’t played well in the NBA Finals agitates him. He would love to point out he averaged 26 in 2015, outplayed LeBron James in an epic Game 5 before controlling the closeout in Game 6. All against all-out double teams and traps.

“Only thing is if you look at it compared to what LeBron has done the last two (Finals),” Curry said, explaining the only context possible to support this idea he doesn’t play well in the Finals. “He’s been unbelievable. He’s played amazing. Kyrie had an amazing series last year, an amazing three games and that won them a championship. It just depends on what you decide to focus on. But the same way I get the benefit of the doubt in some situations, I get harped on worse in other situations.”

So why bother with challenging narratives? What’s the win in that? What’s the message that delivers to his team?

So Curry eats it, swallows his considerable pride and leans on the perspective that reminds him he is winning anyway.

“If there is a debate about my value in this league, on my team, then that’s an issue to begin with,” Curry said. “When you talk about a certain amount of guys in the league every year, I’m going to be one of them. And at the end of the day, we’re four wins away from being talked about a lot. So I have a job to do in that respect so who cares about all that other stuff. I’m not going to fight that battle. It’s not a battle worth fighting.”

The NBA has become like the Game of Thrones series. Star players are overseeing kingdoms with legions of fans, warring with one another for crowns and endorsements and the adoration that comes with both. Alliances are being forged, enemies declared, tactics and strategies being employed.

Meanwhile, Curry has built quite the kingdom. It was formed by humility and sacrifice, and is being sustained by avoiding the bait that makes empires fall.

With Curry, it’s all about the long game. And being back in the Finals, with a window to be in many more, is proof his method works, too.
Click to expand...

:jawalrus:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top