Smart vs. Curry: Good Hustle, Or Dangerous Play?

[JohnBoy65]

I watched the clip a handful of times this morning. It's a hustle play, and it's what Marcus smart does. To me if you do something dirty it's got to be intentional. There was obviously no intention of hurting Steph there.

Does "reckless" fit in anywhere?  Is this akin to a guy trying to make a failed attempt on the ball when another guy is in the air?

For the record, I'm fully on Marcus' side.

I think reckless is probably a good way to describe it. Marcus is the key of reckless plays.

[Donoghus]

It was a hustle play.  Now the flagrant on Klay?  That was dirty & dangerous.

[Celtics2021]

It was a hustle play.  Now the flagrant on Klay?  That was dirty & dangerous.

Yeah, I’m not sure what Marcus was doing kicking his leg.  Best I can come up with he was trying to kick the ball, as he flailed the leg while the ball was being passed to Klay.

But with Steph, I just watched it again, and Marcus dove from the side of Steph, not behind him.  It’s dangerous in that sometimes basketball can be dangerous, but it was definitely basketball.

[LilRip]

Not a dirty play, not a dangerous play, just an unfortunate situation. The ball was loose and he made a play on it. You see this play happen all the time.

Remember Rondo diving for the loose ball against the Magic? Was that a dirty play? I bring that up because the ball was near a guy’s legs too.

This is the play I was talking about: https://youtu.be/9EOFiEbL0bU

Was this dirty or reckless?

[Roy H.]

It was a hustle play.  Now the flagrant on Klay?  That was dirty & dangerous.

Yeah, that was full-on Draymond-esque.

[GreenShooter]

Here's the clip for anyone who may have missed it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGLNt9axh2k

It was a hustle play. It happens. Smart wasn't trying to hurt him. No doubt.

[Smartacus]

First play was unfortunate but happened more because Curry is a bit soft in his approach to the loose ball. As for why he was iunjured, I did a freeze frame on the shoes that he was wearing last night and they have exposed ankle with minimal support which I'd imagine help's him when when needs to run around screens all game but do little to prevent injuries in 50/50 situation. I don't think most players in Curry's position with proper footwear would have walked away with an injury there.




https://www.whatproswear.com/basketball/steph-curry/shoes/steph-currys-curry-flow-9-shoes-by-under-armour/

Seems like a football player running around without a helmet complaining about the defensive player when he gets a concussion.

The second play was reckless and correctly penalized. Smart should try to play more within himself but it was also neither intentional nor dirty and would have been forgotten without the first play.

[td450]

It was 100% Curry's fault.

There was a loose ball. Smart made the correct play. He dove through the ball. That's why he always wins these plays. Curry approached the ball standing with his leg exposed next to the ball and reached for it.

That's how you get hurt.

[Atzar]

I had no issue with the dive.  Go get the ball.

The kick was a different story.  I guess he was trying to get at the ball with any limb he had available as he was falling out of bounds?  That was stupid though.  I'd probably stop short of calling it 'dirty' but it was definitely dangerous.  The flagrant 1 was appropriate, and I think the instant karma was as well - that landing didn't look like it felt good.

[Vermont Green]

Not a dirty play, not a dangerous play, just an unfortunate situation. The ball was loose and he made a play on it. You see this play happen all the time.

Remember Rondo diving for the loose ball against the Magic? Was that a dirty play? I bring that up because the ball was near a guy’s legs too.

This is the play I was talking about: https://youtu.be/9EOFiEbL0bU

Was this dirty or reckless?

Exactly, no one got hurt on the Rondo play and that is still celebrated to this as a great hustle play (as it should be).  It was no less reckless, no less dangerous (actually maybe more dangerous as Williams was in full stride).

I don't understand what difference it makes if it is reckless or not.  It is a totally subjective word anyway.  When is diving for a lose ball not reckless?  Is there anything wrong with being reckless?  It is like trying to draw a line between good hustle and bad hustle (whatever that might be).  Is there good reckless and bad reckless?

[Moranis]

I've seen a couple of morons who's advocating to ban the dive for loose balls. As if the league isn't soft enough already

Sports in general have made a lot of rule changes recently to make the sports more safe.  I can totally see how that could gain some momentum as we've seen time and time again players get hurt when another player dives for a ball and makes contact with their lower legs.  Curry is just the latest example of it.  The league should be looking at making the game safer and if that means making it a foul if you contact with someone diving for a ball, then maybe that should be considered.  Maybe it is even a flagrant.  If you want to dive for a ball, then maybe you should have to make sure you don't ram into someone when doing it. 

[Celtics2021]

I've seen a couple of morons who's advocating to ban the dive for loose balls. As if the league isn't soft enough already

Sports in general have made a lot of rule changes recently to make the sports more safe.  I can totally see how that could gain some momentum as we've seen time and time again players get hurt when another player dives for a ball and makes contact with their lower legs.  Curry is just the latest example of it.  The league should be looking at making the game safer and if that means making it a foul if you contact with someone diving for a ball, then maybe that should be considered.  Maybe it is even a flagrant.  If you want to dive for a ball, then maybe you should have to make sure you don't ram into someone when doing it.

That’s just silly.  It’s a loose ball.  Should we eliminate rebounding?  That’s easily as dangerous, probably more, than diving for a loose ball on the floor.  You can catch elbows in the face and land on feet.

You shouldn’t make a rule change based on low-occurrence events (diving for loose ball injuries).

[Donoghus]

I've seen a couple of morons who's advocating to ban the dive for loose balls. As if the league isn't soft enough already

Sports in general have made a lot of rule changes recently to make the sports more safe.  I can totally see how that could gain some momentum as we've seen time and time again players get hurt when another player dives for a ball and makes contact with their lower legs.  Curry is just the latest example of it.  The league should be looking at making the game safer and if that means making it a foul if you contact with someone diving for a ball, then maybe that should be considered.  Maybe it is even a flagrant.  If you want to dive for a ball, then maybe you should have to make sure you don't ram into someone when doing it.

That’s just silly.  It’s a loose ball.  Should we eliminate rebounding?  That’s easily as dangerous, probably more, than diving for a loose ball on the floor.  You can catch elbows in the face and land on feet.

You shouldn’t make a rule change based on low-occurrence events (diving for loose ball injuries).

100%

[slamtheking]

I've seen a couple of morons who's advocating to ban the dive for loose balls. As if the league isn't soft enough already

Sports in general have made a lot of rule changes recently to make the sports more safe.  I can totally see how that could gain some momentum as we've seen time and time again players get hurt when another player dives for a ball and makes contact with their lower legs.  Curry is just the latest example of it.  The league should be looking at making the game safer and if that means making it a foul if you contact with someone diving for a ball, then maybe that should be considered.  Maybe it is even a flagrant.  If you want to dive for a ball, then maybe you should have to make sure you don't ram into someone when doing it.

much ado about nothing.  player attempting to get a loose ball.  no intent on injury nor was it even a foul.  play on.

might as well make a rule against driving to the basket because a defender trying to draw a charge might get hurt on the drive or better yet make a rule against jumping for a block because the defender might land awkwardly and hurt themselves.   pure nonsense

[Vermont Green]

I've seen a couple of morons who's advocating to ban the dive for loose balls. As if the league isn't soft enough already

Sports in general have made a lot of rule changes recently to make the sports more safe.  I can totally see how that could gain some momentum as we've seen time and time again players get hurt when another player dives for a ball and makes contact with their lower legs.  Curry is just the latest example of it.  The league should be looking at making the game safer and if that means making it a foul if you contact with someone diving for a ball, then maybe that should be considered.  Maybe it is even a flagrant.  If you want to dive for a ball, then maybe you should have to make sure you don't ram into someone when doing it.

That’s just silly.  It’s a loose ball.  Should we eliminate rebounding?  That’s easily as dangerous, probably more, than diving for a loose ball on the floor.  You can catch elbows in the face and land on feet.

You shouldn’t make a rule change based on low-occurrence events (diving for loose ball injuries).

I am OK with banning diving to the floor so long as they call it the Marcus Smart rule.