LOL Stephen Curry

[fitzhickey]

James is by far the best passing SF since Bird.  He is also one of the best passers, regardless of position, in basketball.  James is a better passer than Curry (though Curry did close the gap a great deal this past season).  He is a better shot generator than Curry.  He is a significantly better offensive rebounder than Curry.  He has a higher TS% than Curry.  He scores more points on fewer shots. 

Curry is a better shooter and that is about it.

200% this

[D.o.s.]

we can agree to disagree, there are a lot of high volume scorers in the league.

Beat LA saying he is on par with James is like saying Ray Allen is on par with James just because he can fill em up.

Curry doesn't have the size or athleticism of Lebron, but his shooting ability, passing, and lightning-quick release make him extremely difficult to guard.  I know that Lebron has improved his shooting, but you can't play the dare-him-to-take-the-outside-shot defense against Curry, and you couldn't from day one, not even in college when he was wrecking teams on Davidson. I've seen too many Lebron games to know that he's not nearly as developed offensively as Pierce, Joe Johnson, Melo, Durant, George, or Kobe, and that's why I'm interested to see how his game ages.  Will he lose a lot of points because his athleticsm falls off?  I really don't know, but I do know this - the guy still doesn't even have a post game, let alone a midrange one.  That's what I mean.

I'd be interested to see what you mean by 'developed offensively' that context.

[Endless Paradise]

LeBron doesn't have a post game?  gift is right, it is not 2010 anymore.

[MBunge]

we can agree to disagree, there are a lot of high volume scorers in the league.

Beat LA saying he is on par with James is like saying Ray Allen is on par with James just because he can fill em up.

Curry doesn't have the size or athleticism of Lebron, but his shooting ability, passing, and lightning-quick release make him extremely difficult to guard.  I know that Lebron has improved his shooting, but you can't play the dare-him-to-take-the-outside-shot defense against Curry, and you couldn't from day one, not even in college when he was wrecking teams on Davidson. I've seen too many Lebron games to know that he's not nearly as developed offensively as Pierce, Joe Johnson, Melo, Durant, George, or Kobe, and that's why I'm interested to see how his game ages.  Will he lose a lot of points because his athleticsm falls off?  I really don't know, but I do know this - the guy still doesn't even have a post game, let alone a midrange one.  That's what I mean.

I'd be interested to see what you mean by 'developed offensively' that context.

Well, I've never heard any commentator every talk about LeBron's "footwork" or anything else related to those little tricks and skills that let you get an advantage over your defender.  Now, Bron is a very good passer and has developed a good outside shot but it still seems like a lot of his game is built on a foundation of being such an awesome combination of size and speed.

I mean, LeBron's post-game is far behind the mid-post stuff Carmello's had in his arsenal for years.

Mike

[loco_91]

thinks he is a better offensive player than LeBron.

I guess King James just cannot get any respect. Curry just cannot be serous. There are lots of players that do what Curry does. Hummmm only one player strikes fear into your heart like LeBron James.
http://www.foxsports.com/nba/story/stephen-curry-believes-he-s-better-all-around-offensive-player-than-lebron-james-081214

to be fair the guy asked him the question, he didn't volunteer that quote out of the blue. lots of guys would say the same thing not because they really believe it but they got an ego to stand up for, you know?

[indeedproceed]

we can agree to disagree, there are a lot of high volume scorers in the league.

Saying 'there's a lot of high volume scorers in the league' as a dismissal of Curry is a disservice. He was 5th in the league in assists per game, 7th in ppg, and 4th in winshares. Saying "There's a lot of high volume scorers in the league" about Curry is like saying, "A lot of British bands came over in the 60's, I don't see what made the Beatles special"

Curry is one of the 2 or 3 best point guards in the world right now.

But he's still not better than LeBron.

[D.o.s.]

we can agree to disagree, there are a lot of high volume scorers in the league.

Beat LA saying he is on par with James is like saying Ray Allen is on par with James just because he can fill em up.

Curry doesn't have the size or athleticism of Lebron, but his shooting ability, passing, and lightning-quick release make him extremely difficult to guard.  I know that Lebron has improved his shooting, but you can't play the dare-him-to-take-the-outside-shot defense against Curry, and you couldn't from day one, not even in college when he was wrecking teams on Davidson. I've seen too many Lebron games to know that he's not nearly as developed offensively as Pierce, Joe Johnson, Melo, Durant, George, or Kobe, and that's why I'm interested to see how his game ages.  Will he lose a lot of points because his athleticsm falls off?  I really don't know, but I do know this - the guy still doesn't even have a post game, let alone a midrange one.  That's what I mean.

I'd be interested to see what you mean by 'developed offensively' that context.

Well, I've never heard any commentator every talk about LeBron's "footwork" or anything else related to those little tricks and skills that let you get an advantage over your defender.  Now, Bron is a very good passer and has developed a good outside shot but it still seems like a lot of his game is built on a foundation of being such an awesome combination of size and speed.

I mean, LeBron's post-game is far behind the mid-post stuff Carmello's had in his arsenal for years.

Mike

Based on the examples given, it reads to me like he's talking about one-on-one isolation basketball, in the post or on the wing. That's why I'm curious.

I agree that 'Melo has a better post game than LeBron, but I also think that Anthony's one of the two best scorers in the league -- he's 1 and 1A with Kevin Durant, IMO, since KD doesn't have much of a post game to speak of.

[bdm860]

News flash, most pro athletes think highly of themselves.  How many players give an honest answer to "who is the best player in the league", or "who is the best at your position?", or "who is the best at [random skill]?," or "who are the top [whatever's] in the league?"

You know that rookie AMA thread on Reddit last week, when asked who would win ROY, 10 of the 21 rookies answered themselves.  Guys like James Young, Markel Brown, Spencer Dinwiddie, Jerami Grant, and Shabazz Napier all answered themselves.

Curry's answer is just a typical pro-athlete answer, although he may reconsider it if LeBron decides to go off for 50 while shutting Curry down next year, he'd probably still answer himself though.

[mgent]

Exactly, bdm860.  Not that long ago we had Pierce saying he was the best player in the world for winning the championship.

On a side note, I'd love to see how Steph's offensive game matches up with LeBron's if he was 6'8".

[Vox_Populi]

He's a great shooter, so he's already ahead of James by leaps and bounds. 

Lebron is a good shooter in his own right.  Not as good as Curry, but still very good.  He's hit 36.2%, 40.6%, and 37.9% of his three pointers the last three years, and has shot around 60% on two-pointers.

Lebron had a .649 TS% last year, compared to Curry's .610.  Both are awesome, but Lebron's is better.

LeBron's efficiency is very impressive, but he makes a lot of shots in the paint. Not that he should be penalized for being the league's premier finisher of course. But I do think Curry's is equally impressive considering how many jumpers he takes,

Also, on an the topic of TS%, I was browsing players who had a TS% of at least 60% and averaged at least 28 points. Only 9 players have done so since the shot clock era. Bird (twice) and James (once) included. Only 3 have done it 4 times. Durant, Dantley and Jordan. Only 2 have done it for 3 consecutive seasons. Durant and Jordan. Only one has done it 4 times before his 27th birthday. Durant. I just found that ridiculous.

http://bkref.com/tiny/efXPS

[Beat LA]

LeBron doesn't have a post game?  gift is right, it is not 2010 anymore.

It doesn't matter what year it is, because his improvement in said department have been minimal, at best imo, and, even if he is a much better post player now than he was four years ago, he doesn't utilize that ability nearly enough to where you can say, "uh oh, we can't guard him one-on-one in the post.  We'll need to double him on the catch (or whatever) and make someone else beat us."

[indeedproceed]

LeBron doesn't have a post game?  gift is right, it is not 2010 anymore.

It doesn't matter what year it is, because his improvement in said department have been minimal, at best imo, and, even if he is a much better post player now than he was four years ago, he doesn't utilize that ability nearly enough to where you can say, "uh oh, we can't guard him one-on-one in the post.  We'll need to double him on the catch (or whatever) and make someone else beat us."

According to synergy sports, if I am recalling the state correctly, LeBron was either the best or top-3 post up scorer in the NBA last season efficiency-wise. Tops in FG% and points per play I believe.

[Beat LA]

we can agree to disagree, there are a lot of high volume scorers in the league.

Beat LA saying he is on par with James is like saying Ray Allen is on par with James just because he can fill em up.

Curry doesn't have the size or athleticism of Lebron, but his shooting ability, passing, and lightning-quick release make him extremely difficult to guard.  I know that Lebron has improved his shooting, but you can't play the dare-him-to-take-the-outside-shot defense against Curry, and you couldn't from day one, not even in college when he was wrecking teams on Davidson. I've seen too many Lebron games to know that he's not nearly as developed offensively as Pierce, Joe Johnson, Melo, Durant, George, or Kobe, and that's why I'm interested to see how his game ages.  Will he lose a lot of points because his athleticsm falls off?  I really don't know, but I do know this - the guy still doesn't even have a post game, let alone a midrange one.  That's what I mean.

I'd be interested to see what you mean by 'developed offensively' that context.

Well, I've never heard any commentator every talk about LeBron's "footwork" or anything else related to those little tricks and skills that let you get an advantage over your defender.  Now, Bron is a very good passer and has developed a good outside shot but it still seems like a lot of his game is built on a foundation of being such an awesome combination of size and speed.

I mean, LeBron's post-game is far behind the mid-post stuff Carmello's had in his arsenal for years.

Mike

That's exactly my point.  Look, the guy is a great passer and a freak of an athlete, but his physical gifts seem to get him many more of his points than just pure skill.  He also can't play off the ball or move without it (not that I've seen, anyway), come off screens for jumpers, or beat you one-on-one with his fundamentals in regards to footwork, etc.  That's all I'm saying.

Also, the guy who said that Lebron is a better offensive rebounder than Curry made me laugh, because 1).  uh, he should be and 2).  are you sure about that, haha?  Lebron is a sub-par rebounder for a guy of his size and strength, imo.

[Mazingerz]

Steph, sure you can score from the outside. But can you score on the inside?

I still hate Lequeen.

[Celtics4ever]

James is by far the best passing SF since Bird.  He is also one of the best passers, regardless of position, in basketball.  James is a better passer than Curry (though Curry did close the gap a great deal this past season).  He is a better shot generator than Curry.  He is a significantly better offensive rebounder than Curry.  He has a higher TS% than Curry.  He scores more points on fewer shots. 

Curry is a better shooter and that is about it.

I think Pippen belongs in there between Bird and LeBron in terms of passing.