Steph is the best shooter of all time. He also had divine timing that has made him unguardable in the modern-day NBA. Let’s look at what made him great at this time. It also made me think about why players like Dame Lililard and Steph Curry did not end up in the spark of the bench category like Jamal Crawford and Lou Williams. If he was a starter in the 80’s or 90’s I think he would fall somewhere between Mark Price and Steve Nash because of the lack of opportunities to shoot.
It seems like from Stephs draft night on, data and analytics departments started to look at things like points per possession in particular areas in a serious way. It turns out that nothing will be the same in the next decade when it comes to the game of basketball as you see people going from trying to get the ball to the post to individuals 7 foot tall staying around the three-point area. This was also around the time we learned that the points per possession were around 1.05-1.10 from the 3ball area, around 0.85 from the mid-range area, and 1.20 from around the rim during his peak championship runs.
As this data was readily available, arguably, the two best shooters are on the Golden State Warriors, who become the best team in the league. This phenomenon is like having Wilt Chamberlin before the no dunking rule was around.
Staff throughout the league had to try to scramble to figure out defenses to defend the three while protecting the painted area. They had to learn this quick, but the Warrior’s ability to spread the floor made it impossible to protect both areas. The lack of defensive strategies and methodologies throughout the league created unbelievable court spacing for the Warrior’s offense. They also have the best combination of triple threat players ( individuals who can dribble, pass, and shoot) ever assembled on one team. They were officially a cheat code. This data enabled even more confidence from a team that had all the potential in the world.
Here is why I think if Steph was a player in the late 90’s early 2000s, his current performance level from 3ball was virtually impossible.
- Shooting a contestant 3ball was not only frowned upon, but most coaches would curse you out.
– I remember when I did an in and threw the legs crossover and pulled up for a three-pointer. My coach took me out to curse me out and then put me back in the game.
- For the majority of coaches, you had to be open to shooting a 3ball.
– If it was not the play or if it was not after the ball hit the post, this was perceived as a bad shot most of the time.
- If you shot a 3ball off the dribble and it was not off a pick and roll or end of the shot clock, you better make it. If you do not, you may come out of the game unless that was your role as a marksman.
– Shooting the ball off the dribble from 3ball was looked at as selfish. At the time, no one really could do so because the step back was only looked at as a good shot from the 2 point line. The lack of moves that free you up in a limited amount of dribbles made it hard to create a good amount of space.
Images: Compliment of STATMUSE