[ad_1]
There is no great shame to lose to the Golden State Warriors and Steph Curry, and no matter how the Western Conference finals go out of style, the Blazers should be proud of their season. But if there is one thing that should put them a little embarrassed after their first game loss (116-94), that's the way they defended Steph Curry.
At this point, virtually everyone in the galaxy understands that the most deadly thing one can encounter on a basketball court is Steph Curry dribbling in an open look beyond the three-point line. There is no way to survive, and the history of the NBA over the past five years has been that of various NBA teams desperately trying to escape or get away from it all. mitigate this type of disaster. But last night, for some reason, the Blazers just … did not they even try? Curry scored nine times in the game and, according to ESPN Stats and Info, seven of them were unchallenged.
As my colleague Chris pointed out in his article about the game, the Blazers not only left Enes Kanter on the floor, who was walking in slow motion, to take care of the Curry game, but they told him also asked to sink in the paint, offering Curry the cleanest possible. look at the basket. There is no way to really stop Steph Curry, but it's definitely not a way to try:
After the game, we asked the Blazers head coach, Terry Stotts, very politely, why he decided to deploy a plan as defensive as this one instead of trapping Curry from time to time and forcing the ball out of his hands. Stotts answered the question by reminding everyone that the Houston trapping system did not do them much good when Curry destroyed them in the second half of match 6 of the semifinals of the conference:
Ok, pretty good. But also: Come on, man! Yes, Steph Curry is very difficult to stop, no matter what type of defense you throw at him, but it seems like a pretty weak excuse to meet him with as little resistance as possible. Stotts also ignored the fact that, aside from the 33-point explosion in the second half that ended their season, the Rockets have enjoyed some success thanks to Curry. This 33-point period was so remarkable in part because it had a 0-point first semester, and in all games except Game 6, the Rockets kept the percentage of Curry shot from deep to 30% or less.
The Blazers have no chance of success in the series and Curry still has the ability to turn any defensive stratagem into impotent agitation. But that does not mean that Scott should just raise his hands and not even try. This is the Western Conference Finale, man. You must have a plan.
[ad_2]
Source link