By now you’ve probably heard that Oscar Robertson, one of the all-time great players, was critical of Stephen Curry’s game and the way basketball is played these days.
Robertson said, in essence, that one of the reasons Curry shoots so well and scores so many points is because defenses in the NBA have no idea how to guard him, that coaches don’t know what they’re doing.
It turned out to be bad timing for Robertson — though Curry certainly had something to do with that — because the Warriors guard went out and scored 46 points in a 121-118 win over the Thunder in Oklahoma City on Saturday. Curry went 12-for-16 from 3-point range.
Here’s the whole thing: “Curry has shot well because of what’s going on in basketball today. In basketball today, it’s almost like if you can dunk or make a 3-point shot, you’re the greatest things since sliced bread. … There have been some great shooters in the past, but here again, when I played … if you shot outside and hit it, the next time I’m going to be up on top of you. I’m going to pressure you with three-quarters, half-court defense. But now they don’t do that. These coaches do not understand the game of basketball as far as I’m concerned.”
When I really think about this quote, I think Robertson was far less critical of Curry than he was about the game itself right now. I thought Robertson got it half right. …
Robertson has a point when he talks about failed coaching in today’s game. I’m not sure there is a great defensive mind out there when it comes to defending the 3-point shot. In general, I think 3-point shooting and 3-point offense is light years ahead of where the game is defensively.
Matt Steinmetz 