Posted by Bonn1997:

I actually thought his best season on offense was his contract year in Chicago when he scored at a comparable rate but was doing it on a near 50 win playoff team and sharing the ball with many more scorers. You could argue that he's a comparable offensive player now but it's hard to argue that he's actually better now.

[Edited by - bonn1997 on 03-05-2007 4:56 PM]

Agreed. He was getting his points in the framework of a team offense where he wasn't the 1st, 2nd and 3rd option.

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by Masterplan:

made the numbers per 40 minutes, think it makes a little more sense that way.

         06/07           05/06
         2092 mins       1869 mins
pts      22.4            20.8
fga's    14.4            12.8
fta's    9.2             10.4
rebs     8.0             9.2
blks     0.8             1.2

not sure the blocks are accurate, i think there's a lot of rounding error X 40 in there...

The decrease in rebounding and shot-blocking is what's really discouraging. Those were the areas he was supposed to be working on!

Like I've said before. Eddy's increase in offensive production is at the cost of all of his other stats, because he's avoiding playing defense so that he doesn't get into foul trouble. It's terrible; how we can really expect to win when our big man won't play defense just so he can stay in the game? He used to be a passable (not good) player on defense... now he's awful... terrible.

Posted by TMS:

isles, this is a recurring debate that neither one of us will be convinced to the other's way of thinking when it comes to Curry... i've said time & time again i'm realistic to Curry's defensive weaknesses & i know how horrible he's been as a defender... then i see him dominate on the other end destroying other so-called "franchise calibre" bigmen like they weren't even there & then i see a guy who's turning into an offensive monster down low w/some improved conditioning over the offseason... like i keep on saying, surround this kid w/defensive minded players like Balkman, guys who will make all the hustle plays, & let Curry focus on getting his points in the paint... that's the most realistic way to build a team right now for this current roster IMO... expecting & hoping that Curry somehow turns into a defensive presence down low is just setting yourself up for disappointment.

I don't think anyone is expecting. We're just hoping he gets traded while his value is high.

I think Eddy this year is very similiar to eddy in his contract year, if he came into camp looking like that next year we would have something to be excited about

Curry's biggest improvement is probably in his foul rate. Last year he averaged 5.1 fouls per 40 minutes. This year he's down to 3.9 fouls per 40 minutes. The dip in foul rate has allowed him to log 34.9 mpg, which is 9 more mpg than last season and the first time in his career he's averaged over 30 mpg.

The actual statistical quality of his output while on the court has not changed much. Still, many doubted that Curry would ever be able to cut down on his fouls and maintain his production over longer periods of time, let alone his ability to improve otherwise. That he has been able to take that first basic step is encouraging, if unspectacular.

There are also a couple of other things to consider. For one thing, Curry struggled to start the season and didn't really hit his stride until mid-December. If the player we've seen since that time is really the player we can expect from now on, then Curry's numbers for the season may be slightly understating his current level of play.

I think TMS's point about the qualitatively different nature of Curry's role in the offense is worth considering too. Curry's per minute usage in the offense has increased since last season and it seems likely that he's been receiving more attention from opposing defenses this season than last. Increased defensive attention may be suppressing Curry's stats to some extent and obscuring the extent of his improvement.

Curry is playing all but ten to thirteen minutes for the first time in his career.......... can the guy get a break??? Or is it that he shiould be able to do all everything he needs to work on right now so you can bitch about the way he sits on the bench???LOL

Posted by tomverve:

Posted by islesfan:

It's robbing Peter to pay Paul scenario.

Curry let's other teams get layup after layup to avoid foul trouble so that he can try to get a few more points.

Overall I bet the other team is getting more and better opportunities to score due to Curry's weak interior defense than Curry is on the other end.

Here's the breakdown on Curry's fouls per 40:

        off    def
05/06   1.4    3.7
06/07   1.2    2.6

I was expecting to see that Curry's offensive foul rate would have dropped since subjectively it seems like he's been much better this season about cutting down on those blatant, bulldozing offensive fouls. But in fact it's the opposite; his offensive foul rate is about the same, and his dip in overall foul rate is due primarily to fouling less on the defensive end. Interesting. Connecting this dip in defensive foul rate to poorer overall defense is more difficult to do but the idea is certainly plausible.

I have no idea what you just said.

Just tell me if you're agreeing or disagreeing with me so I know whether or not I need to call you an "idiot".

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Don't Use Big Words!

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I'm saying your idea is plausible, but until more conclusive arguments come in the jury is still out on whether Curry's drop in defensive fouls is related to poorer defensive performance. For one thing, I'm not even sure Curry is worse defensively this year than he was last year.

When we give up a ton of points it's due to poor perimeter D, more than anything else. If you watch the games then you know that very few teams even have a post up game. We often play a zone, so it's not a LOT of penetration that's killing us, but the deep shots. Often times Curry just being in there taking up space is a deterent. Then the other team just passes it out and our guards often don't get back. BAM! Another 3 ball.

I think we'd all like to see Curry get his hands up more and move over to cut off the lane, but in truth Guys like Shaq are HORRIBLE team defenders. He can't defend a pick and roll to save his life. Still if Curry tried more he'd probably pick up a block or so, but he'd also get a lot more fouls too. It's more important that we have him in the game than we have him trying to block everything coming his way. When we have our better defenders in the game we're able to hold teams down just enough to get the win. Curry's contributions to the defense could improve, but i'd rather see him stay out of foul trouble.