Posted by Cookdcokehop:

This needs to be stickied. I am going to be seriously scouting many players this yr, especially Curry.

Posted by NumberTwoPencil:

I don't know much about basketball and you didn't ask me but...

I think I watched three Deron Williams games on TV and I liked him and thought he was worth a high draft pick but I'd still go with Curry. Head to head, I'd say Curry would slow Williams down, but not stop him. However, I'm not sure Williams, in college, could stop Curry. I'd expect Curry to get his usual stats against Williams. So, even though I like Williams a lot, who doesn't?, based on their college play, I'd pick Curry. Williams went third in the draft, I'd say Utah got great value so far for their pick.

Hardaway is an interesting comparison. He's an undersized guard who can shot and pass. Hmmmmmm, I never saw Hardaway play a college game so it's not really a fair comparison but I'd go with Hardaway in his prime over the current Curry, doh. Hardaway went 14 in the draft, Golden State got a steal.

I'm not sure what Rumeal Robinson has to do with anything. His college stats are nothing like Curry's. Unless I'm missing something, Atlanta made a mistake drafting him at 10. (Hmmmm, didn't he play for the Nets? Ah, I see, he played part of a rather undistinguished year with the Nets.)

All that said, I do think that Curry's slight size, speed, willingness to go to the basket, and his hectic style of play put him at a somewhat higher risk of injury than, say, Deron Williams or, oh, Nate Robinson. Curry's going to get beat up in the NBA so that's probably worth figuring into a draft equation. To have a long career, he might need to end up on a team that plays to his strengths and covers a bit for his weaknesses. Is he worth building around? Dunno.

Posted by NumberTwoPencil:

Bizarre Davidson v. Loyola game this evening. Curry scored zero, shot maybe two shots, only tried to play ball for a few minutes. Loyola double and triple teamed him on and _off_ the ball and so, for most of the game he just stood in the corner with two idle Loyola defenders and let his team play 4 on 3 ball. They won by 30 and the bench clocked quality minutes. Apparently, he handled it well, the guys calling the game were laughing throughout and his coach said a lot of nice things about his patience. Weird. It's the kind of thing that sometimes happens for a minute or two but a whole game? I'm having trouble thinking of a similar game. I suspect this one gets youtubed. Didn't help his stats, of course, but he did pick up a few hoops legend points.

Posted by NumberTwoPencil:

No kidding. Maybe the refs were just as confused as everyone else.

Regardless of Curry's draft slot, I'd say this game is pretty good evidence that he doesn't need a senior year at Davidson.

Briggs, can you think of any similar games?

...So Curry decided to test the triangle-and-2 defense taken to the ultimate extreme. He went into the corner and two defenders followed him, setting up a 4-on-3 for his teammates.

Curry decided to keep standing there, and his teammates kept scoring - for 40 minutes - in a 78-48 head-scratching win for the 24th-ranked Wildcats that will be remembered for some time....

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/scores108/108330/NCAAB858533.htm

Posted by NumberTwoPencil:

...a stunt...

Well, the Loyola coach said as much: "...Anybody else ever hold him scoreless? I'm a history major. They're going to remember that we held him scoreless or we lost by 30?''

It does show you his intelligence and calm-collected leadership. How many players wouldve walked into the corner 3 minutes into a game and accepted to not get involved? The brain is what separates good players from great players. His will was to win the game and accept that he wasnt going to play much of a part in it.

Posted by oohah:

[quote]Posted by NumberTwoPencil:

...none became NBA stars...
Anderson was an all-star in '94, Barros was an all-star in '95. Yes, their careers are spotty but they were, at least once, officially stars.

Oddly, I did see Anderson play once at GT and, based on that one game, which wasn't a bad game for him, I'd say he and Curry are fairly even at 20. Anderson was quicker, IIRC, but Curry has better D, a slightly better shot, and more smarts.

...Curry is a college star on a small-time team. He is going to put up big numbers...
Or not, as we saw tonight.

...very few players are guaranteed stars based on college...
Yup.

In college, Anderson had nights when, oh, Bobby Hurley or Mark Macon threw him off his game. He was very promising (and only 20) but he had off nights and a few weak spots.