Stephen Curry Scouting Report From #USABMNT: Pressure Defense (Photo: RAFA RIVAS/AFP/Getty Images)
BILBAO EXHIBITION CENTRE, BILBAO, SPAIN — The one aspect of Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry‘s game that gets routinely debated, if not criticized, is his defense.
Last month, he anticipated the challenge of playing defense in coach Mike Krzyzewski‘s system with #USABMNT. During Team USA’s exhibitions over the past few weeks and especially in last night’s defensive dominance against Finland, Curry again displayed his aggressive ball-hawking style, one that got him fouled out in the final exhibition the other day against Slovenia.
He fought through Finland’s high picks that were designed to free up their three-point shooters. Curry did well to navigate and cut the angles, challenging every shot. Occasionally, a Finn got a good look, but whether it was their own nerves playing against the Number One-ranked team in the world, the pressure of performing in front of 8,000 countrymen, Curry’s effort in closing the gap, or a combination of all of these, Finland couldn’t buy a bucket and rarely hit anything in which Curry had a part in the close-out defense.
“Our defense was just outstanding from start to finish and forcing them into tough shots,” Curry said to a small group of American reporters after the game, “They like to shoot a lot of threes, so try and take that away from them, that was the game plan going in. We did that.”
Curry got called for just two fouls, which is a marked improvement over the aforementioned Slovenia game. On both occasions he could be seen having rather inquisitive remarks with the referee, even jutting out his forearm to indicate that the player he was defending may have initiated the contact on him.
The fouls that were called on Curry were touch fouls involving his hands. By contrast, there was a non-call on Curry’s defender as he was trying to attack the basket. On that play, Curry was bumped, away from the hands, but the subtle hip-check he suffered through wasn’t called and Curry eventually lost the ball for a turnover.
Look for some more adjustments by Curry as he gets more used to the style of officiating in international play.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
