If he is the 5th best player, sure. Look, the guy has really improved from where he was a year ago - but he is still a work in progress.
Perfect example and I agree. Too much emphasis on one player. Its a TEAM that wins and when a team IS a team marginal players play better and good players play great.
Yes, because it's complicated. Can CJ be a starting SG on a championship team that also includes Dame?
I'm saying no because I think he's a better 6 man and dominates bench guards as opposed to struggling to defend starting 2 guards....in reality he could start with a championship team just because they are able to defend and make up for CJs defense but I think ideally, he's a natural spark plug 6 man
I still say yes. But the other three players have to have specific skill sets. Lets break this down a bit because it really isnt about just one guy making or breaking a team. What I am seeing right now can be fixed I believe. AMinu for example. He is our D man in the starting lineup. Lets look at other D men on successful teams.. a Tony Allen type player, etc. What I usually see is the D man isnt trying to assert an offense, but rather playing within, more often providing screens etc. But our D man thinks he can be our offensive weapon. This doesnt work. If Aminu would focus more on D and setting screens ofr CJ instead of posting up on in the corner, I think CJ then becomes a much better player. More open looks, easier drives to the lane, etc. More often than not what boosts a good player to greatness are the players around him. Not the player himself. Not always, but this is usually the case. So to answer your question, can we win with those to as our guards? I think so, but then AMinu needs to change his offensive scheme and the other two need to play specific parts as well. Or we need to trade to put the right pieces next to the guards. I think we are about 60-70% there on having the right people with the right skill set. 70-80% if Aminu learns this.
But does he need to be? Can Klay get to the hoop like CJ? I personally dont think so. GS is one of, if not, the best defensive team in the NBA. Yes, they take a small hit on that if the swap was made, but it isnt gonna kill thier defense. So they drop from #2 to #10, they still have a top 5 offense. They might skip a beat, but thats about it, they would still win I think.
Or Jason Terry with CJ when Dallas won it. I think people are too hung up on height when it comes to D. Every guard that CJ faces is bigger than him, and their advantage in size does not help slow him down.
My homie came up with these and I dig them. Check it out if you like things that make sense. The Curry Rules, by Sue Denim 1-No Three's 2-No Floaters 3-Hedge Everything 4-Guard Klay, Not Dray 5-Make Him Play D Steph Curry is doing things in the NBA that have never been done. He is terrifying defenses with his limitless range and lighting-quick shot. His ball handling has improved, his floaters and lay-ups are otherworldly, and his ability to navigate the floor has improved noticeably under the tutelage of all-time great Steve Nash. But here is what makes him the most dangerous: through 20 games, he has 5 quarters of 20 points or more. 5. No other player has more than 1. Those kind of outbursts win games. When Michael Jordan was in his heyday, he was virtually unstoppable. In order to give themselves a chance, the Bad Boy Pistons came up with what they called "The Jordan Rules," which were intended for stopping His Airness from stampeding all the way to the finals. Steph Curry is now worthy of such a set of rules. Traditional basketball rationale dictates that when you rotate to the open man under Thibidouian defensive principals, the weak-side D rotates one man at a time to cover the ball being swung from strong to weak on the perimeter. This principle allows you to recover from double-teaming a great player or from gaps caused by defensive breakdowns. However, Curry commands at least two people within 30 feet of the cup, and, no matter how you shake it, the best passing team in the league (no disrespect to Pop's crew) is going to beat traditional defensive rotations. Passing is just faster and less exhaustive than running around trying to play catch up D. Some teams have adopted a counter measure of switching off of the man who is two passes over to gain a jump on the switching and confuse the offense, but this method can't be used with consistency early in the shot clock, especially against a team that is as intelligent as Golden State. But here's the thing—one team figured out a new way to play under Thibs' scheme. Golden State stumbled upon it in the playoffs last year in the Memphis series when they were down 2-1 and on the road. Andrew Bogut was getting abused on his rotations and Memphis' offense was clicking. The Warrior's countered this by leaving an offensively challenged(being nice here) Tony Allen alone in the corner and forcing him to make the play in 4 on 3 scenarios. It was a resounding success and Golden State only lost one more game between the West Semi's and now, 20 games into the 2015-16 season. This is where the Curry Rules kick in. Other than Mr. Curry himself, the Warriors have just one weapon from deep, and that's Klay Thompson. Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes, and Andre Igoudala are all capable of hitting form deep, but none of them can claim it as a strength. And their back-up guards(Livingston, Barbosa) are not on the team for their long range abilities. So, the best jump shooting team in the league has two true jump shooters. That is their weakness. If you hedge like a madman on all Curry screens, you can eliminate all but the most difficult Curry threes, not to mention his forays into the lane. If you hedge like mad, the Warriors are either going to swing the ball around to the open three, or they're going to dump to the screener(this is the better play) and have him create a 4 on 3 opportunity without Curry. This is what Barnes, Igoudala and Green excel at, and what Cleveland did wrong. Cleveland was so terrified of the three that they gave up the lethal 4 on 3 situations quarterbacked most often by Draymond Green, who knows what he's doing. That's why, in order to guard this horrifying offensive juggernaut, you have to pick what weapon you let them use. You can't let Curry beat you, you can't let Thompson's man switch at the expense of giving up a three, and you can't let them beat you with 4 on 3's. So leave the others open for three. You force an otherwise streamlined offense to live and die solely on the Warrior's role players making catch and shoot threes. You have two guys on Curry, one on Thompson, you plug the middle, and you make other guys beat you with the weakest part of their game, shooting without Curry and Thompson getting them in rhythm. If you look at the first clip in the video, you will see that helping off Livingston is what has to be done even though he is on the ball. Give that shot to Livingston, and not Thompson
I say loosely, YES! Obviously, some other things have to fall in line. That said, I think only Lillard and Plumlee are keepers to build around so far. Everyone else is trade bait if we can get better in return.
Anyone can with the right teammates and system. Remember Damon said a team with Avery Johnson at PG would never win a championship.
