Leonard on Curry

[Jordanobili2320]

After watching Curry torch almost anyone who guarded him last night(besdies Leonard), do you think we see a permanant switch and have Pop put Leonard on Curry full time? Reminds me of when Thabo guarded Parker in WCF last year, the length and toughness just makes it that much harder.

Thoughts?

[FuzzyLumpkins]

It was more than just Leonard. Diaw hedged hard cutting off Curry's angle to the basket. He was able to do that while still zoning up behind the play or switching instead of over-committing towards half court. That combined with Leonard's length helped contain him. Diaw actually got to Curry's shot; that was awesome.

Recall though in the first half, Leonard was getting torched like everyone else. That was with Bonner and Duncan trying to do the same thing and being a day late and a dollar short.

The only other guy we have that can do that is Splitter but I am concerned about how much quickness he will have coming off the sprain. If he has it then his pnr defense is probably the best on the team. It's either he or Diaw.

[exstatic]

It was also that Thompson had fouled out and Kawhi was now free to match up with him. Thompson was destroying Parker in the cross match, which is why Pop couldn't go to it earlier.

[Jordanobili2320]

It was also that Thompson had fouled out and Kawhi was now free to match up with him. Thompson was destroying Parker in the cross match, which is why Pop couldn't go to it earlier.

I was thinking Green would guard Thompson next game, no?

[hater]

let's be fair. Leonard did not contain Curry. Curry got tired and was chuking too much.

I don't think anyone can handle a candela Curry. But good thing is a Candela Curry is only good for a few minutes. Fucking Candela. look it up in the dictionary. Candela is hotter than hot. but it does not last long

[widowmaker]

I think it will take a collective effort to contain curry but he can not be shut down hes a great shooter no doubt. How many 40+ points does he have left in his bag of tricks is my question.

[bklynspursfan]

Gotta put Leonard on Curry more often than not. Let those other guys beat us. Pop may need to bring Manu in earlier for Green to try and combat that and force Curry on Parker.

[Brazil]

Steph collapsed because of four effects: Spurs throwing different Defenders and looks all night long, Jackson is utterly stupid to have played that kid 60 mn without giving him a bit of rest before the start of the fourth, Diaw cutting his drives to the basket and Leonard length and physicality.

If you play Leonard too much on a fresh Curry, he is going to lit him up like the others and you run out of options late in the game.

[Josepatches_]

Steph collapsed because he's not the fucking MJ. He can't make all those tough shots all night long. But He's a great scorer and he's going to score anyway.


It's not like you could shutdown him . He scored 2 layups easily vs Leonard in the beggining of the 4th.

[mercos]

I don't think any one guy is going to stop Curry. Its going to take a team effort as it did last night, especially if Mark Jackson is going to run him into the ground each game. Green, Parker, CoJo, and Leonard should all continue to take turns on him. They made a great point on Inside the NBA last night about Curry, and that is that he is perhaps the best combo dribbler-shooter the game has ever seen. You don't typically see guys who can shoot that also have excellent handles. Thanks to the unique skill set, Curry can get his shot on anyone, including Leonard. Best bet is to throw multiple looks at him and confuse/wear him down.

[look_at_g_shred]

I was thinking Green would guard Thompson next game, no?

Maybe Diaw?

[HarlemHeat37]

Curry only scored 2 FGs vs. Kawhi, both floaters that Duncan was late to contest, which is unusual, probably because he was sick, tbh..

Curry is going to get his numbers, he got tired at the end, but Leonard and Green deserve credit for their defense against him, tbh..

Most of Curry's points were against Parker and Joseph, along with poor pick&roll defense from Duncan..they kept running simple pick&roll for a wide open Curry 3, because Tim couldn't come out..

[Chinook]

Parker literally cannot guard anyone besides Jack on the cross match. Green and Leonard both did well on Curry, but it didn't matter in the first half, because Thompson would just back Parker down and shoot over him. There's really no way to handle that until the Warriors put Jack in the game. Parker on Barnes leads to the same result.

Pop's best chance is to rotate players, not only to keep Curry guessing, but also to stop the Warriors from consistently running offense through Parker's man. Green keeping a high level of aggression on offense would help prevent the cross-match, though.

[naico]

Hedging on pick and rolls are really important with a player like Curry. You need to defend him as close as possible and you can't give him ANY room to shoot. That's why Curry is able to drive by people more easily. Length and double teaming is the key here.

[ThaBigFundamental21]

let's be fair. Leonard did not contain Curry. Curry got tired and was chuking too much.

I don't think anyone can handle a candela Curry. But good thing is a Candela Curry is only good for a few minutes. Fucking Candela. look it up in the dictionary. Candela is hotter than hot. but it does not last long

I think I would much rather have Curry shoot over a 6'6 or 6'7 guy than a 6'3 dude. Leonard did help, Diaw also was gold on him. The Spurs will adjust, Pop is too good not to. Also, Tim will not look like dog shit. That was painful to watch Tim on D and Rebounding. It's funny, because if you check his stats he looked okay, if you watched the game you knew Tim was horrid.

[spurraider21]

If you stick Kawhi on Curry and have Green on Thompson, that leaves Parker to guard Harrison Barnes. Not sure if I'm a fan of that, tbh. I feel you can only have Kawhi on Curry when either Parker is resting or if Jarrett Jack is out there

[Mugen]

If you stick Kawhi on Curry and have Green on Thompson, that leaves Parker to guard Harrison Barnes. Not sure if I'm a fan of that, tbh. I feel you can only have Kawhi on Curry when either Parker is resting or if Jarrett Jack is out there

I'd rather have them run their offense through their rookie SF than the hottest player in the league rt now tbh.

[SpurPadre]

If you stick Kawhi on Curry and have Green on Thompson, that leaves Parker to guard Harrison Barnes. Not sure if I'm a fan of that, tbh. I feel you can only have Kawhi on Curry when either Parker is resting or if Jarrett Jack is out there

THIS. Barnes is just starting to shine in these playoffs and he also seems to step his game up at home so TP on Barnes in a Game 3 is a recipe for disaster.

[spurraider21]

I'd rather have them run their offense through their rookie SF than the hottest player in the league rt now tbh.

this is true too. Curry is white hot right now. heck, even if Barnes scores 30, he's not the playmaker Curry is. its just such an obvious size mismatch though, like when they throw Jack on Kawhi

[Poolboy5623]

I'd rather have them run their offense through their rookie SF than the hottest player in the league rt now tbh.

They were doing just that...actually, for awhile, they were throwing the ball to whoever tony was guarding. It seemed like they scored every time in doing so..

[Darius McCrary]

Am i the only one who thought Cory played pretty solid defense on Curry? I thought Cory contested as good as anyone could,.Curry just sank some incredibly difficult shots when he was going NOVA on us.

[SpurPadre]

Am i the only one who thought Cory played pretty solid defense on Curry? I thought Cory contested as good as anyone could,.Curry just sank some incredibly difficult shots when he was going NOVA on us.

I agree and it's a major difference from what he could do in the 1st round against NBDL guys to a bonafide NBA stud in the 2nd round.

[Mugen]

this is true too. Curry is white hot right now. heck, even if Barnes scores 30, he's not the playmaker Curry is. its just such an obvious size mismatch though, like when they throw Jack on Kawhi

I thought the defense overreacted everytime they posted TP up. Sending the double immediately before Klay/Barnes even dribbled gives them too many options to counter and find the open man. Too often the help came from across the floor (leaving Greens man open). Id rather just have tony force them baseline and have Tim/Boris help.

I've seen what Curry can do in these playoffs. Id still rather make Barnes/Thompson prove they can score on TP over the course of the game/series.

[Knoxxx]

I like to see some TP on Curry, then when they screen for those "open" 3s a larger player like Diaw or Leonard flashes our and tries to bother or block the shot. TP can't guard him all game, so that is where Joseph and Leonard come in. Not sure I like the idea of Danny Green or Manu on Curry, he's a bit too quick for those guys.

TP on Klay Thompson was a ridiculous matchup at times, but then again we did foul the guy out. Not sure what the two coaches are thinking about that matchup next game...

[Obstructed_View]

That strategy might work in a must-win game, but this is a series, folks. The Warriors scored 14 points in the 4th quarter, so keep doing what you're doing. Throw fresh defenders at Curry, let him shoot contested shots, wear him down, don't let any of his teammates get going. Making your layups and grabbing rebounds would be a good idea too. Let the Warriors know that Curry's going to need to have a 22 point quarter every game for them to have a chance.

[Knoxxx]

Here's to hoping that Duncan and Splitter both get healthy and can do better at closing off the lane, rebounding and perimeter D.

[urunobili]

That strategy might work in a must-win game, but this is a series, folks. The Warriors scored 14 points in the 4th quarter, so keep doing what you're doing. Throw fresh defenders at Curry, let him shoot contested shots, wear him down, don't let any of his teammates get going. Making your layups and grabbing rebounds would be a good idea too. Let the Warriors know that Curry's going to need to have a 22 point quarter every game for them to have a chance.
THIS

[boutons_deux]

we let Amare/PHX go for 37 ppg while eliminating PHX, should do the same with Curry/GSW,

BUT!!!

with Spurs shooting at least in the high 40%s

[Brunodf]

Tony fronting Barnes was bad... Just let him take jumpers, if he can hit those, shake his hand.

[Obstructed_View]

Watched the second half and overtime again just now. Leonard checked Curry a couple of times while he was still fresh. He went right by him like he wasn't moving and got layups, easy baskets for his teammates or drew fouls. He scored on Parker, but he did so with a hand in his face and someone right up on him. Parker and Joseph are much better choices than Leonard.

Another point many of you are missing: Thompson hurt the Spurs almost as badly as Curry did in the third quarter, and did so with shots he could hit every day of the week. Curry won't be hot like that for an entire game, but Thompson can hit 12 foot jumpers over Parker literally all day long.

[Brunodf]

Watched the second half and overtime again just now. Leonard checked Curry a couple of times while he was still fresh. He went right by him like he wasn't moving and got layups, easy baskets for his teammates or drew fouls. He scored on Parker, but he did so with a hand in his face and someone right up on him. Parker and Joseph are much better choices than Leonard.

Another point many of you are missing: Thompson hurt the Spurs almost as badly as Curry did in the third quarter, and did so with shots he could hit every day of the week. Curry won't be hot like that for an entire game, but Thompson can hit 12 foot jumpers over Parker literally all day long.
I think Green did a great job...
Also Pop started Bonner in the 3rd, that f#cked everything, every time someone drives by our guards Diaw/Splitter would step up and still challenge the shot, but with Bonner/sick TD GSW had a layup drill

[Obstructed_View]

I think Green did a great job...
Also Pop started Bonner in the 3rd, that f#cked everything, every time someone drives by our guards Diaw/Splitter would step up and still challenge the shot, but with Bonner/sick TD GSW had a layup drill

Green did a great job on both ends. Really happy for him that his shots went in when needed. Great redemption game for him.

Bonner was just beyond bad in every way. I hope he doesn't see a minute for the rest of this series.

[Kidd K]

I don't think Curry is going to repeat that same performance. He lit the Spurs up when they were sluggish and hadn't defended anyone in over a week, and haven't defended a real PG in nearly 3 weeks. The Spurs were as unprepared for that as they would have been anything.

Not to mention Curry was shooting like 75-80% or some shit on 30 foot threes. That shouldn't continue. Had he only made a logical amount of those (20-25%), he would've only had like 35-38 points and shot about 43% for the game, and the Spurs wouldn't have been down so huge in the first place.

He was great, but come on, he jacked up a ton of shots and hit nearly a handful of lucky ones to really bloat up his stats. Likely not gonna happen again in game 2.

[siraulo23]

Watched the second half and overtime again just now. Leonard checked Curry a couple of times while he was still fresh. He went right by him like he wasn't moving and got layups, easy baskets for his teammates or drew fouls. He scored on Parker, but he did so with a hand in his face and someone right up on him. Parker and Joseph are much better choices than Leonard.

Another point many of you are missing: Thompson hurt the Spurs almost as badly as Curry did in the third quarter, and did so with shots he could hit every day of the week. Curry won't be hot like that for an entire game, but Thompson can hit 12 foot jumpers over Parker literally all day long.

and barnes for that matter so the spurs have a tough choice if they wanna switch the matchup and kawhi/green guards curry

barnes/thompson can shoot over parker all game long

[Obstructed_View]

There's simply no need to do one thing and give them time to adjust. Keep them guessing about what's going to happen, and don't let anyone get into a rhythm. Curry's going to go on runs, but unless he scores close to 60, it's going to be hard for them to win.

[spursince#99]

honestly, Leonard has the best chance at holding Curry. The thing is, he was playing lazy funnel defense, trying to funnel Curry to the paint in hopes of a good contest from Tim or whoever the big is in the paint. Although I believe this is the strategy from Pop, this isn't an encouraging way to defend someone who can score from any area on the court. He has to man up and play straight man to man like a pro and move his feet. That's the only way. Go hard or go home.

[Budkin]

Stay on Curry and let everyone else beat you. Those barrages of 3s are devastating.

[Obstructed_View]

Stay on Curry and let everyone else beat you. Those barrages of 3s are devastating.

The Spurs played like ass, missed shots, missed assignments, got outrebounded badly, Curry went off for 22 in the third quarter and the lead still hovered around 15 points for most of the second half. Translation: They didn't pull away despite the crazy shooting.

Start trapping and doubling and the Spurs lose by 20 going away.

[jbspurs]

I think Green did a great job...
Also Pop started Bonner in the 3rd, that f#cked everything, every time someone drives by our guards Diaw/Splitter would step up and still challenge the shot, but with Bonner/sick TD GSW had a layup drill

Bonner was physical against Lakers and it was good. Now, He is back to old habit of jumping away to avoid contact when someone drives to the hoop.

[therealtruth]

Bonner was physical against Lakers and it was good. Now, He is back to old habit of jumping away to avoid contact when someone drives to the hoop.

This is going to be a difficult series for Bonner. I think his strengths are better used for when they play big. That way he can draw the big out of the paint.

[Jordanobili2320]

Yeah the more I think about it the more it seems the best option is throwing fresh defenders at him. They could see how Parker does at the beginning of the game, see how Green and Joseph do early on and than maybe like game 1 have Leonard close the game on him. Its gonna be interesting to see what Pop does tonight.

[jermaine]

we let Amare/PHX go for 37 ppg while eliminating PHX, should do the same with Curry/GSW,

BUT!!!

with Spurs shooting at least in the high 40%s
I think we should let Tony an Cory guard Curry. Therefore there won't be mix matches with Tony on the court. We dont need Curry going off an whoever Tony guards too. Cuz we all know regardless who guard's Curry, he's gonna shoot, an shoot, an shoot. So let him shoot an try to stop.the others. It might sound crazy.

[jbspurs]

This is going to be a difficult series for Bonner. I think his strengths are better used for when they play big. That way he can draw the big out of the paint.

I understand the offense side will be difficult, On D he just need to be more physical.

[said7]

It didn't look like it in the first game but i think Joseph is the best option to guard curry.
He is the only one that can actually get around picks to avoid the switch.

Sure he might get torched at some points but he is quick enough.

[K-State Spur]

If you stick Kawhi on Curry and have Green on Thompson, that leaves Parker to guard Harrison Barnes. Not sure if I'm a fan of that, tbh. I feel you can only have Kawhi on Curry when either Parker is resting or if Jarrett Jack is out there

Every shot made by Barnes was wide open. If Tony guards him and stays home, I can live with Barnes trying to shoot over the top of him. If Barnes wants to try to take Tony down the block and clog the lane (which they did a terrific job of opening up last game), I'm fine with that too.

Barnes might be the steal of the 2012 draft, but he's not that far removed from averaging 9 ppg on 8 shots/game while shooting 44%/36%. At this point in his career, he's still little more than a spot up shooter that has been on a playoff hot streak.

[Obstructed_View]

Every shot made by Barnes was wide open. If Tony guards him and stays home, I can live with Barnes trying to shoot over the top of him. If Barnes wants to try to take Tony down the block and clog the lane (which they did a terrific job of opening up last game), I'm fine with that too.

Barnes might be the steal of the 2012 draft, but he's not that far removed from averaging 9 ppg on 8 shots/game while shooting 44%/36%. At this point in his career, he's still little more than a spot up shooter that has been on a playoff hot streak.

I agree with this. Even if you switch you end up with someone near him. If you double and trap, he ends up wide open, and that's when he hits shots. I'm okay if he scores ten points on 8 shots from 15 feet in but I don't like him left alone in the corner to shoot threes in rhythm.