Probably just wins 1 MVP instead of 2.
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OT- Have athletes gotten worse in the NBA/MLB?
- Thread starter DMoney
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Probably just wins 1 MVP instead of 2.
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Take a team like the Knicks. They'd throw Starks on him, who was an excellent defender and a more explosive athlete than Curry. Starks isn't stopping Curry, but he will rough him up and make him work. Then if Curry gets into the lane, he isn't dealing with Kevin Love or Tristan Thompson. It's Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley and Anthony Mason. And there is no defensive three-second rule.
The rules were made for players like Curry and Nash. They have accomplished their designed purpose. Great players like those two would be great in any era. But the rule changes protected them from their physical weaknesses.
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User-4525
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Curry would get fouled a bunch by the hacks on the Knicks and make 90%+ of his free throws. Curry is great around the rim. In 18-19, he shot 62% at the rim. Jimmy Butler and Jokic shot 63%. In the unlikely event Curry could not finish over Ewing, he is still a top 3 mid range shooter and would pull up for more elbow jumpers and long 2s. He lead all guards shooting 50.4% from 20-24 feet (long 2s) in 18-19. And have we forgot about Curry's floater already?
The changing of the style of play in the league with more 3s/spacing, faster pace, and more pick-and-rolls are bigger reasons for Curry and Nash's success than the removal of hand checking. I don't know the exact year they passed hand checking but I do know the defense of the mid 00s (Nash) was a lot more physical with hand checking than the defense today. You could still put your hands on guys back then. Refs emphasized the freedom of motion rule enforced starting in 2018-2019 compared to five years ago when Curry won his MVP. Semantics, but still. The game in 2014-2015 was different than today's.
And again, I keep coming back to Dell Curry averaging 16 ppg in 26 mpg over any other part of my argument. Steph would play in the high 30s mpg.
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gogeta4
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But..but....but...handchecking...
Handchecking aint slow down Great VALUE version of Steph Curry in Mahmoud Abdul Rauf who was like 2-3 inches shorter and not as athletic with less of a dribble.
Steph Curry would bake them mfers in the 90s...lol.
gogeta4
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Like Pat Beverley?.. Steph typically goes for 25 against him.
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It was all part of the same movement. They wanted to remove physicality and help the guards. So they got rid of handchecking first, then changed the illegal defense rules.
Put it together and you have Steve Nash winning two MVPs and Trae Young averaging 30 ppg at 21.
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Take Pat Beverley, let him use his hands and put Ewing, Oakley and Mason behind him.
There is a reason they changed the rules.
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User-4525
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But..but....but...handchecking...
Handchecking aint slow down Great VALUE version of Steph Curry in Mahmoud Abdul Rauf who was like 2-3 inches shorter and not as athletic with less of a dribble.
Steph Curry would bake them mfers in the 90s...lol.
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User-4525
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The Nash disrespect is crazy. And Mitch Redmond would've averaged high 20s in the 90s if he took 10 3s a game like Trae instead of 1 three a game like he did in 89-90
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Agreed. But he was 6'5, 210 with some explosiveness. I'd compare Mitch Richmond to Bradley Beal and Devin Booker today.
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It’s laughable to think that John Starks “roughing him up” is going to slow down Steph Curry. Steph Curry is one of the best offensive players ever. Sure, the Knicks as a team can make him work for it, but he’s absolutely going to get his.
TruCane81
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Steph can be slown down like anybody else.
Not him, Jordan, Durant or anyone else scores 50 a night.
Y’all act like he gonna play his best basketball EVERY night.
When you challenge the Warriors at the rim, protect the ball on offense, and get back on defense, they come back down to earth and those crazy shots they hit get much less efficient.
Once you do that, it’s a matter of shot making and shot creation. There is a blue print for beating them in a series that only all time great type players like Lebron, Kawhi, and dare I say MJ, can use to take them down.
****, they had to get the leagues best scorer just to beat a team that defended the Splash brothers with Kyrie, JR Smith, and Dellavadova lol.
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That’s not the argument at all. We’re talking about consistently, not in a one game setting. This is a strawman argument.
TruCane81
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I said for a series.
Superstar players get theirs regardless. Titles are determined by whose role players play the best and which superstar goes more apeshyt.
Curry would be one of, if not the best, scoring point guard in the league in the 90s or any other era. But he can be had in a Finals series.
We have seen Curry get slown down from his INTREPID highs. What’s the straw man? What’s the argument?
I saw the argument as Curry would crush the league in the 90s and be more dominant than he has been in this era.
I disagree with that sentiment. I think he is overall about the same level with slight decrease in 3 point confidence.
The thing Curry fans continuously overlook is that most of his barrages are built on confidence he gains getting easy buckets at the rim. He wouldn’t get nearly as many of those in the 90s with 7 footers waiting on him with no 3 seconds.
He would be a top 3 offensive perimeter player no doubt. He would be a perennial all nba player and a champion on the right team. But today’s rules allow his skills to shine even more than if he played back then.
But your point is the NBA is less athletic now - not that it's less physical, which no one would argue.
Do you consider Ewing, Oakley, Mason explosive athletes?
Do you consider the 90's Knicks teams more athletic than the 2015-18 Cavs?
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That conversation was about Steph Curry translating the 90s. As to your question, Ewing was definitely explosive until he got old. Starks was a very good athlete and Charlie Ward was one of the best athletes of his era. In later years, Sprewell and Grandmama were top-tier athletes although in the tail-end of their prime.
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All that matters. Steph Curry would have no problems in the 90s era. That's literally the argument. You conceded that he wouldn't have any problem. A one game situation is pretty irrelevant to this argument.
So just speaking to the athleticism part - I think the main problem, and believe me I do this all the time, is mixing & matching who was on what team. For example....
Starks & Sprewell never played on the same team
Mason & Larry Johnson never played on the same team
Larry Johnson - I love Grandmama, but he lost his explosiveness when he hurt his back in 94 and he joined the Knicks in 96
Charlie Ward - Obviously a great athlete, but doesn't start getting minutes until 96, and was never explosive on the basketball court. Ward had a very below the rim old man's game. If you were to knock today's players, like a Chris Paul or Lillard just as an example, for not being run & jump athletes, then you have to do the same for Ward.
So if you're taking early 90's Knicks - you get Ewing & Starks. If you take late 90's Knicks - you get Sprewell & Allan Houston, and maybe Ward.
But if you're looking at any 1 Knicks team - they're definitely big & strong, but not that special athletically.
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