This might be the most “old man yelling into the void” thing I have ever put on the internet, but someone has to be this guy. The common thought is that Steph Curry is the NBA player most responsible for the change in the way that the way basketball is played in the NBA and all levels below, including casual pickup basketball. Certainly the Warriors popularized the three-pointer in mainstream culture, but analytics were being used throughout the league so the three was going to be the most coveted shot eventually, with or without the Warriors.
The thing is, the way that Steph Curry plays basketball is truly beautiful to watch, and if people actually played like Steph Curry, that would be everyone would be running around like crazy off the ball, both setting and using offball screen, and being unselfish. But if you have played more than three games of basketball in the past five years, you know that is not the reality. Instead the pickup game is now two to four people on a team who think they are better than everyone else isolating and dribbling the air out of the ball before taking a step-back three, and making it at about a nine percent clip. The worst part of that this turns the game into a one on one battle while eight other players stand and watch. That is quite the opposite of what Steph Curry does. However, this is how people see James Harden play in the highlights.
When Harden was in Houston, he had one of the highest usage rates in NBA history, and his pattneded between the legs dribble to stepback three combo became the most emulated move in basketball. Now everyone wants to make their defender look like Wesley Johnson slipping while trying to defend Harden.
Even though Harden was very ball dominant, he always made the right play and the right read. He was super creative in the pick and roll and an all-around great passer that would dish it off when he was doubled, and that clearly just isn’t happening in pickup games nowadays.
Another terrible thing that does not make sense is the “slow it down!” movement. If I grab a rebound or quickly inbound the ball to start a fastbreak, do not yell that at me if you want me to keep my sanity. Basketball is meant to be a fast-paced game, not 45 second possesions of some idiots trying to cross over their defender. Lets get out and run. Also defenders are more off balanced when backpedaling hard, so if you really want to bust someone’s ass, get out and run with me on the break.
Basketball is more fun for everyone when the ball is passed around every possesion and that’s just not happening anymore. We need to bring back Magic Johnson highlights, and make passing cool again. So if you’re a person who thinks that you’re good enough to not pass to your teammates and shoot 25%, be ashamed while watching Magic cook a bunch of plumbers.
11am Sports 