Media figure and respected League veteran CJ McCollum often speaks out regarding what’s going on in the NBA. Even if we didn’t wait to understand it, the Pelicans player once more confirmed that defending on Stephen Curry is hell for anyone, illustrating his point with a beautiful spatial metaphor.
Active this summer as an analyst for the channel ESPN, CJ McCollum is now an established media personality in the United States alongside his basketball career. And we can say that with ten years of presence in the NBA, without forgetting his cap as president of the players’ association, the rear has acquired a great legitimacy when he gives his opinion on the news of the League . Mobilized to cover the Summer League for ten days, the Pels player was questioned by NBC Sports on the best way to defend Stephen Curry at the Warriors’ last game in Las Vegas. A question that a lot of people have asked themselves over the past 10 years in the States, but we wonder if a convincing answer really exists. After facing him a number of times when he was in Portland, McCollum is in a good place and has delivered on the matter. Spoiler, we have already seen things simpler than locking Steph:
” It’s very difficult. You have to offer him different physiques, he’s not a guy you can defend with one person. It’s a galaxy, a planet, a solar system. Everything revolves around him. »
– C.J. McCollum
A pretty amusing statement with an unexpected space metaphor, but which illustrates the importance of Steph in the Warriors. In addition to being an incredible offensive threat with his scoring skills and his consistency in shooting, the point guard does much more than that. He knows how to make his team play perfectly and represents a system on his own, around which his teammates revolve. Whether it’s for him or for others, his ability to create space and gaps in defenses makes it very hard to prevent the 2022 Finals MVP from laying his hand on a match: if you go up on him, he will find a way to take advantage of the space freed up to put his guys in a good position. If you attempt to cut him off from other players, he will put you in misery himself. In the solar system of the Warriors roster, Steph Curry is the sun as he finds himself at the heart of his team’s game, dependent on the light of his star. A fine tribute from CJ McCollum, therefore, which confirms something that is fairly obvious but which we will never remember enough: we cannot stop players like Steph Curry, we simply have to try to limit the impact they can have on a match. Here once more, we are facing a great mess. Yet this is the challenge that 29 franchises face each season to try to beat Golden State. Missed for this year, but we imagine that some teams are already preparing to return to battle in 2023.
With a solid reputation as an indefensible player already for years, Stephen Curry is once once more highlighted by an opponent once morest whom he has played many times. Best shooter in history, the point guard is also at the heart of his team’s game system through his ability to create for himself and for others. A nice puzzle on which a lot of people have gathered, as we have seen once more in the first half of June.
Source : NBC Sports
