I want to preface this by stating understanding the words that are written/spoken is crucial to any debate... I stated previously that those other Centers will NOT be judged better than Curry. That's not to say Curry will be better than them or vice versa. But whatever, Ya wanna dance... lets Dance
Firstly, Duncan and Boozer are PF's and I will try not to address them. Secondly, besides maybe Q balkman and Mardy, the entire knicks team appeared disinterested on the defensive end. I really don't believe that the coaches made it a focus, and the entire team took that to heart.As I said, the defense can be taught. Curry has proved that he is willing to make himself better. Also, the "good defender" title can be deceptive in itself. With the exception of Yao, almost all other elite big men who had to guard to EC came up short or were either a wash.
In regards to the turnovers, this is the only season that Curry has averaged over 3 TO's per game, I will argue that the constant double teaming, which he was not used to previously in his career, added to this amount. In addition to that, if you check, ALL big men(PF and Centers) who handled the ball on a regular basis were prone to over 2 or 3 TO's a game. It's not something that strictly is plaguing Curry and no one else, so lets not fool people into thinking that is the case. This off season he will work on handling the double and triple teams, and the Knicks coaching staff should work on plays to make teams pay for double and triple teaming Curry. If after next season there is no improvement I will be the first to say yes there is a problem there, but come on, dont act as if the guy is getting the ball and dribbling it off his foot (no pun intended Vince) with no one guarding him. Please provide all the information
In regards to Dwight Howard, I want to point to my previous statement where I said, when going head to head, the story stats speak for themselves. Look, when you don't have any other person on your team who can grab a rebound then you had better average over 10.The fact is with the exception of Chicago Denver and the Hornets, all of the other rebound leaders do not have anyone else on their teams who rebound (hence their teams are not any of the beter rebounding teams in the league. The knicks are the 5th leading rebound team in the nba, Curry not rebounding 10+ a game is not what's hurting the knicks. With that being said, please note that I do not believe that 7 rebounds is acceptable for curry, but he is in the top 30 in rebounds and with just 1.5 more rebounds a game, he is in the top 15. So lets not act as if Curry becoming a top rebounder is so totally out of the question.
The fact is Curry has never learned the nuances of the game, that is HIS fault, and that is the fault of his COACHES in the past. He had raw talent and utilized it and never worked on it. I have said this a few times and I will say it again... Defense can be taught. Once a defensive mind set is instilled in the team, the team will adapt, you can tell the main focus the coaches had last year with Curry was improving his offensive game and he has improved it to the tune of the most points in the paint last year.
Duncan and Boozer are superior to Curry in the post, period.
Have you watched the Knicks at all? Balkman and Marbury are excellent defenders.
You said Curry has proved he's willing to make himself better on defense, but how so? He looks disinterested in defense most of the time he's out there. I believe Curry can become an average defender someday, but theres nothing to back that up at tihs point. Lets hope the big guy comes with something new in 07-08.
As for turnovers, I'm gonna list the guys who are top ten in turnovers at the center position in ESPN.com. Lets compare and find out if Curry is more productive than them. Curry is the worst in the NBA at his position in turnovers per 40 minutes, and 2nd in turnovers per game. I want you to keep in mind, Curry has the worst turnover to assist ratio than any other starting center who gets starter minutes, the WORST. Curry is a blackhole on offense, and this is what makes his game too one dementional. He tries to do everything by himself. This is why he'll never become an elite big men. When Tim Duncan has the ball, his passes result in a high a pecentage play, and he always has guys in MOTION, ball movement. When Curry has the ball, the motion and ball movement dies. Offensively, Curry has a long way to go. Defensively, its even worse.
Most of these guys play C or FC.
Dwight Howard - 3.9 17.6 ppg on 60% FG 12.6 rebs 1.9 blks
Eddy Curry - 3.6 19.5 ppg on 61% 7 rebs
.4 blks
Yao Ming - 3.5 25 ppg 9.4 rebs 51% FG 2 blks
Jermaine O'Neal - 2.9 19.4 ppg 9.7 rebs 43% 2.6 blks
Amare Stoudimire - 2.8 20 ppg 9.6 rebs 56% FG 1.3 blks
Tim Duncan - 2.7 20 ppg 10 rebs 54% FG 2.3 blks
Pau Gasol - 2.7 21 ppg 9.9 rebs 54% FG 2.1 blks
Carlos Boozer - 2.6 21 ppg 11.7 rebs 56% FG .2 blks
Chris Bosh - 2.5 22 ppg 10 rebs 49% FG 1.3 blks
Elton Brand - 2.5 20 ppg 9.3 rebs 53% FG 2.2 blks
Rebounding, Curry is 36th out of 43 centers in rebounds per 40 minutes. Blocks per 40? Curry is one of the top 5 worst at blocks. Man to man defense? We don't even need stats for that, we've seen how astrocious Curry can be defensively. You act like Curry is the only guy in the NBA who's going to improve his rebounding, while everyone else is gonna take a backseat and watch Curry slowly improve. PLEASE, there are other big men who are going to improve immensely such as Dwight Howard who has potential to average 15 rebs a game. If Bosh develops more upper body strength don't be suprised either. Oden, Noah, Horford, Wright are coming into the NBA...lol you pretend as if the NBA is going to reply this season over and over till Curry is top 10 in rebounding. Don't be so silly.
Are you gonna sit here and tell me you would choose Curry over any of those guys? I gave you your information and it was too much for you. This proves right here Curry is the least productive primary option compare to other C's and FC's. And don't make an agruement that these guys aren't "pure centers". They're combo big men who can play the 4/5, they're versitle, which is where Curry needs to improve on, his verstility. Curry stats are inflated by Isiah overplaying him. It is his first year being a consistant scorer, but for those guys, they've been doing it for years now and are proven all around. Curry to me isn't a top 10 big men at all and is a very tradable asset.
If Curry never has never learned the "nuances" of the game, then why would Isiah put the whole Franchise on Curry's back? Aren't you making a point for Isiah being a complete ignorant slut and a god damn fool as a GM? If you are, then well said.